Bobby_M

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Since I'm going to try peddling the virtues of water analysis and correction to my homebrew club in the near future, I thought it would be a good idea to confirm the benefits for myself and allow them to taste it first hand.

I know my water is pretty bad for light pale ales because not only is my chloride to sulfate ratio 4:1, but they are both low. I brewed two small 1/2 gallon stovetop batches today with one unmodified and one touched up with gypsum and epsom salt to get my sulfates up to about 200ppm and leaving my Cl at 55ppm.

My regular RA is also more suited to beers in the 12 SRM area so I had to reduce that a bit too. I'm really looking forward to seeing if we can all taste the difference and more importantly that the modified water was better.

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ipscman

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Hi Bobby,

Is it possible for you to post your own water data for us as well as the specifics of what you added to the test brew?

weirdboy

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^^
Yes, please. Full water profiles for both batches would help me understand what's going on.

Bobby_M

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Sorry, yeah, I meant to do that.

Water Test APA #A Treated
10-A American Pale Ale
Author: Bobby
Date: 10/1/2009



Size: .5 gal
Efficiency: 82.32%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 220.46 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.066 (1.045 - 1.060)
|==============================#=|
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 - 1.015)
|============================#===|
Color: 5.62 (5.0 - 14.0)
|=========#======================|
Alcohol: 6.51% (4.5% - 6.2%)
|==========================#=====|
Bitterness: 47.2 (30.0 - 45.0)
|==========================#=====|

Ingredients:
18 oz Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
.125 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
0.125 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
0.25 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:03:00 mash in - Liquor: 0.75 gal; Strike: 160.05 °F; Target: 154.0 °F
00:04:00 mashout - Water: 0.25 gal; Temperature: 166.7 °F; Target: 157.0 °F
00:04:00 Strain - Untitled Sparge: -0.13 gal sparge @ 168.0 °F, 0.0 min; Total Runoff: 0.75 gal

Notes
Batch A mash was modified with .8g Gypsum and .3g MgSO4 Epsom Salt.

Calcium Magnesium Sodium Chloride Sulfate Alkalinity
(Ca ppm) (Mg ppm) (Na ppm) (Cl ppm) (SO4 ppm) (CaCO3 ppm)
94 20 28 53 213 60
50-150 10-30 0-150 0-250 50-350 See RA below

Residual Best for Chloride to Best for
Alkalinity this color Sulfate Ratio this style
-19 4 to 8 SRM 0.25 Very Bitter

Mash varied between 148 and 151 for an hour, then a 10 minute ramp up to 160F.

Sample A was 11brix preboil, B 10.5 brix.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3


Water Test APA #B Untreated
10-A American Pale Ale
Author: Bobby
Date: 10/1/2009



Size: .5 gal
Efficiency: 71.09%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 189.88 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.057 (1.045 - 1.060)
|====================#===========|
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.010 - 1.015)
|=====================#==========|
Color: 5.62 (5.0 - 14.0)
|=========#======================|
Alcohol: 5.61% (4.5% - 6.2%)
|==================#=============|
Bitterness: 47.2 (30.0 - 45.0)
|==========================#=====|

Ingredients:
18 oz Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
.125 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
0.125 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
0.25 oz Centennial (9.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:03:00 mash in - Liquor: 0.75 gal; Strike: 160.05 °F; Target: 154.0 °F
00:04:00 mashout - Water: 0.25 gal; Temperature: 166.7 °F; Target: 157.0 °F
00:04:00 Strain - Untitled Sparge: -0.13 gal sparge @ 168.0 °F, 0.0 min; Total Runoff: 0.75 gal

Notes
Batch A mash was modified with .8g Gypsum and .3g NaCO4 Epsom Salt.

Calcium Magnesium Sodium Chloride Sulfate Alkalinity
(Ca ppm) (Mg ppm) (Na ppm) (Cl ppm) (SO4 ppm) (CaCO3 ppm)
94 20 28 53 213 60
50-150 10-30 0-150 0-250 50-350 See RA below

Residual Best for Chloride to Best for
Alkalinity this color Sulfate Ratio this style
-19 4 to 8 SRM 0.25 Very Bitter

Mash varied between 148 and 151 for an hour, then a 10 minute ramp up to 160F.

Additional .3g Gypsum and .1g Epsom Salt added to Batch A boil.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.3

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Zen_Brew

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Looking forward to the report. This water modification stuff can become mind numbing. I've got really light water in Seattle so I don't really have much of a choice once I move outside very light beers. I haven't had the opportunity to do any comparisons, but I know the first IPA I modded water on immediately tasted exponentially better than the ones I had done previously.

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dfohio

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What caused the drop in efficiency on Batch B? The untreated RA?

SpanishCastleAle

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Prob just a typo but Epsom is MgSO4.

Will be very interested in the results!

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conpewter

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Looks cool! I have very high chloride so I tend to dilute and then add back in gypsum, for sulfate/chloride ratio as well as RA issues. It really seems to have helped my IPAs

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Bobby_M

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Thanks, you're right. Typo. Ok, now that I'm at work I have a second to post more..

The water mods according to TH's spreadsheet:

Starting Water:
Ca: 30 ppm
Mg: 10 ppm
Na: 28 ppm
Cl: 53 ppm
SO4: 15 ppm
HCO3: 73 ppm
RA: 33 (8 to 13 SRM)
Cl to SO4: 3.53 (Very Malty)


Mash Vol: 0.75 gal
Dilution Rate: 0%

Mash Adjustments:

CaSO4: 0.8 grams
MgSO4: 0.3 grams
Vol: 0.75 gal

Boil Adjustments:
CaSO4: 0.3 grams
MgSO4: 0.1 grams

Results:
Ca: 94 ppm
Mg: 20 ppm
Na: 28 ppm
Cl: 53 ppm
SO4: 213 ppm
CaCO3: 60 ppm

RA: -19 (4 to 8 SRM)
Cl to SO4: 0.25 (Very Bitter)

The difference in efficiency is really baffling. Just to make sure people don't start attributing to all kinds of other things, here's what I did.

Crushed each batch's grain one at a time. In other words, I didn't crush 36 oz and try to split it up from there. That could have resulted in different amounts of husk/flour so I avoided it.

The mash vessels were 1g milk jugs with the tops cut off. Both sat in a hot water bath inside a cooler to keep the mash temps consistent.

The strike water was derived from the same pot, measure in a measuring cup, then poured into the grain.

Salts were added directly to the sample A mash.

I dumped each batch into pots to heat to mash out temps and I checked to make sure the temps were rising equally up to about 160. I also added another quart each to the mash to make up for absorption. Then dumped the mash into a strainer and let drain for 5 minutes each.

I did test the mash pH but I unfortunately only have the colorpHast 5-10 range and both appeared to be the same pH (around 5.4).

The boil off between the two pots was identical. I used the same exact 1 gallon jug fermenters and the levels are the same.

Seriously though, I'm baffled. Could it really be sample A's in-range calcium level that boosted 10% efficiency?

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Saccharomyces

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Awesome! Looking forward to results of a blind tasting.

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