Adding Minerals to Tap/Ro water

[HomeDrewBrew]

Hi
Im wondering if anyone can give me sum sort of ratio as to what minerals and how much i can use for my tap/Ro water for brewing that they have used.
Just a simple guideline for this newbie as to this subject is over my head.
I know the Alkalinity is 211CAC03 and PH is 7.11.
My citys water report doesnt give me much info and i cant post it pdf.
I mostly do Lagers/APA/IPA.

 

[gregkeller]

there are programs out there like bru'n water that will help you build up water. Building from RO is much easier than from tap. Think of RO as a blank canvas you can do whatever you want with. Starting with tap is like trying to cover up a bad tattoo

If you only know CaCO3 and pH it is impossible to tell you what to do with your tap water. I have found that water is my last hurdle to jump over in understanding this whole hobby. I made sure I got my process, fermentation, yeast health down before I even gave my water a second thought. Also where does your water come from? my tap water comes from surface reservoirs and that means it changes significantly with the seasons. My mineral content, hardness, pH vary quite a bit from winters when salt is being sprayed on the roads, to wet spring and dry summers. For me that means building up water from RO/DI is the easiest way to go. Your mileage may vary.

 

[HomeDrewBrew]

If i added campden tabs to tap would it make a difference at all?.
Thanks for info

 

[JonM]

There's no one-size-fits-all amount, but this is a great place to start.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460

Palmer's "Water" book revolutionized the way I brew, so that's a great step 2 if you are serious about understanding water.

 

[oljimmy]

So, the simple thing for you to do is just to add 2-ish teaspoons of Gypsum to every 5 gal brew. The style you brew needs crisp hop bitterness and the gypsum adds sulfates which help that along. But if you're worrying about ratios and pH and all that other stuff, you really need Bru N' Water, the free excel spreadsheet that does all the calculation for you. There's no way to just spout some simple formula, since everything depends on the style you're going for, the properties of your water, and which additions you're using.

 

[JonM]

But many say sulfates are no good for beers with continental hops, like lagers. For those, you'd want to follow the primer and add just calcium chloride.

 

[HomeDrewBrew]

But many say sulfates are no good for beers with continental hops, like lagers. For those, you'd want to follow the primer and add just calcium chloride.

What do you mean by Primer?

 

[JonM]

The brewing water chemistry primer (I linked in my first post). AJ DeLange gives a good summary of the basics for beginners.

Basically, use RO water. For light beers, add CaCl and a small percentage of acid malt. For hoppy beers, add some gypsum. For dark beers, skip the acid malt. Give 'er a read- thru. He explains it better than my little summary does.

 

[mabrungard]

At 211 ppm alkalinity, there is probably a good bit of other ionic content in that water. It is important to find that out. However, it is possible that the tap water can be amended to serve your brewing purposes. The main thing will be to neutralize the alkalinity to the degree needed for each brew.

For those hoppy beers, including enough sulfate can be an important addition for the water. But don't worry about the effect of sulfate on continental hops since there is apparently only 1 person who finds this to be the case. There are plenty of noble hopped, continental lagers that are brewed with modest sulfate content. For those APAs and IPAs, a fairly high sulfate content can be desirable to most drinkers. However, without knowing what the sulfate level in the tap water is, I wouldn't go adding a bunch more.

Ultimately, it is important to find out what is in that tap water.