And to make things interesting, I'm starting with a blonde ale/lager, in the 5-6 SRM range.
I've been reacquainting myself w/ Bru'n water/EZ water, and water chemistry in general, as I've posted about some recent batches where I'm now certain the pH (and the resulting flavors) weren't right.
Today's batch is the first one in a long while where I've added lactic to both the mash and sparge water, along with small mineral additions to both (calcium chloride and a bit of gypsum).
So far, things appear to be improving: when I went out to the garage to start draining the first runnings off the mash, the whole garage smelled nice and malty. Cool.
Took a taste of the runnings; nice and sweet. Not overly sweet from too much chloride (which I've done in the past), but just a good malt flavor coming through.
So far, so good.