RO Water with Kone Fire Rock Pale Ale...

Hey guys,
So I don't have much experience with this water chemistry stuff yet and I want to brew a batch of beer tonight. I already have some RO water from a water machine at my local supermarket and was wondering if it will be alright to just go ahead and brew with this? It's filtered, UV'd, and RO'd water. So it's pretty barebones. I have a LHBS thats right down the road that I can swing in and grab something, if need be. I don't care if this beer isn't exact on, just want to make sure this RO water wont give me really bad off flavors or anything.

Here is the recipe: http://hopville.com/recipe/1274532/american-pale-ale-recipes/kona-pale-ale-clone

The Primer, q.v., is for you.

What?

Hey Chris, you will need to add to the RO water. It is predominately used for that exact reason, so you can make the water specific for the beer style you are using. It does get tough but can be figured out. I like the site http://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

Hope it helps.

Chris7687 said:

What?

Click to expand...

Your question has been asked thousands of times. To save typing the answer is in the Primer which is in the stickies at the top of the page.

Chris7687 said:

What?

Click to expand...

AJDeLange wrote this primer: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

The very first post should be all that you need to start with RO water. It's quick and easy, and all you'll need is some calcium chloride and some gypsum. (Follow the "British beers" instructions, even though you're making an American pale ale).

AJDeLange - Thanks for creating the sticky thread. Busy at work and didn't have time last night to research.

Yooper - Thanks as always.

Hey guys, so I got the gypsum and CaCl2, and also some Acidulated Malt. Should I use this on this batch? Using EZ Calculator my inputs are 10lbs Maris Otter, 1 lb Munich, and 1 lb other. 9 gallons of water. 7grams (little shy of 2 tsp) of Gypsum and 7grams of CaCl2. At that rate the pH says I am fine, but what is the pH for Pale Ales need to be around? I know there is a listing somewhere, but I can't seem to find it. Also, since I am using RO water I don't have any profile to my "Starting Water", correct?

Your starting water profile would be all 0's as even though it is not exactly the case that the water contains no ions it is approximately so.

The desired mash pH is more or less the same for all beers. Ales may want to be a little lower than lagers but it would not be by much. I would use 1 or 2% acidulated malt as the Maris Otter tends to run a DI pH of about 6 and the Munich will lower you some. It really is best to check with a pH meter until you have the experience to predict what will happen with a given grain bill.

What kind of pH meter would you recommend? Need a few other pieces of brewing equipment, but I will make sure to add this to the list.