sparging with distilled water

[JBrady]

Hey guys I have a rookie sparging question to ask. I build my water using salts and distilled water customized for each beer I brew. Its the single best thing that I've done to improve my beers so far. Recently with a few brews I've noticed a slightly astringent after taste that I'm thinking may be from tannin extraction. I know sparging with distilled water isn't ideal and does put me at a greater risk of tannin extraction due to the high ph, what steps can I take to make sure tannins are kept to a minimum? I like the idea of using the zero mineral base, its nice to know exactly whats in the water when I build my profiles, but now I just have to learn to sparge correctly with it. I usually double batch sparge though recently I've been playing with a single sparge. I've tried adding a small amount of 5.2 buffer to the sparge water to combat the high ph of the distilled but I'm not sure if its helping. I've ordered some of those ph test strips for the first time but I'm not sure that I'll know what to do with the information that I'll gain from them anyways, lol. Any info on how to get around this issue would be a big help, thanks.

 

[Nateo]

1) Buy some chloropHast pH strips in the 4-7 range.
2) Throw away your 5.2.
3) Buy a food grade acid to adjust your pH.

I use lactic acid, but I've heard phosphoric is a better choice. Your sparge water should be under 5.8. The strips do have a systemic error of -.03, so if it reads 4.9, you're actually at 5.2. But, this error is consistent enough to easily correct for.

 

[damnyankee]

This is pure conjecture on my part, but in my mind, some of the tannin issues aren't tannins at all, but rather, you may be stunting the 'growth' of your wort. because minerals and ions are lacking in distilled water.

Fe3+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+, K+, PO4-, SO4-, Cl-, CO3-, Zn and other ions found in tap and spring water positively impact your brew's pH, taste, texture of the wort, fermentation of yeast, sedimentation rate, and several other aspects of your brew (to a point).

This is why companies like Coors, Erdinger, and others have made claims their brews are of superior quality because of the waters they use. And they are correct: it all starts with the water.

 

[Nateo]

Agreed with damnyankee, to a degree. But I have good water here (Coors is just down the road) so I'm fine using tap water. There's a reason breweries aren't flocking northwest Florida.

When the barley was growing, it soaked up minerals from the soil. So, in the malt, there is probably enough trace minerals to not really worry about it too much. I'd use some yeast nutrients just to be on the safe side, though, when using distilled.

 

[JBrady]

I use a yeast nutrient that contains zinc and some other minerals that my distilled water lacks. Maybe not quite as much as you find in your tap water, but I have tried to fill that void too.