Help with water report-astringency

[mikeroche56]

Hi everyone:
I have been chasing an astringency issue and think it may be my water. I suspect the high alkalinity, but wanted to get some advice and suggestions on how to fix it.

I have been doing all-grain BIAB and am upgrading to a cooler and larger pot to do batch sparges.

I typically brew APA's mainly ligher colored hoppy style beers. My mash pH typically is on the high (greater than 6 I think) and I have tried 5.2 additive which seemed to get the color strip a little down the scale but still seems higher than 5-5.5. I do have relatively low efficiency as low as 65% and high as 72%.

Here is the report:

Total dissolved solids 10 mg/L
Copper 4 ug/L
Calcium 18 mg/L
Hardness, total 10 mg/L
Iron 50 ug/L
Magnesium 7 mg/L
Potassium 2 mg/L
Sodium 192 mg/L
Zinc <10 ug/L
Alkalinity 410 mg/L
Fluoride 0.26 mg/L
Nitrate+nitrite 0.11 mg/L
Sulfate <5.0 mg/L
Total Phosphorus <0.010 mg/L

This is the report from one of the City's wells and per the Service dept it is typical.

They treat the water with Chlorine and pH typically runs 8.0-8.5.

IMO, based on the reading I have done here the Alkalinity is high. It sounds like adding RO or distilled water is the easiest way to knock it down, but I need to add other minerals???

Appreciate the help!!

 

[ajdelange]

Your water is essentially a solution of baking soda. Its very high alkalinity isn't appreciably offset by calcium as there just isn't enough of it. This water is not suitable for brewing and it is not surprising that the beers made with it aren't the best you ever had. You would have to dilute it 10:1 or more with DI water in order to get the alkalinity down to a marginal level so you might as well just not use it at all (or run it through an RO unit to get the alkalinity down).

Once this water is processed through an RO system you can look at the Primer here to get some ideas as to what mineral additions should be made.

 

[WheeledGoat]

Off the cuff, it seems extreme - but I've had an ENORMOUS improvement in my brews by switching to bottled water.

Distilled for extracts, and Spring Water for All Grain.

And even though all those jugs sitting everywhere seems extreme, when you consider you're spending $30-$60 for a 5-gal batch of ingredients, what another $1/gal for good water? Certainly better and less cumbersome than RO units, even if you brew a lot. (Unless you're one of the lucky ones and already have an RO unit laying around somewhere!)

 

[mikeroche56]

Thanks for the advice! I'll give the RO or spring water a try next batch.

 

[ajdelange]

Certainly better and less cumbersome than RO units, even if you brew a lot. (Unless you're one of the lucky ones and already have an RO unit laying around somewhere!)

One's decision as to whether he should buy and install an RO unit or not will, of course, depend on his individual circumstances. Probably the biggest trade involves the distance that must be traveled to obtain low ion water with cost being a secondary concern. If you live over a health food store that sells 5 gallons of RO water for a dollar then your decision is easy. If you live 20 minutes away from the nearest source and they charge $1/gallon then it is a different matter.

Clearly if you brew a lot the decision will favor the RO unit. It's a lot less trouble to open a valve than to get in the car drive 40 minutes (round trip) and wrestle with 10 gallon jugs of water (which weigh 84 pounds). If you start collecting water a day or 2 before you brew you will be assured of an ample supply on brew day even should there be some disaster which results in an unexpected loss (e.g. you accidentally treat with 5 grams of calcium carbonate instead of calcium chloride and have to start afresh). The economics favor RO for frequent/large batch brewers as well. The units can be had for about $150. Comparing to $1/gal purchased and assuming you will use 10 gal per 5 gal batch you would be ahead of the game after 15 batches. Fed with reasonably soft water (and yours certainly qualifies) or water which has been softened the units should be good for thousands of gallons or hundreds of brews.

Given the high sodium content of your water I would consider using an RO unit as a source of the family's drinking water.

 

[WheeledGoat]

Wow, you certainly make a convincing case for ro units. I may actually look into it! Do they remove everything from the water (you're left with distilled basically) or just some stuff?

 

[ajdelange]

Whether an RO unit is right for you or not depends on a lot of things as noted in #5. I'm sold on them and brew everything with RO water treated as appropriate for the style (which I am beginning to think isn't treated much for most).

They don't remove everything but rather a percentage of everything which depends on the ion. Most manufacturers supply a data sheet that says x percent of sodium, y percent of bicarbonate, etc. is removed. It is usually more than 92% and sometimes as much as 99%.

 

[mikeroche56]

Thanks for the follow-up posts, for some reason I didn't notice them until today. I'll have to look into the home RO systems. I've brewed 3 batches since all using RO water from Wallmart (about 10 min. door to door) and they sell it for like a dollar something for 5 gal after you buy their jug. Haven't kegged them yet, but keeping my fingers crossed I have kicked the astringency problem. Happy Brewing!

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the follow-up posts, for some reason I didn't notice them until today. I'll have to look into the home RO systems. I've brewed 3 batches since all using RO water from Wallmart (about 10 min. door to door) and they sell it for like a dollar something for 5 gal after you buy their jug. Haven't kegged them yet, but keeping my fingers crossed I have kicked the astringency problem. Happy Brewing!

Hey- I'm going to be in Cortland tomorrow evening and most of the next week in the evenings. Do you have any homebrew for a thirsty moderator to come and sample? I'd love to give you a visit and give you some advice on the beer if you'd have me!

 

[Yooper]

Hey- I'm going to be in Cortland tomorrow evening and most of the next week in the evenings. Do you have any homebrew for a thirsty moderator to come and sample? I'd love to give you a visit and give you some advice on the beer if you'd have me!

I took the no response as a "no"!

I had to drown my sorrows in a Mexican restaurant in Cortland. Oh well! That, and a few Lake Erie Monsters helped.