First AG Batch trying to get a good water profile

[Fooch]

I am having a lot of trouble understanding stuff when it comes to the chemicals in water and the profiles. I have been looking for a week now for something that gives me ideal starting points for water profiles for types of beers. I would think there would be something out there but I just can't find it.

I know my water is filled with stuff because out of the tap it's got small white cloudy stuff in it. So I have either brewed with Giant Eagle Natural Spring water(3 gallons for $2.49) or Brita filtered tap water. I don't know the profile of any of these waters. I didn't want to spend $30+ each to have these profiles tested(brita, GE spring, and tap) and didn't want to wait however long it would take.

I am starting my first AG batch this weekend and I have been reading a lot and trying to do this the best way possible. I have good equipment, a good understanding, and all day to prepare and make sure it's done right. The only thing I just can't seem to grasp is the water profile. What I decided to do was start with distilled water and build a profile to exactly what I want...but the problem is, I have no idea what I want. Like I said earlier I can't find good starting points for styles of beer. I am making an Imperial IPA and I have absolutely no idea how to determine what my water profile should be.

I have beersmith, so i have it setup for distilled water, and I don't know if I should be using one of their city water profiles, should I make my own? How do I know what proper levels should be for types of beers, etc. I have looked at Bru'n and EZ Water but that just tells me how to GET to a profile I want, not what profiles I need to attempt to reach.

 

[ApothecaryBrewing]

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html

reading through that will give you a good idea on how different minerals will affect the water profile and your beer. The page following it provides information on specific water profiles of historically significant beer brewing cities and the type of beer they are known for.

Or you can not worry so much about the water profile for your first AG and just make sure everything else goes smoothly. Because if you can drink it and it doesn't make you cringe, you can brew with it. May not be the best or most perfect, but you will make beer.

 

[ApothecaryBrewing]

Only suggestion otherwise would be to use a half of a campden tab per 10 gallons of water to clear out any chlorine or chloramines.

 

[manoaction]

First, I would say just brew with the bottled water you were using and it's going to be fine. The finer points of water chemistry are details to be tweaked after you're comfortable with the process of mashing and sparging.

Second, Your desired water profile depends on what you're brewing. Bru'n Water has a drop down menu on sheet three for generic styles of beer. If you're doing a malty amber, select the malty amber profile and adjust your water into the ballpark levels. It's already doing the math for the RA levels and ph.

 

[sherma]

Agree with VTrookie. I wouldn't worry about the water for now. There are many other things that are of more concern during your first AG batch. It is good that you are using BeerSmith. One thing I'd say about BeerSmith is to make sure your equipment profile is as accurate as possible. I'd check your boil off rate by boiling a measured amount of water for an hour, then measuring the volume. Boil off rates can vary widely depending on your boil kettle.

 

[acidrain]

Here is a very basic starting water profile: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

 

[Fooch]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I had the notification setting not set at immediate on this thread and I didn't know people were posting. I don't want you guys thinking i am not listening to your advice.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html

reading through that will give you a good idea on how different minerals will affect the water profile and your beer. The page following it provides information on specific water profiles of historically significant beer brewing cities and the type of beer they are known for.

Or you can not worry so much about the water profile for your first AG and just make sure everything else goes smoothly. Because if you can drink it and it doesn't make you cringe, you can brew with it. May not be the best or most perfect, but you will make beer.

I own this book and I've been reading through that chapter over and over again but for some reason it's just not sinking in. I am the type of person that needs hard answers and amounts and stuff like this comes difficult to me because it is an art and there are alot of estimations and guesses and approximations and that is where I get confused. I also watched John Palmers videos about all grain and residual alkalinity on northern brewer. I will continue to read this chapter, watch those videos, and I also read water knowledge from bru'n water.

First, I would say just brew with the bottled water you were using and it's going to be fine. The finer points of water chemistry are details to be tweaked after you're comfortable with the process of mashing and sparging.

Second, Your desired water profile depends on what you're brewing. Bru'n Water has a drop down menu on sheet three for generic styles of beer. If you're doing a malty amber, select the malty amber profile and adjust your water into the ballpark levels. It's already doing the math for the RA levels and ph.

I already purchased distilled and I have a plan based on the water primer sticky. I think I am going to go that route right now(this will be an imperial IPA so I was thinking 2% acidulated malt, 2 tsp of calcium chloride, and 2 tsp of gypsum to the distilled and see how it comes out. I may just brew this over and over with tweeks to see what I can do with it.

 

[Fooch]

Only suggestion otherwise would be to use a half of a campden tab per 10 gallons of water to clear out any chlorine or chloramines.

Since I am starting with distilled this wouldn't be necessary, right?

 

[Fooch]

Agree with VTrookie. I wouldn't worry about the water for now. There are many other things that are of more concern during your first AG batch. It is good that you are using BeerSmith. One thing I'd say about BeerSmith is to make sure your equipment profile is as accurate as possible. I'd check your boil off rate by boiling a measured amount of water for an hour, then measuring the volume. Boil off rates can vary widely depending on your boil kettle.

Yeah I made sure all my brewing equipment was spot on. But I did not do that boil off thing. I will give that a shot to fine tune it even more. Thanks.

 

[Fooch]

Here is a very basic starting water profile: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

Thanks! this is where I will be starting with my all grains and as I gain experience I will go from there.