The water's fine?

How much does everyone screw with their water profile?

I have my water analysis (closest to Munich's) and I'm doing a ton of reading and I know what everything does, but... How important is all that really? I'm not entering competitions, and I'm just ramping up for my first AG batch. I've heard of guys starting from scratch with distilled water but that seems a bit much for me at this point. How far do I need to go with this aspect of the brew? (or more properly, the mash?)

I actually have never even checked mine either. As far as I'm concerned if it tastes good enough to drink out of the tap then it's probably good enought to make beer.

Cheyco, I see iy like you. I obtained a water report and I saw that I have fairly soft water. I'm also able to get the PH into range for mashing so I don't see much need for screwing with my water. This ist just another area of complication that everyone can enter when they feel like it.

Kai

IIRC; there are a couple of styles in which the water profile plays a major role.
English bitters could not be produced along the Rhine, and German "lights" and lagers would not do well brewed with water from the Thames.

In the real word, it woun't matter much for the great majority of our brews.
The differences, IMHO, would show if you had hard well water trying to make a light crisp Pilsner; or overly soft water to make a brittish bitter.

Most of the recipies that I've seen call for gypsum, salts, and other water treatments when the stylereally requires it. When I rember the link to the tables, I will post it.

Here is one

Awesome! One less thing to worry about for the impending test-batch!
:rockin:

Chairman Cheyco said:

Awesome! One less thing to worry about for the impending test-batch!
:rockin:

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I plan to do an APA for my firstAG batch, so I thought I might go ahead and add a little gypsum to the strike water and the sparge water.

But generally, this is something I plan to relax and not worry about unless I encounter some problem that seem attributable to water chemistry.

Cheyco, for certain styles, water can be a make or break factor. Remember the problems I've had with my stouts? I always complained about a nasty bitterness that overpowered the beer and made it undrinkable? Well I proposed that question on the green board and John Palmer (YES, him) actually replied and said I needed to try some chalk in my mash/sparge water and that acrid bitterness would probably go away. After that I did big time research on water profiles.

I found some nifty programs and spreadsheets that can help you figure out what styles are best for your profile. The water program is Brewater 3.0. Google it and download it, it is free.

The spreadsheet isn't as advanced but if you enter a couple of variables from your water, it will tell you what styles are best for you profile based on SRM. Neat little tool. I have it saved if you want me to send it to you. PM me your e-mail.

Check the PH if you can.. but even that is not absolutely necessary and I did quite a few AG batches before I started tampering with the water.

Whatever you do though, don't use distilled unless you add some salts to it. You actually want some minerals in the water.. Regular tap or bottled water is what you want - as others have said, if it tastes good enough to drink then it's probably ok to brew with.

One thing to keep in mind is that while the water of many of the world's brewing centers is well documented, it's not necessarily safe to assume that breweries located in those areas don't treat their water one way or another so that it differs from the published details.

For example, the water in and around Bitburg, Germany is actually quite hard. So, Bitburger softens the water before they use it for brewing. If you looked at the water profile for Bitburg and tried to replicate it to brew a Pils, you would be way off base.

I know that many styles were historically developed because of the existing water profiles in different parts of the world. However, given increased knowledge of water chemistry, it's possible that trying to replicate a given water profile may not be as appropriate as it might have been years ago.

Just a thought......

stansell said:

For example, the water in and around Bitburg, Germany is actually quite hard. So, Bitburger softens the water before they use it for brewing. If you looked at the water profile for Bitburg and tried to replicate it to brew a Pils, you would be way off base.

I know that many styles were historically developed because of the existing water profiles in different parts of the world. However, given increased knowledge of water chemistry, it's possible that trying to replicate a given water profile may not be as appropriate as it might have been years ago.

Just a thought......

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This probably has some merit. However, from what I've read, places like Pils, Burton, Dublin, etc. don't treat the water at all--to keep costs down. they go with the flow, literally.

That said, since I've done the water research I have figured what I need to add to my water profile to replicate Dublin. I have not yet brewed a stout to compare a difference from what I had previously. Time will tell on that, but I'd actually be pretty confident that St. James brewery (or other major Eauropean breweries) probably don't treat their water. Why mess with success?

For me it just too many headaches to try and worry about that kind of stuff. Fortunately I have well water so I don't have Chlorine or anything else in my water. Many years ago a guy at the LHBS told me that local well water is perfect for brewing and that's all I need to know. Cheers.

For homebrewers there are only 4 mineral salts that are needed to alter the water for any style.

Calcium sulfate (gymsum)
sodium chloride (non-iodized table salt)
Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom salts)
chalk (calcium Carbonate)

IF you know the makup of your water, you can add these in the correct combination to cater to any style of beer.

There is a real nice chart in the back of the book "Beer Captured" that tells you exactly what to add for any style given your water makup. Basically it will tell you that if you want to make an IPA for instance, and you have hi carbonate water, you would add 1 tsp gypsum, .25 tsp of non-iodized table salt, and 1 tsp epsom salts. Its pretty nice actually. I cannot say how accurate it is as I am not to the point where I fool with water but when I get to that point I will be checking it out.

I do know that some styles can have off flavors if you use water that is WAY outside the profile that suits that style. Will it taste awful? I doubt it. But I'm sure for some people who want to control everything, it will be an issue.

I've never done too much with my water. I've looked at the cities analysis of the water and it went right over my head. My LHBS/Brewpub is just down the street and they say that the water is fine. Other than carbon filtering, they don't do anything to the water and neither do I.

I was browsing the morebeer.com catalog and saw they have a reverse osmosis water filter and some additives to create various regional water compositions. They suggest to use the RO on your water then add the necessary minerals back in.

Sounds like an interesting concept. Water is the largest ingredient in beer, so it kind of makes sense not to take it for granted.

I had a porter that had a plastic aftertaste.. I was told this could have been from too much chlorine in my water. Now I feel like I should be a little more careful with my water but I'm not sure just how far I want to take it.

Some have suggested half tapwater and half purchased distilled.

gopherhockey said:

I had a porter that had a plastic aftertaste.. I was told this could have been from too much chlorine in my water. Now I feel like I should be a little more careful with my water but I'm not sure just how far I want to take it.

Some have suggested half tapwater and half purchased distilled.

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A carbon block filter is all you really need. I use close to 40 gallons of water per batch so anything but tap water would get expensive. I use a carbon block filter connected to a food grade vinyl hose and the water tastes great/

gopherhockey said:

I had a porter that had a plastic aftertaste.. I was told this could have been from too much chlorine in my water. Now I feel like I should be a little more careful with my water but I'm not sure just how far I want to take it.

.

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If you need to get rid of either chlorine or chloramine then you can add 1 campton tablet to aprox. 60 litres of water and this will remove (quickly) any chlorine or chloramine.