Hi AJ
Boy, I don't want to say anything that ticks someone off! So PLEASE don't take anything I say as a slam of any sort - it is not meant to be. Rather I would observe that folks look at this topic differently from different angles.
My maths are fine boss, and i really can follow all of this; although chemistry is not my field. But there are times when you guys get really rolling with all the details and the hows and whys that my head gets to flat out swimming. Now I am by training a ballistic engineer. I design high tech small caliber projectiles, and the equipment to manufacture them. I even wrote a little treatise on the fallacy of the ballistic co-efficient in small arm applications where in I theorized that b.c. is not trackable in a linear fashion as was a popular practice of the day, but was in fact subject to rising and lowering and going static for periods over the course of say 1-2 miles. A notion that was laughed at by a few folks and was really not provable with chronographs, or even sonic displacement measuring devices that are stuck in place at fixed distance intervals. A theory, that as luck has it, proved to be completely true 25 odd years later, as shown by use of modern Doppler to measure trajectory and velocity. (You know what they say about blind squirrels and nuts)
My personal bona fide is not relevant to spit - And I mention it only to point out that if I find myself easily confused by all this, imagine what it is like for guys who don't casually dabble with figures for a living. And that is what I see happening with water chemistry at almost every turn. There ARE guys that really get this and LOVE the extreme details, and the jargon, and the fine tech details! You all provide FANTASTIC detail - and a lot of it might as well be in Klingon to many of us! Some times guys just need to know HOW, and WHEN to add an ingredient to the soup - Not so much the molecular structure of the ingredient, and the in depth chemical break down of the ingredient as is it slowly melds into the broth - If you follow me. I see guys just sort of fading out on this.
I know it is a complex, and detailed field. I also know that the wonderful work you provided in the Brew Science section under the water chemistry primer is a beautiful and simple approach that I admire and am grateful for. (And indeed have used a number of times) But EVEN this and Bru'n Water seems to go over a lot of heads. And I guess I get frustrated on other folks behalf sometimes and I am afraid I have a tendency to get snarky in my old age!(My wife calls it being a crabby old buttinski I believe) I apologize for that! I just hate seeing guys get so frustrated with it all that they give it up or ignore it - because all the deep talk glazes them over.
I know, it would be better if people educated themselves and at least learned the rudimentary aspects of the water science related to brewing - Many do. But many just can't or won't grasp it. And sadly, I think a lot of folks want the fast and simple approach to all of it - A simple cookbook - if you will. Something where they can say, "Ok, I add this much of this to that much of that." Simple numbers anyone can measure, with basic tools anyone can afford, and ingredients that don't take an owners manual to decipher. I know a full lab of fine equipment is a real treat. And a treat far beyond the means of many home brewers. Some of us just have to get by with e-bay ph measures, and plain old hydrometers, and we need to measure on our cheap little digital scales from wal-mart. We would LOVE to have bigger badder toys! After all; he with best stuff at death wins! But in reality MOST of the time - Close enough HAS to be close enough. And it is hard sometimes not to feel as if there is a contemptuous tone being directed to those who need to take a less sophisticated approach.
Now, I am well aware that everyone is free to tune it out and skip a post if it is too overwhelming. But I am afraid sometimes, that many posts on this topic come across as sort of - THIS is essential - if you don't do it your beer will suck- you have to learn it the hard way or it won't work - anyone who doesn't do it will always make and inferior product, etc.
This is of course not true - and I doubt this is the intention. But i know for a fact it is taken that way by some. I had a recent conversation with one of the owners of a LHBS. He said, " I am lucky if I can scrounge up a spare 5-6 hours on the weekend to brew, I don't have hours on end to spare sorting out water profile spread sheets! If I did all that I would never MAKE BEER!"
I am pretty sure there is a lot of that out there.
All that rambling done - I do THANK YOU for what you provide. I find it quite interesting, and I like the challenge of sorting out the parts that evade me at first. I am sorry if I took a snarky view on it (Gave a collective wedgie it was called!) Please keep up the great work. Just try to keep in mind that a whole lot of brewers ain't up there in the Stratosphere with a few of you guys - and sometimes a bit of simplicity may go farther that a whole bucket of complicated.
John
P.S. I think i am going to retire from all this for a while! Beer is supposed to be fun, and it is my escape mechanism. When it starts to make ya cranky it is time to quit reading about it for a while! LOL