Brewing Water - Success Stories

Kaewan · 01-18-2012, 04:59 PM

Been reading this forum for a bit and I see a lot of talk about treating water. That's great and everyone seems to be helpful here. But, does anyone have a good success story related to brewing water? Maybe having success brewing a certain style after paying attention to the brewing water? Improved a brew by treating water differently? I want to hear stories and experiences-- even failures if you think it would help other homebrewers.

**NochEineMassBitte** · 01-18-2012, 05:07 PM

I don't have a success story (yet), but I'm going to adjust my water next time I make a dry stout. The local water here is moderately soft, and so far I've been pleased as punch with my pale ales, pilsners, and Belgians. My dry stouts, however, have lacked a certain bite that I think may be chalked up (ha!) to the low mineral content. Just bought some brewing salts, and I'll post my results in a few weeks after I next brew up my dry stout.

I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences as well.

**ajdelange** · 01-20-2012, 11:45 AM

Success, of course, depends on one's criterion for it. For me success is a beer which I and my guests really like. Using water (RO) with very low (no) alkalinity and with calcium supplemented to about 35 mg/L and chloride to 60 made a dramatic improvement in my lagers as long as the mash pH was strictly controlled with sauermalz and that is as much a part of the story as getting the water chemistry right. It's really the chloride and the sauermalz which get the credit IMO.

I carry the same principles (low overall mineral content, 0 alkalinity, enough acid to set mash pH) over to the occasional ale (Kölsch, weizen, bitter, barley wine) I do and the results are great there too. I've been at this for a long time to the point that when I do screw up it's not the water. In that sense every brew is a success WRT water treatment which, as you can see from the foregoing, is minimal)

**djt17** · 01-20-2012, 01:22 PM

I have very hard, highly alkaline well water. My first few AG batches were nasty harsh. After following aj's recommendations in the water primer; I have brewed several outstanding batches.

mabrungard · 01-20-2012, 01:40 PM

There are far too many brewers and recipes that say something simple like: "add a tsp of gypsum to your brewing water". That might have been OK for the original recipe creators water, but might be a disaster for another brewer's water. Knowing and understanding what your raw water is can be a very important component of good brewing practice. The beauty of the Water Primer is that a brewer is instructed to start with a relatively known starting point that includes a significant percentage of RO or distilled water. That way, the simple mineral additions do not overwhelm the beer. Creating an alka seltzer beer should not be the goal of any brewer. Unfortunately, there are brewers that do just that because they don't know that their water already has a lot of X ion in the water.

Keeping mineral additions and the resulting ion content in the brewing water well within limits is strongly recommended. Unfortunately there are resources on the web and in print that inappropriately guide brewers with ion limits that are too high. In addition, there are antagonistic effects when some ion concentrations are elevated along with other ions. I've included guidance on more modest ion limits in Bru'n Water.

My strong advice is to keep ion concentrations relatively low until you find that you actually like certain ions at elevated concentrations. When in doubt, leave it out.

Enjoy!

**spearko520** · 01-20-2012, 02:14 PM

Anything AJ says about water, i would take to heart! I noticed an improvement in my lagers once i started paying attention to my ph and hardness- and AJ is right on about the sauermalz- that stuff is genius. Plus my daughter thinks it's a snackfood... i'm going to start rolling suet in it and hanging little blocks around the house, so i don't have to be bothered

Kaewan · 01-20-2012, 06:41 PM

AJ, do you ever add sulfate to the styles you referred to, or just calcium and chloride?

**ajdelange** · 01-20-2012, 08:10 PM

Yes, I'll do it if pressed. By thus I mean, for example, my club brewed its 30th anniversary barley wine over here. I made it clear that they were brewing their beer on my equipment but, of course, I supplied the water and I wouldn't even try to convince these guys not to add some sulfate. So some gypsum went in and the acid was CRS - like (contains sulfate).

On my own, I don't. One of best kept secrets of brewing is, IMO, that ales are better with low sulfate water than with high. Let me re-emphasize --> IMO <--. There are those who have followed the Primer and said it ruined the beer because the hops were trashed. These people obviously like the way sulfate works with hops. I don't and I'm not alone but while I will encourage people to try an ale or 2 with low sulfate water I don't press them to do it and, of course, if they don't like the result, to put the sulfate back in.

josephus23 · 01-21-2012, 12:30 AM

AJ, can you describe how you perceive how sulfate affects the flavors You get out of your beers.
I have soft water and use some sulfate for my IPAs. My pale ale's and IPAs aren't getting the bright hop flavor I want. The hop flavor is a tiny bit harsh. I've read that sulfate will accentuate the hops, but I'm not sure what it's accentuating. Is it bitterness or flavor or both?

**ajdelange** · 01-21-2012, 03:35 AM

You are asking me to comment on an area which is pretty much terra incognita to me because I don't use sulfate. Perhaps some others who do will share their experiences with you.

To me the sulfate just makes the hops bitterness harsh - any variety. It is particularly offensive with the noble hops - it just ruins that fine bitterness that you paid extra to get.

If you are experiencing harshness I'd pull back on the sulfate - that will for sure reduce the harshness but another way to do that is to use low alpha hops. So how to get the hops flavor? You want the oils for that. Late hop additions, dry hopping, use of oil extracts. Those are the ways to get the hop aroma and flavor without the harsh bitterness.