first all grain brew

[ApolloSimcoe]

Sorry you took offense to that. I only meant it as a general observation.

 

[kh54s10]

Assuming that water will be a problem?? I would reserve that for when there actually is a problem. Most municipal water will not be extremely at either end of the spectrum. There shouldn't be something that needs to be addressed until more is known about the water.

Procedures are far more important in the beginning.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Sorry you took offense to that. I only meant it as a general observation.

No, I didn't take offence, I just strongly disagree.

Assuming that water will be a problem?? I would reserve that for when there actually is a problem.

I believe in being proactive, not reactive.

 

[Homergah]

What I want to know is how the heck are you getting bottled water that lists anything on the bottle other than....uh, it's water? Lol I don't think I've ever had bottled water that actually tells me anything. Even going online sometimes doesn't give me what I want. I use Crystal Geyser because they give a full water report on their website.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What I want to know is how the heck are you getting bottled water that lists anything on the bottle other than....uh, it's water?

Maybe it's different in the US? Over here (Australia) spring and mineral water (the OP has spring water) mostly has mineral content listed.

 

[Homergah]

Maybe it's different in the US? Over here (Australia) spring and mineral water (the OP has spring water) mostly has mineral content listed.

I wish it did over here. Honestly, it should be required. And...one more reason to move to Australia!

 

[OpenSights]

Maybe it's different in the US? Over here (Australia) spring and mineral water (the OP has spring water) mostly has mineral content listed.

Here’s the labels on my bottled water. They don’t list what’s in it, but how it’s processed. In my case the QD water is far superior to the temporary replacement as the RO plant is down.

You can definitely taste the difference! I need to brew a cream ale for a competition soon and getting worried about not having my normal water.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

At least it looks like you guys have the source of the water listed on bottles - it's hopefully happening here soon, but bottled water doesn't have to list where it's from over here. There are lots of examples of bottled water coming straight from a tap, marketed as 'pure' water with pictures of mountains, trees and rivers.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

View attachment 617289 View attachment 617290

Here’s the labels on my bottled water. They don’t list what’s in it, but how it’s processed. In my case the QD water is far superior to the temporary replacement as the RO plant is down.

Good news - that's RO water! If you want to be sure, buy a cheap TDS (total dissolved solids) meter to check that there's close to nothing in there (a poorly maintained RO system can still let lots of stuff through), but you don't really need to to start off. For a pale beer, just add 1/2 teaspoon of Calcium chloride per gallon of water. Using 2% acid malt (sour malt or saurmalz) will also help if want to (definitely do this if it's for competition, or use an alternative acid type).

 

[OpenSights]

I’ll look into a TDS meter, however, as much as I understand the importance of water quality in brewing, I only have one solo AG brew day under my belt.

The competition is just with my club. A friend from Canada shared a pre-prohibition cream ale recipe with me. 10 gallon... I can only do up to six ATM. Need to check with my club if we have a larger kettle....

If it was national, I would definitely worry.

The sad truth is I’m a plumber. I can install a bad azz RO system in my house for $225....

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I’ll look into a TDS meter, however, as much as I understand the importance of water quality in brewing, I only have one solo AG brew day under my belt.

On one hand, it's not worth worrying about (even if it's poor quality RO water it should be good enough for brewing). OTOH, a TDS meter is cheap (I think they're in the $10 to $20 range, but don't have one myself).

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

Curious to know how your brew day went.

 

[manfield8]

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense...After starting the thread on here someone that I worked with got wind that me and my buddy were going to brew and he was gracious enough to come over and help since he has done AG before. So I picked his brain in the down time but was a very fun day, he brought over some of his inventory to test out and besides the AG beer we also did a few extracts for good measure. But for the AG seems I am going to like this a little bit more than my extracts (or maybe it was more the group brewing as when I did my extracts before it was usually just me sitting around a kettle and watching the water boil) what I really liked is before the boil when we were sparging the mash with the hot water the color was soooooooooooooo much better than what I ever got out of extracts. After the hops were added it turned a little darker but that might all settle out after it is fermented. I didnt have any stuck sparge and after taking a couple of pitchers out was clear of all grain. And as far as the wort or you could maybe call it beer by now is still bubbling away in my upstairs closet. About the only thing I think I would change or believe needs to be changed is when sparging the mash to maybe make a system where I can just hook up the hose and let gravity take over while still letting sparge water go all over the grains, some simple PVC hose should do the trick for this. But I hit my estimated gravity after the boil and yeast has had something to eat since it is bubbling so hopefully this week or early next week I can get this put into a keg and get on to my next batch since I have 4 new kegs and a keezer coming in this Friday, when it comes in I will look into adding some pictures. Thanks for everyone's advise even if some of it was off topic got me thinking about what I could look into for the next batch of beer.

 

[kh54s10]

Congratulations! Review in your mind what went well and what didn't go quite so well. Keep this in mind when doing your next batch. Each succeeding batch will get easier and easier.

I sounds like you are fly sparging. There is nothing wrong with that and it might even give you a slightly better efficiency, but look into batch sparging. For me, that seems so much easier that I have never looked at fly sparging.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

nice!

 

[WestMichBrewer]

No to the RO water, or at least I think it's a no just went and got spring water from wally world. I will have to take a look at it when I get home tonight.

I use the basic RO water chemistry model presented here and it has served me well:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/

I get the RO water as 5-gallon refills for $2 at my local grocery store and add calcium chloride, gypsum and acid malt as needed per these guidelines.