Brewing with Club soda instead of water.

[Mogambo]

I was tinkering over the idea for brewing a beer with club soda instead of water.. Usually soda have added mineral like Potassium sulfate, Sodium chloride, Disodium phosphate, Sodium bicarbonate.

First thought of style to brew is German Pils as it would give crisp, may be salty and enhance the hop flavor. i may not be able to control the brewing salt but thought of taking best soda brand and giving a try..

Have anyone tried it? Opening for suggestion / guidance if any..

 

[SirSpectre]

95% of store bought RO water has minerals added back as well. Check the label and see if it says "added minerals for flavor." Typically its the standard salts for brewing too! You can call the manufacturer and get a mineral report.

 

[Qhrumphf]

What tastes good water-wise may not be great for beer flavor (or stability, or even for brewing at all). Could end up being quite harsh once hops get involved.

The other big factor is pH. Some club sodas and especially mineral waters can be VERY alkaline, and your mash pH and pH down the line could end up way too high.

For example, Gerolsteiner mineral water contains 1800 mg/l bicarbonate. That's astronomical.

I imagine most club sodas aren't nearly at that level, but probably too high.

If you want a salty minerally bite, I'd start with a known workable source and add minerals yourself. But i would skip any alkalinity and hit with calcium sulfate, calcium chloride, and sodium chloride.

 

[Lefou]

Added bicarbonate on a low SRM beer style like German Pilsner will throw your mash pH off ... besides, the Pils style is usually done with "soft" or low mineral water.
For German Pils, you'd really only need to add a bit of CaCl and CaSO4 to get your calcium and sulfate levels where you want them for the hopping level.

 

[Mogambo]

Aah!!! I overlook the pH value of soda... After my research i found club soda are acidic ranging pH anywhere bw 3.5 to 4.7 when warm or cold carbonated, even decarbonated.

I recall failure of recent sour stout i brewed where i used lactic acid to lower the ph due to which sugar conversion in mash was disasterous.. Was aiming for around 1.065 and after mash it was just 1.030.

As suggested, adding mineral would be right way to go.. Thanks e1.

 

[schematix]

lol that's like $50 in water to make a batch.

 

[Tim Schmidt]

It would be about the same price as starting out with Budweiser.

 

[Mogambo]

Lol.. Agreed... Why brew something which could be bought with lower price..