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Scottish beers do not have ANY smoked grains in them. Some Scottish yeast strains can throw a smoky phenol into the beer, but it’s only a hint. Even a Wee Heavy would have an interesting hint.

5 lbs Pils 3.5 lbs white wheat Cascade pellets first wort hopped US05 yeast RO water with very moderate mineralization Olive Nation apricot extract That recipe has been a crowd pleaser for over a decade and my wife insists on having it around. A defining element of this beer is a...

That tap water is okay as a starting point for an IPA. However, the thing that you definitely need to manage is the water’s alkalinity. Since the sparging water will also need acid neutralization, you really need to learn to use an acid. Using only acid malt won’t get all your water where it...

They do a good job. I find that Campside is a bit too piney for my tastes, but it’s clean and crisp. I do enjoy Dragonfly IPA and Bad Elmer Porter.

I see these recommendations to produce a single water batch and split it into mashing and sparging additions. Unfortunately, that approach can produce substantial problems since the needs for mashing and sparging water chemistry are typically quite different. That’s the reason that there are...

Having salts in your sparging water isn’t imperative, but you do need to account for whatever you do. The main thing that you have to do is make sure the alkalinity of your sparging water is properly low.

Sort of, but not for all sanitizers. The phosphoric acid based sanitizers like StarSan perform much better and last longer when they are made with very low hardness water. That's because the calcium in the water causes a precipitate to form, making it cloudy and that can coat your brewery...

It appears that you’ve got one of those compact RO units that have undersized filters that are readily overwhelmed. There’s a good chance that you’ll be faced with either poor water quality or frequent filter changes. Get a good RO system with the proper large filters that are necessary to...

Can't go lower than zero and the <1 ppm report is close enough to zero. The other thing to have handy when buying from a water machine, is your own TDS meter. They're cheap and they'll tell you if the machine is really producing pure water. You can read more on this subject here: TDS Meter...

Tell us about your RO system. Does it have the big 10" filter canisters or are the filters the small, compact units? Small activated carbon filters may not be capable of removing all chloramines. This is especially true if your RO system is rated for 50 gal/day or more. With regard to...

I wouldn't really worry about that imbalance since it's pretty mineralized water. There's probably some other ion in that water that the lab didn't test for and that is the likely cause of the 'imbalance'. While that water is usable for brewing, its getting on up there and you may find that...

A big variable for water is its alkalinity and that can have pretty significant effect on the finished mead. High alkalinity is likely to result in a duller, less crisp mead since the yeast only make so much acid during their ferment. It's not really a big deal, since a good mead maker is...

I haven't seen tables that report beer pH by style, but there could be something out there.

The typical pale ale profile has a decent sulfate content. I’m not sure that’s desirable when you’re adding another drying, roasty flavor to the beer. At a minimum, I’d back off the sulfate quite a bit.

When that natural water is boiled and decanted off its sediment, the calcium and bicarbonate content is substantially reduced and that resulting water is very suited for brewing a Dunkel.

It’s most likely to be the hexahydrate version since it’s more stable than the anhydrous version. In either case, be aware that this salt absorbs moisture from the air and precise dosing is difficult for that reason. You can’t know the precise hydration state.

No, vinegar is not a good storage solution. What you're doing with a storage solution, is keeping the electrolytic balance within the probe, at a desirable level. Since most probes are filled with a potassium electrolyte, using a potassium storage solution is desirable. As mentioned, its...

Winey or grapey is probably ethyl heptanoate and I’m sensitive to it. I agree that of the half dozen Koln taphouses I’ve visited, there was none of that character in their beers. In my opinion, winey is an optional component and not a requirement. I do find that the Wyeast kolsch yeast does...

Sorry, I meant that the water information provided wasn't sufficient to tell what was going on.

That output isn't very helpful. You need to be assessing the concentrations of the various ions. Regarding the sulfate, Koln water definitely does have a modest amount of sulfate in it and that is the reason that the modestly malty Kolsch is still crisp and dry finishing.