It's soo much better with the right water!!!

[noggins]

Long time brewer who's only recently come to the dark side of learning water chemistry and I have to say, it was worth it! There was always a weird 'twang' taste to all my beers...some people said it tasted 'green', others said it had a weird spicy kick that shouldn't be there, I never knew what it was exactly until the good 'ol internets came along and told me to adjust my water chemistry.

Thanks to EZ water calc all I have to do is spend a few cents per batch on some random chemicals and the twang is gone! No more going out and buying water, no more weird off tastes or poor efficiency! Thank you Science!! :rockin:

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

It certainly makes a big difference. IMO, it is second only to temperature control in terms of impact on beer quality. I envy your water though if you only need a few adjustments. I need to dilute with RO if I'm brewing anything lighter than a porter.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Water chemistry is such a weird subject in brewing. It is both the most and least important variable in your beer.

If you happen to have good "normal" city/well water without huge amounts of any of the ions/cations, and the pH is fairly low, you'll probably never mess with your water chemistry. Making it really unimportant. Its also a difficult subject to understand if, like me, you skipped about 60% of your junior year classes in high school which included chemistry class.

If you have city/well water thats got huge/low chloride/sulfate, or massive pH (like my city water the pH is horrible for when I make light beers). Then water chemistry is one of the most important fields to invest in. I don't need to mess with my chloride/sulfate ratios unless I am planning an IPA. But my water pH is about 8.9, as soon as I started adjusting with a couple oz of acidulated malt my beers improved massively.

 

[Psylocide]

Yep... my sulfate levels are stupid high, and even diluting with up to 70% RO doesn't work, since the calcium levels drop off a cliff and the only things to add calcium back also contribute to the sulfate/chloride level, which works against the whole thing.

Have to go to 100% RO and make from scratch.

 

[slym2none]

My tap water tastes & smells like a swimming pool. I wonder, other than chlorine/chloramine, how it would rate otherwise?

Time for a call to the city water-guy! I am assuming campden tabs are pretty cheap, and chlorine itself will just evaporate out... hmm...

 

[Psylocide]

My tap water tastes & smells like a swimming pool. I wonder, other than chlorine/chloramine, how it would rate otherwise?

Time for a call to the city water-guy! I am assuming campden tabs are pretty cheap, and chlorine itself will just evaporate out... hmm...

If you aren't using campden tablets yet, start.

They are so stupid cheap and great insurance. They remove both chlorine and chloramines.

 

[kh54s10]

I just ordered a Ward Labs analysis today. I must have great water because I have not felt the need to get the analysis thus far. 80 brews in a little over 4 years! All styles have been good. Thus far I have only had one that is somewhat undrinkable. It was a very high alcohol recipe where I was experimenting trying to make something that I could call Romulan Ale. It came out very very sweet. I am now using it for making beer bread.

My friends have even compared my beers to commercial ones of the same style and have said they like mine better.

We'll see in a couple of months how much difference it makes. At least I might be able to brew to regional styles like Burton.

 

[IAmErickson]

This is really encouraging to hear - I actually just yesterday sent a sample of my water away for analysis so I can use Bru'n Water to try and correct that consistent "off" flavor in my beers that I don't like. Glad to know someone else in my situation has come out on the other side with positive results.

 

[Yesfan]

This is really encouraging to hear - I actually just yesterday sent a sample of my water away for analysis so I can use Bru'n Water to try and correct that consistent "off" flavor in my beers that I don't like. Glad to know someone else in my situation has come out on the other side with positive results.

Agreed. I have had the same displeasure with my beers (except for IPAs and dry hopped APAs). I got my water report back a few weeks ago.


I've also begun reading the book on water from the brewing elements series.

 

[slym2none]

If you aren't using campden tablets yet, start.

They are so stupid cheap and great insurance. They remove both chlorine and chloramines.

Oh, I didn't mention - I don't use my tap water for that very reason. Kroger-brand spring water for me, for now. Probably RO water & salts later, but yeah... I'd like to see what my local water profile is like.

 

[Psylocide]

Oh, I didn't mention - I don't use my tap water for that very reason. Kroger-brand spring water for me, for now. Probably RO water & salts later, but yeah... I'd like to see my local water profile is like.

