I looked at the brew chemistry forum, but a lot of the topics there were pretty specific and I just need some general advice to start with. Forgive me if I'm asking something that's come up before, which is probably true.
I'm about to brew a NB Sunshine Wheat clone. It's a partial mash, but I don't have the exact recipe handy. My local water report is:
Ca - 62 ppm
Mg - 35 ppm
Total Alkalinity - 229 ppm
My first few brews I've used this water as is, but I had a strange underlying taste in all of them and I'm wondering if water quality is the culprit. So I'd like to attempt to make some adjustments, I just need to know where to start.
I read Palmers' How to Brew book and he has a chapter on this. He says you can adjust the mash pH as you go, or you can predict beforehand what needs to be done based on your water and the type of beer you want to do.
So my questions are:
1. Should I just adjust as I go? i.e. test the mash with pH paper and add salts as needed? Or should I attempt to make adjustments before starting the mash?
2. Do I need to also adjust my sparging water, the boil water, and the dilution water? I get the impression the only mash and sparging are really important as long as the others aren't too far off.
3. Should I be aiming for a pH of 5.2 or do I need to figure out pH based on my specific beer?
4. Am I in over my head for my level of experience? Should I just forget about water adjustments and possibly switch to bottled water?
Thanks.
I'm about to brew a NB Sunshine Wheat clone. It's a partial mash, but I don't have the exact recipe handy. My local water report is:
Ca - 62 ppm
Mg - 35 ppm
Total Alkalinity - 229 ppm
My first few brews I've used this water as is, but I had a strange underlying taste in all of them and I'm wondering if water quality is the culprit. So I'd like to attempt to make some adjustments, I just need to know where to start.
I read Palmers' How to Brew book and he has a chapter on this. He says you can adjust the mash pH as you go, or you can predict beforehand what needs to be done based on your water and the type of beer you want to do.
So my questions are:
1. Should I just adjust as I go? i.e. test the mash with pH paper and add salts as needed? Or should I attempt to make adjustments before starting the mash?
2. Do I need to also adjust my sparging water, the boil water, and the dilution water? I get the impression the only mash and sparging are really important as long as the others aren't too far off.
3. Should I be aiming for a pH of 5.2 or do I need to figure out pH based on my specific beer?
4. Am I in over my head for my level of experience? Should I just forget about water adjustments and possibly switch to bottled water?
Thanks.