My First RO brew

[Onthebrew]

I picked up 25 litres ( 6 gallons) of RO water today but am unsure of how to treat it with minerals etc so would appreciate any advice on this. Im in the UK but i know using RO is much more common your side of the pond so was hoping to tap into your expertise.

The brew will be an American pale ale based around zombie dust, so a pale ale malt base ,some munich, some dark munich and some medium crystal, but hopped with centennial instead ofd citra

i have calcium chroride, Gypsum and epsom salts. any advice on how to treat my 25 litres ( 6 gallons) of RO for the brew?

gonna be brewing this tomorrow morning and am very interested to see how this compares to filtered tap water

 

[JaggersBrewingCo]

Are you using any brewers software?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Any advice on how to treat my 25 litres ( 6 gallons) of RO for the brew?

Take a look at Water Chemistry – How to Build Your Water (link) - which is the "CliffNotes" for A Brewing Water Chemistry Primer (HomeBrewTalk link).

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Play around with water profiles in Brewer's Friend. For my APA's I use the Balanced Profile.

 

[Onthebrew]

Thanks Guys, i'll have a read up

 

[Redracer1205]

Water chemistry isn't something I've played with yet. Have considered it but will need to determine what my water baseline is first.

Will be interesting to hear if you think it made a difference. You say you are in the UK, do you have very hard water in you area?

 

[Onthebrew]

Ended up with a poof 4.85, which is a bit of a worry!

 

[marc1]

Ended up with a poof 4.85, which is a bit of a worry!

How are you measuring this - hydrometer? What kind? You might be using the wrong one or misreading it.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

Before treating your mash water, enter the types and amounts of grains used in the recipe. Then once the water volumes are known, any mineral or acid additions can be adjusted to match a water profile and target pH.

 

[MaxStout]

This will get you in the ballpark.

 

[jerrylotto]

The whole point of RO water is to have a known starting point (0). What you add is what you end up with. I usually use the Brewer's Friend water chemistry calculator. There are actually two versions of it, the more advanced one is linked off of the page I cited.

 

[Genuine]

I love BrewFathers water chemistry calculator. You plug in your recipe and what sort of ppm mineral amounts you want to be around and it'll tell you how much to add based on your grain bill and water amounts.

If you're doing all Centennial, you might want to have a look at Northern Brewer's Dead Ringer recipe sheet.

 

[Onthebrew]

I used the Brewers friend and it was way out. It predicted mash ph of 5.4 and I got 4.85!

 

[marc1]

I used the Brewers friend and it was way out. It predicted mash ph of 5.4 and I got 4.85!

How are you measuring pH?

 

[Onthebrew]

How are you measuring pH?

i have a digital reader and also use strips.

 

[marc1]

i have a digital reader and also use strips.

Can you walk through the process?

Was this reading done with a meter or strips? What kind of meter? Did you calibrate the day of use? When did you take the reading? How did you take the reading? The details are important.

Also, list out your grain bill, water amounts (mash/sparge), and water treatments.

Did you check the RO water that you got to make sure that it actually was RO? I've had the machines at stores here spit out some sketchy water, probably because they weren't serviced enough. A cheap handheld TDS meter is good for that.

 

[IslandLizard]

i have a digital reader and also use strips.

What kind of digital reader? If not a common brand such as Milwaukee, Hach, etc., perhaps you can post a link to it.
Was it calibrated (or at least verified in a buffer) right before use?
At what temperature was the reading? That makes a huge difference.

pH strips are very inaccurate, and also very difficult to read, typically swatches of brown.

 

[Henbrew]

I used the Brewers friend and it was way out. It predicted mash ph of 5.4 and I got 4.85!

Hmmm, something has to be off. I use Brewers friend for all my recipes along with RO water and it's never off by more than 0.05 pH.

For example, if I had a mash pH target of 5.3 for one of my pale ales, I'd add 3ml lactic acid to achieve that pH. To get it near 4.85 I'd have to add 13ml lactic acid.

 

[Onthebrew]

Cheers for the feedback Guys. I’ve found brewers friend always to be a bit off with PH. It could be the way I set it up on BF ( I use an all in one system) but the other numbers are always bang on or thereabouts ( gravity etc) with BF. In terms of PH I’ve used my experience Which was fine using regular water!

this was the first time using RO water, it was bought from an aquarium store. I checked It’s Ph and it was around 6.5

in terms of my PH readings, I use strips and a reader, as I have for my last 50 brews and previously have always been in the ball park ( 5.1to 5.4), despite brewers friend predicting otherwise ( I’m sure my set up must be entered wrong into brewers friend but I can’t see how?). Previous brews have been using bottled spring water or filtered tap water with minor adjustments such as Gypsum, acid malt etc

here is a link

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/693335/undead-2
Crisp light crystal is actually medium crystal In reality


Here is water prolile, I mashed in with 23 litres

https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=5XJS0QX