Ro water no ph buffer?

[Gustavo]

K so I've been trying to read up on maintaining your ph on AG, strike water. I was wondering if you buy to water from either a dispensing water machine or pre packaged, do you stll need to adjust your ph. Also looking at my water profile, how do I determine if my ph is high?

 

[Yooper]

Yes, you probably need to have some additions to adjust the mash pH.

To guestimate the probable mash pH, spreadsheets are incredibly handy. They are pretty close, and then you can do minor adjustments if needed. I've used EZ water and Brunwater.

 

[Hebby5]

Ask your local water co. for a report. My pH is 8.4 which is very Alkaline. Made a great brown ale without treating it but my first pale ale was very bitter/harsh after taste without treating my tap water. My next batch was another pale ale and I tested it and made a big difference. I still have a tiny bitter after taste and need to dial the water treatment just a bit more but still very good beer.


You may ask your LHBS shop or local Homebrew club for what those folks recommend for your local water.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[mattpavone]

Water additions depend a great deal on what type of beer you are brewing as well. In general the darker the beer the more you will have to adjust if you use RO water. As Hebby5 said, the dark brown was great, but the pale was a bit off.

You are looking for your local water's hardness, or alkalinity, that's usually shown as ppm CaCO3.

Hope that helps.