So, it's been a while, but I'm brewing up an E.S.B. today. (English Special Bitter).
Though "bitter" is in the name, by American standards this is not an overly bitter beer. In fact, it's got a nice, malty backbone to compliment the English hop additions.
There's a town in central England called Burton with a rich brewing heritage. Burton straddles the River Trent, and the water has some interesting properties that help create some wonderful British Ale styles.
The water has high alkalinity and hardness, due to the presence of several salt ions. I've decided to experiment a little.
I use an application that takes a survey of source water (Milwaukee city water) and calculates salt additions to imitate water from other parts of the world.
I started with my "salt bank":
Here you'll find various salts used for brewing. To imitate Burton on Trent water I have to add:
CaSO4--------Gypsum
MgSO4-------Epsom Salt
CaCl----------Calcium Chloride
NaHCO3-----Baking Soda, and
CaCO3-------Chalk
These are all food-grade products.
I will add these salts to the mash. The only problem is that they will drive the mash pH upwards which isn't great for starch conversion. Most brewers will add a little phosphoric acid to the mash to bring the pH to optimum levels.
As this is an experiment at this stage, I will do without the acid addition and keep my fingers crossed.
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