Simple water question?

[Gizzygone]

Good Morning all!

I’ve been reading all morning about water... and my head is spinning.

Preparing for my first ever brew: I’m thinking I’ll go with Spring Water that I like the taste of.... only because my tap water does have a bit of an odd taste... and the jury seems to be out on inline charcoal filters...

I’m curious though: would you use a campden tablet in spring water? Would it hurt anything?

 

[RM-MN]

Campden tablets are for removing chlorine compound and the spring water shouldn't have any. With that said, a 1/4 campden tablet per 5 gallons should not add any flavors either. Just don't overdo it, a little is all you need.

 

[myndflyte]

Being your first batch, are you brewing all grain or extract? If extract, then you really don't need to be concerned about the water profile. You just want water that tastes good.

 

[mabrungard]

Being your first batch, are you brewing all grain or extract? If extract, then you really don't need to be concerned about the water profile. You just want water that tastes good.

Definitely not true!!!

Good tasting water can still produce a poor tasting extract beer. This is especially true if that water has much alkalinity. That alkalinity will drive the pH of the reconstituted wort up and the beer will taste dull. Distilled or RO water have little alkalinity and they do the best job in replacing the 'steam' that was removed from the malt extract when it was dehydrated.

Depending on the style, minor salt additions such as gypsum or calcium chloride MIGHT be considered. But those aren't required.

 

[Gizzygone]

I’m going all-grain.

The RO water: is that available in store? Or do you all have filter sets at home?

 

[str1p3s]

You can get distilled from the store. I used spring water for a while but the results were inconsistent. You just don't know what is in it and it might not fit the style you are brewing.

 

[Gizzygone]

You can get distilled from the store. I used spring water for a while but the results were inconsistent. You just don't know what is in it and it might not fit the style you are brewing.

Don’t they say you should avoid distilled water?

Or do you just distilled and add your own minerals?

 

[mabrungard]

Malt extract should already have all the minerals your wort needs. It doesn't matter that distilled water doesn't add any.

 

[myndflyte]

Don’t they say you should avoid distilled water?

Or do you just distilled and add your own minerals?

If you're doing all grain with distilled water, you'll want to add minerals. As Martin said, malt extract has the minerals you need already in it.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

The larger Walmarts have RO water dispensers for about $0.37/gal. Cheaper than distilled water at my local store.

 

[RM-MN]

Don’t they say you should avoid distilled water?

Or do you just distilled and add your own minerals?

Don't use distilled water for rehydrating dry yeast. Otherwise, distilled water is excellent to use to top up extract beer and with the right mineral additions you can build the perfect water profile from it. It is not to be used without mineral additions for mashing.

 

[Gizzygone]

So: to clarify; I’m going with all grain this time.

I’m wondering: do mineral kits exist to convert distilled water into the correct water profile? It seems like a product that would be beneficial.

 

[myndflyte]

So: to clarify; I’m going with all grain this time.

I’m wondering: do mineral kits exist to convert distilled water into the correct water profile? It seems like a product that would be beneficial.

There is something called 5.2 stabilizer but, as far as I can tell, they don't tell you what is all in it. You can go that route if you like but it really want to have control over your beer, a little research on water chemistry can go a long way.

 

[Gizzygone]

There is something called 5.2 stabilizer but, as far as I can tell, they don't tell you what is all in it. You can go that route if you like but it really want to have control over your beer, a little research on water chemistry can go a long way.

It’s quite overwhelming! That’s why I was hoping for a simple starter answer!

 

[myndflyte]

It can be overwhelming at first but once you start to understand it, you realize it wasn't that difficult.

 

[Dcpcooks]

It’s quite overwhelming! That’s why I was hoping for a simple starter answer!

Yes water is overwhelming to start. Have you read the water primer in the brew science section yet? That section will break it down a bit for you based on beer style.

RO water is neutral. Most of the minerals have been filtered out during the process leaving you with a blank canvas. From there you can add salts ( most commonly Cacl and gypsum) and some form of acid to help target the proper PH range for the beer style.

Lighter colored malts don’t have acidity associated with them. Dark roasted Malts are more acidic. So if your making a light colored beer you’ll need to add some acid. If your making a dark beer you’ll most likely be ok without acid in the mash.

Pilsners will be a relatively blank canvas. IPA’s will benefit from a small addition of cacl and gypsum.

Again I suggest you look at the water primer as it breaks it all down in simple terms for you.

It’s far easier to build water profiles from RO water. Using tap water you need to balance what is already In your water with what your shooting for which is a bit more complicated.


I hope this helps you a bit as you move forward.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

The general consensus is that 5.2 stabilizer is fairly useless. Get the Bru'nWater program, created by Martin (see post #8 above). It has a bit of a learning curve but you just plug in your grains and your water profile (or specify RO) and it will guide you through mineral additions. Much better than guessing.