RO water

I just recently started using Reverse Osmosis water from my 3-stage RO system. My Choc Milk Stout came out great tasting as well as a honey wiesen, both extract. I did notice that both carboys had noticeable active fermenting for a good two weeks until I racked into the secondary. The honey brew I even kept it in the fermenter for an extra week and combined with the wet towel/fan chill method, fermentation was still going strong.

Does anyone have any opinions on RO water? I live in Phoenix and our water is extremely hard.

I have noticed that most of the water profile and "build up from RO" threads live in the brewing science forum. There is a lot of good data there and most of it comes down to "it depeds on the beer style".

For extract brewing I highly recommend RO or distilled water. The extracts are wort with the water removed so they contain the brewing salts of the region. In my book there is a table showing the salt levels from the extracts thanks to the kind folks at both Briess and Muntons.

If you use tap water, or build up water for extracts you'll have doubled the salt in the beer.

WoodlandBrew said:

For extract brewing I highly recommend RO or distilled water. The extracts are wort with the water removed so they contain the brewing salts of the region.

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I agree and when I do all grain brews, almost always brown ales, I use RO water with two (2) teaspoonfuls of gypsum and two (2) teaspoonfuls of calcium chloride for every 10 gallons of water for the mash.

bosco

What does the gypsum and calcium add to the beer? Taste, better fermentation?

I am just about to make the transition to all-grain so I have been trying to do as much research as possible in order to get the best batch I can get.

Brewing salts will adjust the flavor of the beer. Also, if used properly, can help with mash pH which improves extraction. They don't effect fermentation much. All of the minerals the yeast need are naturally present in grain.

WoodlandBrew said:

All of the minerals the yeast need are naturally present in grain.

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That is mostly true. The exception is for calcium. Brewing with water that has at least 40 ppm calcium (50 ppm is better), helps the performance of the fermentation and quality of the beer.

I had a feeling there was something I was forgetting. Thanks for the correction.