Distilled water and CO3

[Bluedog]

I can't brew with my tap water and was wondering if distilled water would require any amount of carbonate in addition to the standard salt additions.

 

[chezteth]

It depends on the grain bill. If you are using any roasted malts (roasted barley, black malt, etc) you might have to add some carbonates. Also, the amount of crystal malts you are using will definitely effect your mash pH. Check out Martin Brungard's Bru'n Water spreadsheet. It is really helpful with determining water adjustments.

Cheers,
Brandon

 

[Newsman]

I don't know how experienced chezteth is, but some folks on this site have recommended using reverse osmosis water instead of distilled. A lot of grocery stores and more than a few "big box stores" (i.e. Walmart, Kmart, etc) are selling that stuff. You can also find stand-alone kiosks where you bring your own bottle and get 5 gallons for a buck or so. You may still need to add carbonate and such, but at least you'll have some of the minerals and such.

 

[Yooper]

You don't need to add chalk (as it doesn't dissolve properly anyway), but you possibly could need some other alkalinity such as baking soda or lime.

You want to target an appropriate mash pH, and as such may require some alkalinity at times.

I normally don't have to add any alkalinity for most of my beers, though, as mash pH tends to run high (and not too low) most of the time. However, for my stout I would either need to add some alkalinity or use some tap water to get the correct mash pH.

 

[Newsman]

Go with whatever Yooper says... Based on her posts and her position as an admin, I'd trust her opinion over just about anyone else on this forum!

 

[Yooper]

Go with whatever Yooper says... Based on her posts and her position as an admin, I'd trust her opinion over just about anyone else on this forum!

Thanks for the vote of confidence- but for water and other "sciency" stuff, I'd highly recommend others over taking my advice.

I think that anything written by AJ deLange and Mabrungard (and a few others) would trump anything that I say- that's who I listen to about water myself!

 

[chezteth]

It is true that RO water does have some trace amounts of some minerals left in it. Distilled water shouldn't have any. You should be able to adjust the mineral profile of distilled water just as easily as RO.

 

[chezteth]

Thanks for the vote of confidence- but for water and other "sciency" stuff, I'd highly recommend others over taking my advice.

I think that anything written by AJ deLange and Mabrungard (and a few others) would trump anything that I say- that's who I listen to about water myself!

+1 to deferring the expertise to AJ deLange and Mabrungard

 

[Bluedog]

Thanks all, so carbonate is only used to raise alkalinity and serves no other purpose as far as the finished product is concerned? In AJ's primer, I didn't see mention of adding magnesium to water profile, would mg not be beneficial?

 

[mabrungard]

Alkalinity is only desirable to the degree necessary to avoid an overly low mash pH. Otherwise, you don't want it. For at least half the beer styles out there, no alkalinity is likely to be needed and for most of those, an acid addition is necessary. In those brews where the pH is likely to be too low, then baking soda or lime are good candidates for adding alkalinity.

Magnesium's utility in brewing is debatable. It is a necessary nutrient for yeast health and performance. However, barley and wheat worts supply plenty of Mg. So Mg is not really necessary in most brewing water. However, there can be a place for Mg in hoppy beers where Mg's sour or astringent notes may add to the overall flavor impressions in the beer. With that said, I note that the water sources for most of Bavaria have between 10 and 30 ppm Mg. I doubt that many would find Bavarian beers off in their flavor. So I don't really have an answer regarding the desire to have Mg in our brewing water for non-hoppy beers.