Oh... Not an issue then

 

[mabrungard]

As mentioned, your brewing water quality can easily be one of the most important factors to success. There are plenty of places where the water tastes fine, but its so unsuited for brewing that you could perfect EVERY other aspect of your brewing and still not create good beer. For those brewers, water could easily be the number one thing to be concerned with.

Don't ignore it.

 

[hucklb]

So, what are good levels for the various variables listed on a water report?

 

[noggins]

From EZ Water Calculator:

 

[mabrungard]

Um, No. Those are not good recommendations for ions in brewing.

Ca: 30 ppm and up (lagers are better on the low end and ales should have at least 50 ppm)
Mg: 0 to 30 ppm
Na: 0 to 100 ppm
Cl: 20 to 100 ppm
SO4: 20 to 300 ppm
HCO3: depends on the grist

There is a lot more guidance than shown here, but its a start. The Water Knowledge page on the Bru'n Water website provides more discussion.

 

[noggins]

Um, No. Those are not good recommendations for ions in brewing.

Ca: 30 ppm and up (lagers are better on the low end and ales should have at least 50 ppm)
Mg: 0 to 30 ppm
Na: 0 to 100 ppm
Cl: 20 to 100 ppm
SO4: 20 to 300 ppm
HCO3: depends on the grist

There is a lot more guidance than shown here, but its a start. The Water Knowledge page on the Bru'n Water website provides more discussion.

Can you explain the difference in the two given recommendations and why yours is better? For instance, you say "30 and up" for calcium, where EZ says 50-150, I could easily hit 200 or 300 without trying to hard, are you saying this is fine as long as it's >30? Are you also saying it's fine to have no magnesium or sodium at all? That sounds fishy, but I'm just starting to learn about water...

thanks for the input.

 

[thumpersk_a]

Who do you all use for water testing? Do they send you a vial or do you provide your own? Im just curious, as this is my next step. Just bought a house and its on a subdivision well and i need to see where my water is for brewing. Thanks

 

[Silentdrinker]

I'm lucky. Portland water doesn't really need adjusting to make good beer. I toss in a half of a campten tab and call it a day. I've had no twang or off flavors or any complaints from those who drink my beer, so the motivation is low. Eventually i'll get a report, but chances are I won't bother adjusting anything for malty beers. I'll only make some changes for hoppy ones since our water is super soft.

Who do you all use for water testing? Do they send you a vial or do you provide your own? Im just curious, as this is my next step. Just bought a house and its on a subdivision well and i need to see where my water is for brewing. Thanks

I think a lot of people use https://producers.wardlab.com/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=/ for their water reports.

 

[mabrungard]

Can you explain the difference in the two given recommendations and why yours is better?

An important thing to understand is that brewers yeast has evolved to thrive on what a malt wort provides. Malt provides virtually all the nutrients needed for good yeast growth and multiplication. So all of the major ions in water can be zero and the ferment will proceed just fine.

There are some old myths in brewing about what your brewing water has to have in it for the ferment to go well. Calcium is one of the most famous ones. Calcium is NOT needed in brewing water for a healthy ferment since the malt provides 100% of what the yeast need. Calcium is desirable in brewing for several reasons: improving flocculation, precipitating oxalate, and providing the anions such as sulfate and chloride that we enjoy for flavor. The minimum Ca level I quote is generally desirable for beer flavor. A slightly higher level of 40 ppm in the mashing water is desirable to oxalate removal. Bumping that level to above 50 ppm in ale brewing is very helpful in getting the beer to clear more quickly.

Having other ionic content such as Mg, Na, SO4, and Cl can be desirable for beer flavor. But there is no requirement for those ions in our brewing water.

 

[mabrungard]

.

 

[thumpersk_a]

Thanks

 

[IAmErickson]

Who do you all use for water testing? Do they send you a vial or do you provide your own? Im just curious, as this is my next step. Just bought a house and its on a subdivision well and i need to see where my water is for brewing. Thanks

Seconding what SilentDrinker said - I got Ward labs Brewer's test: https://producers.wardlab.com/BrewersKitOrder.php. They send you a sample jar, which you fill and mail back to them in the same box they sent it to you in, and they email you the results 24 hours after they get your sample back. The whole process is very simple (but I also sent my sample back almost a week ago and haven't gotten results back yet, so take that for what you will).