Water chemistry

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DraconianHand

nudge, nudge, wink, wink
HBT Supporter
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Messages
488
Reaction score
1
Location
Maryland
In the back of Beer Captured there is a water modification chart.

The chart provides quantities of minerals that can be added to 5 gallons of water to make the water more appropriate for the style.

Does the entire amount of water used for brewing need to be modified, or just the water used for mashing and sparging?
 
unclesamskid said:
In the back of Beer Captured there is a water modification chart.

The chart provides quantities of minerals that can be added to 5 gallons of water to make the water more appropriate for the style.

Does the entire amount of water used for brewing need to be modified, or just the water used for mashing and sparging?

I'm not sure I understand your question: what water goes into brewing other than mash and sparge water?

Oh wait--do you mean for partial mashing? In that case, I'd say you really only need to treat your mash and sparge water, although the mineral content of water can effect things like perceived hops bitterness. The chemicals involved are so inexpensive that I might just treat it all and RDWHAHB.
 
Yes, partial mashing...sorry about that.

My problem is that I don't have the capacity to treat all the water required for brewing at one time, so I will have to figure out how much of .33 teaspoons of gypsum goes into whatever volume of water I am using.

I am new to PM and I usually wind up having to add less than one gallon of water to the wort prior pitching my yeast. Each time I brew it seems that I have to add less water to the wort than the time before. Probably just due to practice at siphoning and calculating how much water I need to use.
 
Partial mashing? That is new to me. I would expect that the grain mash portion would be simply infused and thus loose the balance control present in a step-mash process - which would likely be lost to the malt extract portion as well.

That is why I have the 32 qt pot, the 15,000 BTU crab pot burner, and have to use them outside of the house.

Just a side note, my wife would shoot me if I attempted a boil in the kitchen. you know; moisture --> mold --> yuck
 
Water adjustment has two goals
1 to set your mash PH
2 to reach a particular profile for beer flavor

the problem with these charts is that, if you dont know where you are, you cant expect to get where your going
if you want to start looking into water adjustments, and I suggest that you do, you need to test your existing water

I have been using Bru'n water and it has made a huge difference in the quality of my beer

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/home

A great site and program if you want to get more involved with your water
 
Back
Top