Should I treat my water for an extract Kölsch?

[J2W2]

Hi,

I've been brewing for several years and have never treated my water - never even really thought about it until fairly recently as I see more and more articles about it. I fill my kettle the night before, add a 1/4 Campden tablet and call it good. I brew extract and partial-mash; all ales so far. I've never had a beer that seemed "off" in any way and I've always been happy with the outcome. Which of course doesn't mean they can't be better!

I'm not sure how close our local water (Lincoln, NE) is to what would be considered "ideal" for brewing. If I understand water chemistry correctly, some issues like PH are probably not as important to me since I don't brew all-grain. Pretty much everything I've brewed so far has a pretty robust flavor (strong ales, browns, porters, stouts, IPAs, etc), which I assume are more forgiving on the water.

Anyway, I have two kegs nearing empty. I'm brewing a nut brown ale next week for one, and I'm thinking of trying a Kölsch for the other. I am guessing a Kölsch will be a little less tolerant of poor water chemistry, so I thought I'd attach our local water profile (I've just attached relevant pages) to see what your thoughts are. I brew five-gallon batches, so any recommended adjustments for a starting volume in the 6.5 gallon range would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

 

[moreb33rplz]

Nuked

 

[Jag75]

When using extract kits I think its best to use RO water . The water profile is already complete .

 

[J2W2]

When using extract kits I think its best to use RO water . The water profile is already complete .

I thought RO water gave you a clean slate to build a water profile on - I wasn't aware it could be used by itself. I thought having calcium, magnesium, etc, in the right quantities was beneficial for all brews, even extract? I don't have access to RO water, but if that's the way to go for the Kölsch, I could use distilled water.

 

[Yooper]

I thought RO water gave you a clean slate to build a water profile on - I wasn't aware it could be used by itself. I thought having calcium, magnesium, etc, in the right quantities was beneficial for all brews, even extract? I don't have access to RO water, but if that's the way to go for the Kölsch, I could use distilled water.

Yes, RO or distilled water would be great for a kolsch.

 

[rsquared]

I thought RO water gave you a clean slate to build a water profile on - I wasn't aware it could be used by itself. I thought having calcium, magnesium, etc, in the right quantities was beneficial for all brews, even extract? I don't have access to RO water, but if that's the way to go for the Kölsch, I could use distilled water.

Right, but you build on that typically in the mash and possibly sparge water. In an extract batch, the brewer that made the extract have already made those adjustments, so there's nothing more you need to do, particularly for a Kölsch where you want a fairly clean profile.

 

[J2W2]

Well, nine years in and learning every day! I'll give the Kölsch a try with distilled water.

Thanks for your help!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

There is also a "flavor side" of brewing salts (sulfate & chloride) which can be used with extract-based recipes.

Additional sulfate will sharpen the perceived hops bitterness. Additional chloride will round, smooth and sweeten the beer.

Each brand (and perhaps style within the brand) of malt extract will likely have a different mineral profile (from the source water supply). So the approach is "season to taste" rather than spreadsheets and PPMs. Steven Deeds book Brewing Engineering (a $4.50 eBook) has a couple of paragraphs with observations on various brands of malt extract. I've "tested" a couple of those observations and came to similar conclusions.

FWIW, the idea of adding small amounts of gypsum (to an extract-based recipe) to "accent the hops" goes back to the mid 1990s.

In the past, I have read that adding a little salt to an extract-based beer will enhance the flavor. Recently, when I was experimenting with different brands of DME, I found this to be true for a brand of DME (that I rarely use) but not another (that I almost exclusively use).

 

[J2W2]

FWIW, the idea of adding small amounts of gypsum (to an extract-based recipe) to "accent the hops" goes back to the mid 1990s.

I always try to have an IPA on tap; often a Pliny the Elder clone (as I do right now). I've thought about making that kind of adjustment sometime, just to see what impact it has on an IPA I'm familiar with.

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I don't have access to RO water

I live in Omaha and build all my water profiles from distilled. I just noticed the other day that Hy-Vee brand Purified Drinking water says right on the label 'Purified by Reverse Osmosis'. It's usually $1/gallon but occasionally down to $.75

 

[ABV Motleybrew]

I live in the UK and my tap water is terrible for brewing with, I did about 10 batches before realising this was the culprit. Since then I've switched to bottled spring water which has practically zero mineral content, and as the mineral composition is on the label you can make your adjustments accordingly (plus its soooooo cheap, I can do a 5gal batch for under £2.50 buying the water from lidl). With regard to kolsch, spring water is perfect as it generally super low in calcium (and everything else for that matter). Your tap water may have to much calcium so if possible I'd go spring water or obviously RO water if you can get it.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Rsquared is correct. The brewery that made the extract used a water profile for that batch. There are several different extracts to choose from but you should use a lite pilsner and I would go with DME rather than LME and use RO water. IMHO DME extract makes a better beer. Better shelf life.
Prost

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

And as I mentioned in #8 above, different brands will likely have been brewed with different water profiles. If one follows people (rather than forums), there is some freely available information (from around 2014) on what those water profiles might be. Brewing Engineering has similar information.

 

[Steveruch]

MHO DME extract makes a better beer. Better shelf life.
Prost

And you can get a lighter color beer with dme.