Brewing Water Calculator: MpH Water Calculator v2.0

So I have finally gotten around to updating my brewing water calculator; the current incarnation is MpH Water Calculator v2.0.  You may notice an increase in the number of sheets within the Excel workbook.  The goal of this increase is to make the calculator simpler to use.  Hopefully I've succeeded.  An instruction sheet leads things off.  You will likely find it helpful to refer to these instructions when first beginning to use the calculator.  Perhaps the biggest change is the water profiles sheet, which should be helpful as you design your water.  I've also added a sheet with BJCP style info, just for reference purposes.

As usual, feedback is welcome.  Cheers and Happy Brewing!

EDIT:  Here is a link to an .xls version for those using older versions of Excel:  MpH Water Calculator v2.0.xls.

Sparge Water Acidification

Interested in some of the science associated with reducing alkalinity in brewing liquor via the addition of acid? Then you may be interested in my latest homebrewing related article, Sparge Water Acidification. This article discusses why low alkalinity water is desirable for use in fly sparging, and how the addition of acid can be used to reduce the alkalinity to acceptable levels. Equations are provided that allow the homebrewer to calculate the amount of acid needed, although for the less adventurous, these equations are implemented in my brewing water workbook, MpH Water Calculator.

Happy brewing y'all, and cheers!

MpH Water Calculator v1.2

My brewing liquor workbook, MpH Water Calculator, is now updated to version 1.2.  (Note: the name has been expanded to make the purpose of the workbook more obvious.)  The new addition is a worksheet to calculate acid additions necessary to reduce carbonate alkalinity and bring the pH of the sparge water close to that of the mash.  Calculations for both lactic and phosphoric acid are provided.

Sparge water alkalinity reduction is desirable in order to help keep the mash pH from rising during the end of a fly sparge.  Such a rise is widely believed to be detrimental due to grain tannins being released into the liquor when the pH rises.  (This happens because the malt acidity becomes reduced towards the end of the sparge, allowing alkalinity in the sparge liquor to raise the pH in the grain bed.)

A companion paper, Sparge Water Acidification, describing the equations used in the worksheet, is in progress and will be posted here shortly.

Happy brewing y'all, and cheers!