John Palmer's PH nomograph with Montréal's water

**Thread I made in the beginners forum last night that did not get any answers other than fellow Montrealers who also wanted infos on this. This forum might be more appropriote.**

Alright so I've tried his nomograph with numbers found in Montréal's water report of 2010 and here's what I got :



Does it seem right?

Would Montréal's water be ok for this recipe (Scottish ale)?

I'm not 100% comfortable with water chemistry yet.

It looks as if your calcium is at about 30, your magnesium at about 7 and your alkalinity at about 125. The only problem with brewing with such water is that the alkalinity us a bit high. This will require acid in the form of sauermalz, mineral (hydrochloric, sulfuric or phosphoric) or organic (lactic from a bottle or other from dark malt) acid to lower pH into the proper range. The dark malts in the recipe you ask about might carry your pH low enough to obtain a good beer but you would do well to obtain a pH meter and check. I'm guessing that some additional acid will be needed.

Just WRT the usage notes on the image
1. The pH spread is probably more like ±2 and the SRM range probably ±25 i.e water chemistry has little to do with beer color
2. Mash pH at mash temperature is more likely to be .2 - .3 less than at room temperature
3. Mash pH should not be measured at mash temperature but rather a sample should be cooled to room temperature.

[Edit] Just looked at the Montreal report. Your average alkalinity is more like 87. This makes it less likely that you will need additional acid but it is still (and always) a good idea to check with a meter.

And now let me ask you a question: Is there any home brewing activity in the Eastern Townships?

You're right, I got the CaCo3 wrong, thanks for pointing it out! I guess I'll be able to do my scotch ale without having to make any modification to the water.

ajdelange said:

And now let me ask you a question: Is there any home brewing activity in the Eastern Townships?

Click to expand...

http://www.bieresduquebec.ca/brasseurs/cantons-de-est

Every microbreweries in the Eastern Townships.