First Partial - Question on Water ???

[Kugster]

Hey all...

Getting ready to attempt my 1st partial mash this weekend and had a question about the water I am planning on using. I always use spring water from the store for my extract batches and was wondering if there is anything I should know about the chemicals (or lack of) in store bought spring water?

I have been reading "how to brew" and John talks alot about the akilinity of the water, hardness, etc...should I still run tests on the water for PH levels and all that, or is bottled spring water pretty stright forward?? My LHBS gives out packs of "brewing salts" is this something I should consider or are those just used for "soft" water??

Kug

 

[nosmatt]

worry about that when you go AG and you have a few under your belt. i use, and have for all batches spring water from the grocery store. PH is a more advanced thing to worry about, and steeping grains frankly is not going to be all that dependant on ph to convert starches to sugars.
steeping grains are for color, flavor more so than fermentables.
i killed myself on my first partial mash.... mashed the grains (that did not need mashing, doh!) and sparged em...wasted alot of time for not!
steep, use the extracts, and make some superb beer.
then, buy beersmith, and plug you old recipes in, and see what i mean. i found the two hours i wasted added virtually no gravity points. it was good experience i guess....and the beer really tastes awesome. so i am not bitter!

 

[Kugster]

worry about that when you go AG and you have a few under your belt. i use, and have for all batches spring water from the grocery store. PH is a more advanced thing to worry about, and steeping grains frankly is not going to be all that dependant on ph to convert starches to sugars.
steeping grains are for color, flavor more so than fermentables.
i killed myself on my first partial mash.... mashed the grains (that did not need mashing, doh!) and sparged em...wasted alot of time for not!
steep, use the extracts, and make some superb beer.
then, buy beersmith, and plug you old recipes in, and see what i mean. i found the two hours i wasted added virtually no gravity points. it was good experience i guess....and the beer really tastes awesome. so i am not bitter!

Granted I did not put my grains down that I am using, so here they are:

2 row pale
biscut malt
victory malt
honey malt
rosted barley
crystal 60

so from what your saying...dont' bother doing a mini mash and just keep doing extract until I go AG??? Hum??? These malts NEED to be mashed. I guess not to worry about my water and just go for it, huh?

 

[Yooper]

Granted I did not put my grains down that I am using, so here they are:

2 row pale
biscut malt
victory malt
honey malt
rosted barley
crystal 60

so from what your saying...dont' bother doing a mini mash and just keep doing extract until I go AG??? Hum??? These malts NEED to be mashed. I guess not to worry about my water and just go for it, huh?

Oh, no- go ahead and mash! I'm AG, but still not doing much with water chemistry. Knowing your water make up is a great tool, and can make better beer, no doubt. But unless you are using super hard water, or super soft water, any mini mash recipe will give you good results. Bottled spring water is a good choice- it's probably fairly neutral. I'd say to get your procedure down, and feel comfortable, and unless you made BAD beer, don't worry too much about the water chemistry yet.

 

[nosmatt]

Granted I did not put my grains down that I am using, so here they are:

2 row pale
biscut malt
victory malt
honey malt
rosted barley
crystal 60

so from what your saying...dont' bother doing a mini mash and just keep doing extract until I go AG??? Hum??? These malts NEED to be mashed. I guess not to worry about my water and just go for it, huh?

gotcha!
I went and ASSumed again.... woops.
mash away!
but i would still say worry about the chemistry later. Better yet, pick up a ph test (real cheap at the pet store) and check with this batch your mash ph, and adjust next time if needed....some people use 5.2 in all batches. seems like extra money to me if it is not needed, but then again, it's cheap.

 

[Kugster]

Reading "how to brew", he (John) does get pretty indepth about the water...guess I wasn't sure HOW important that the water chemistry was...didn't want to mess anything up. Once I get this down then I will make my jump to AG and worry more about the water.

As Olympia states..."It's in the Water!"

Thanks Yooper!

 

[Kugster]

gotcha!
I went and ASSumed again.... woops.
mash away!
but i would still say worry about the chemistry later. Better yet, pick up a ph test (real cheap at the pet store) and check with this batch your mash ph, and adjust next time if needed....some people use 5.2 in all batches. seems like extra money to me if it is not needed, but then again, it's cheap.

Yeah...I did read in one thread that someone said thier bottled water was very high in pH...my LHBS gives out "brewing salts" I'll ask him if they are needed with bottled spring water. Plus I will get the kit and just for giggles check...ya never know.