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Distilled water (also grocery store) is also an option. It's more expensive, and still has to be schlepped, but has the advantage of being immune from lazy RO system maintenance. That said, a TDS meter can detect a bad batch of RO water.

You're welcome.

It says SO4-S, which means "Sulfate expressed as Sulfur." What that means is that the sulfate ions were counted, but then reported as if each Sulfate ion's mass was the same as a Sulfur atom. But a Sulfate ion weighs 3 times as much as a Sulfur atom, so the number has to be multiplied by three...

Sulfate is 438 ppm.

This is probably not an answer you were hoping for, but that water would not be great for most beer styles. One issue is the Sulfate, at 438 ppm. (Ward reports Sulfate "as Sulfur," so the number has to be multiplied by 3.) I'm trying to think of a case where 438 ppm would be desirable. Maybe...

Yes, you'll have to relieve the pressure somehow. Opening the PRV will work, but then it's not truly a closed transfer. A spunding valve set to a low pressure on the keg's gas post would be a better option.

The Spundit is a very nice and useful device, and I have a couple of them, but accurate it is not. At 1-2 PSIG (as measured by a high quality low pressure gauge), the Spundit's gauge reads zero. Like, not zero-ish, but pegged to 0. Which isn't really surprising, because it has a cheapo gauge...

How do you clean it with it being glued in?

Boiling will certainly boil away some of the honey's aroma and flavor. Does he say why he suggests boiling?

Here's mine. Just a tad more complicated, but dead easy with the aid of a mash pH calculator....

Yes, it really makes no difference (to the final mash pH) when you add it. My point was that he could have been referring to acidifying water to 5.5 or to acidifying the mash to 5.5. Two different things that will not match, because the grist and the salts are two more variables.

What is it about the color, spores and location that tells you it's definitely mold? And what kind? Also, how are you seeing spores?

Hmm. That could be read a couple of ways: 1) Add 1/4 tsp of 10% phosphoric acid to 5 gallons of RO to get the water to 5.5 pH. (It's not the right amount to do that, but it could have been the intent, however misguided.) -or- 2) A tsp of calcium salts plus 1/4 tsp of 10% phosphoric acid to...

Thanks for the clarification. Interestingly, 1/4 tsp of 10% phosphoric acid would take 5 gallons of RO water well below 5.5 pH (but still weakly buffered). Only 0.056 ml would be needed (for 5.5). So I wonder why he thought he was hitting 5.5 pH. But even 1/4 teaspoon of 10% phosphoric acid...

Really just speculating here until I learn what he really does (or did, if it's something from 2013 (or whenever) that he no longer does), but if it's "acidify RO water to 5.5 ph, mash with that water, no other additions, and call it a day," that would typically not be good starting conditions...

The whole folly (i.e. pointlessness) of acidifying RO to 5.5 pH aside... It's not hard to calculate the amount of acid needed to do it. And it's a very small amount. Measuring the ph of the acidified water, OTOH, would be nigh on impossible with a standard pH meter. There are not enough ions...

I get that you don't want to talk about the details. Great. But I'm not going to read the books just to clarify what @hottpepper13 meant about Gordon's RO water acidification, if in fact he is even quoting the books you are talking about. So for the love of God, stop advising me right now.

Yes, you keep saying that. But I want to figure out more precisely what this supposed process is/was, as my read of @hottpeper13's post seems to be that it's something current. If you don't want to participate, fine, but feel free to stop playing gate keeper and telling me to move forward...

I haven't read them, or at least I've never read a book that advocated that. Which, again, is why I asked if that's what he's really doing. Perhaps you could enlighten us.

So, easier to measure with phosphoric than lactic, but still pointless if all he's doing is acidifying RO water to 5.5 and not adding any salts (to reduce mash pH) to the mash. Which is why I asked @hottpeper13 if that's really what Gordon is doing. They have certainly improved. But even in...