Water - RO/System

Hello,

So I have been brewing for a little bit and the 1 item I have been told to start looking at as I have expanded my entire setup/process is water. With that being said, I monitor several different websites such as http://www.homebrewfinds.com/ and others to where you can find some amazing deals.

I purchased Countertop Portable Universal 5-stage Reverse Osmosis RO Purification Water System with DI... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GDGTKRY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

As this seems like a good system with trying to get your water to neutral to then begin building the profile. Now with that being said, I have read a little bit but really it all sounds a little much to me on how brewers try to talk about water and the chemistry behind it (hated science compared to math and things). Do i need to build a profile or will the water after it is produced adequate to make good beers? I plan on pumping 29 gallons into a holding tank I purchased so when it comes time to brew, I already have all of my water good to go and ready and depending on how crazy I want to go will either then push it through a Tankless Water Heater or push it to my HLT to then heat (deciding if I should try and connect a natural gas line to the house instead). I figure this should be a good starting off location and hope to get some answers and work from there.

I have thought about getting a water analysis completed from my water as I just took an offshoot from the main water line right into my garage and into my utility sink but I dont think there would be much point as the water will be going through the water system so that would change its buildup.

 

This is indeed an excellent place to get answers and if you read some of the threads you will find them.

 

I'm no expert but do have a very similar system to the one you linked and can tell you that its extremely unlikely that you will brew good beer with plain RO water and 'salt' additions.
Check out the this section for more info on how to improve your RO water.

 

What you do to your water depends in large part on what kind of beer you are brewing. This all presumes you're doing all-grain in some capacity.

The higher the PH of water, the more you have to do to bring it down. But how much depends on the grain you're planning on using. And you may need to bring PH up, so it's potentially a two-way street.

My water has high alkalinity; it's suitable for brewing very dark beers because the grain is more acidic, so it counteracts the alkalinity of my water and brings PH down to where it needs to be.

So, I use mostly RO water, with a little of my tap water mixed in depending on what the water calculator suggests. A typical adjustment--this is me, don't accept it as gospel--might be 5 grams of CaCl, 5 grams of Epsom Salts, 3-6 ml of lactic acid added to the strike water. But again, this depends on the specific grain bill I'm using.

There are some stickies at the beginning of this forum; you should probably spend some time reading them and then come back with specific questions left unanswered.

 

I agree with Mongoose33. The "Big Picture" of brewing with RO is you'll need a water recipe for each specific grain bill. Using basic water recipes found in the water primer (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460),
brew and tune the water recipe for taste until you really like what your making. Then that water recipe becomes a permanent part of the whole recipe for that specific beer.
Understanding you'll need to do this for all your favorite beers.

 

Thank you for the responses and will check out the link posted.

I am definitely doing all grain and am always researching all aspects for just brewing in general. I did find out RO water at least from a couple of places is best used in the first 24 hours. Which is no problem as I'll just pump the water the day before.

Now I have been reading and am getting the understanding for each of the different types of beer the water helps out certain types of beers where you want a lower alkalinity which seems to produce that sytle of beer such as the Czech Republic. Ireland's water is harder alkalinity to where their water is a higher ph and with the darker grains being acidic, it'll lower the ph to the right levels which porters and stouts thrive.

My main hope ultimately is if/when I do try to start a brewery, by using a commercial machine will be at the same starting point but in larger volumes so when it comes to building beers from a fresh grain bill and the same water profile with using different strains of yeast should be able to solidify beers on a smaller scale. That being said also trying to read books and even see about volunteering at a brewery if that option is out there even if it is cleaning which is primarily the job anyways. But the knowledge that could be learned might be instrumental.