Water Chemistry Question

[ChuckO]

Where in the brewing process is water chemistry the most important? Is the mash, sparge or boil?

At present I am using a 2 kettle system similar to this so water treatment of the sparge water isn't possible. I will be getting an RO system soon and will then be able to treat the initial strike water for the mash. If I don't treat the sparge water, but use it from my house softener and filter I will get a different water chemistry in the boil kettle that is partially RO and partially softened water (250 ppm dissolved solids, high in sodium). Where does the water chemistry have it's greatest effect?

I guess that my real question is whether I should continue with the two kettles, or plan an upgrade to a 3 kettle system?

 

[Phyrst]

Read the chapter in John Palmer's book about water chemistry.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15.html

 

[ChuckO]

I understand the water requirements during the mash. My question is basically how important is the water chemistry of the sparge water? I can easily draw RO water and treat it for the mash, but my present system doesn't allow for me to treat the sparge.

 

[Phyrst]

Hmmm...I haven't actually done an all-grain brew yet but I've been reading a lot lately getting ready to make the step.

My impression is it's not as important in the sparge since all you're doing is rinsing the sugars off the grain. The mash is where it matters because that's where the enzymes are converting the starches into sugars and pH can have an effect on that.

If your water is high in chlorine or anything else you can taste in your water you might want to treat it for that.

 

[biggubba]

The alkalinity and ph of the strike water and sparge water are both equally critical. With high alkalinity comes high buffering capacity which is detrimental to mash ph. Check out Martin Brungaard's (spelling) water information. I have used his bru'n water excel program and found it was very helpful in determining what my actual water chemisrty was and how to make corrections to help provide for the best mash ph. With poor mash ph comes poor efficiency, this also relates to your sparge water. Hope this helps!

 

[tgmartin000]

Both mash and sparge are important. For the mash, you can probably get by with half ro and half tap water, along with some acid malt. Dont use softened water.

I like to use all ro for sparge. You don't want to let the sparge pH go over 6. The low alkalinity of ro helps here. Maybe buy some ro or di at the store.

If you know the details of your watetr, you can use ez water 3.0 to determine your mash pH.

If you don't know, maybe easier to build water. Brun water is another calculator, much more robust . It helps with sparge water, too. Both are free.

 

[RoadKing]

I understand the water requirements during the mash. My question is basically how important is the water chemistry of the sparge water? I can easily draw RO water and treat it for the mash, but my present system doesn't allow for me to treat the sparge.

The sparge water is half your beer so it's just as important. My understanding is as long as long as the ph of the sparge water is good, the adjustments for it can be made in the boil kettle.

I don't know alot about RO systems. but can they make enough water on demand for your sparge? If so your good, if not you will need a 3rd vessel.

 

[flananuts]

I use the ez water calculator and I add my salts in the mash and then I add my bk salts I the boil. My water is pretty soft but I don't adjust my HLT water outside of a chlorine filter on my house line. In fact I am able to make pale ales w/o additions. What's your water profile from your house?

 

[scurry64]

How about filtered water using a Pur system? Any good?

 

[ChuckO]

Thanks for all the answers. I think that I will start by just using RO water for the mash for a few batches. Have to see how well the RO system works and how fast I can make RO water. Sooner or later I will probably start to use a HLT so that I can modify the sparge water as well.

scurry64, filtered water from a Pur system would work, but needing 15-17 gal. for a 10 gal. batch would take quite a while to make and store and it still doesn't take care of most of the dissolved solids.

 

[biggubba]

Good luck with the r.o. system, you will probably need to add a couple storage tanks to your r.o. system as they normally produce 2 gallons of r.o. water per day. It is also recommended that the influent water to the r.o. system be softened. The soft water will have many of the bad ions removed to allow the r.o. system to function more efficiently and extend the life of the r.o. membrane. If you get 6 months out of a r.o. membrane you are doing pretty well. Also be careful what you arew running your r.o. water through as r.o. water is very aggressive.