I am bad with water chemistry

Brewer's Friend 728
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.
pabloj13

pabloj13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
87
Location
Durham
I use Durham, NC city water treated with 1/4 Campden tablet to remove chloramine.
pH - 7.5
Ca - 4.8
Mg - 2.1
Hardness - 22
Na - 29
BiCarb - 28
Sulfate - 46
Chloride - 12

I have tried several of the water chemistry spread sheets and just am terrible at it. I haven't been adding anything, but I think I need to get the Calcium up for sure. Any other changes I need to make? It varies by beer color, right?
 
Great water! Yes, you should add more calcium. The recommendations of the Water Chemistry Primer are appropriate for your water. Do recognize that you will not be able to brew a great dark beer with that water without adding alkalinity. Pickling lime is a very good way of adding alkalinity, but it requires careful measurement.

If you're really that bad with chemistry and can't figure out how to use one of the sheets like Bru'n Water, you're probably SOL.
 
mabrungard said:
Great water! Yes, you should add more calcium. The recommendations of the Water Chemistry Primer are appropriate for your water. Do recognize that you will not be able to brew a great dark beer with that water without adding alkalinity. Pickling lime is a very good way of adding alkalinity, but it requires careful measurement.

If you're really that bad with chemistry and can't figure out how to use one of the sheets like Bru'n Water, you're probably SOL.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Martin. I don't know why it is so daunting to me. I have a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, but chemistry was never a strong suit of mine. :drunk:

So, since I am batch sparging, I probably don't have to worry too much about sparge acidification, right? My sparge is pretty quick. I think I figured the rest of it out, for the most part.
 

Similar threads

mitchh718
I need Brewfather water help
Replies
3
Views
586
Silver_Is_Money
Silver_Is_Money
O
Water Chemistry for a Mexican lager
Replies
5
Views
1K
BigEd
B
N
Is my tap water usesless for brewing?
Replies
22
Views
2K
CascadesBrewer
CascadesBrewer
S
Water profile advice
Replies
12
Views
900
stiray
S
C
Artesian well suitability
Replies
3
Views
585
mabrungard
mabrungard

Latest posts

Back
Top