The Importance of Brewing Water

[skoodog]

Good article but would love to see a table of actual additions by imperial measurement because I'm a stupid Yank and none of my spoons measure in grams. That said, what profile would you recommend using for a New England IPA style?

 

[yagz]

I sometimes feel as if I need a masters in chemistry to brew beer, but this article helped to reduce my anxiety. Thanks!

 

[David]

Having a bit of trouble with water chemistry this evening. I wonder if you might point me in the right direction.
In looking for Ca, Mg, Na, SO4, and Cl in a few homebrew shops here, I found only Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Chloride, and Magnesium Sulfate (using RO water for a pale ale). It seems that if I use any of those available here, my levels will consistently be off - if I want 100 ppm Ca and 50 ppm Cl, adding Calcium Chloride may always meet one level but always overshoot the other. Am I misunderstanding chemistry? Or is it that homebrewers are so disinterested in chemistry that homebrew shops don't bother carrying these items?

 

[Bigfoot2002]

Is there a certain testing kit that people use for testing water? I've been searching Amazon for water testing kits or maybe some sort of digital reader to give me readouts.

 

[Sgt Roy]

Okay Kruger,
I just attempted my 1st home brew, an Amber Ale from Craft-A-Brew and in wanting to use "quality water' bought two gallons of "Crystal Geyser" spring water and I used Primer Sugar rather than their recipe of table sugar, (which I never use anyway). After two weeks fermenting in the bottles, I hod goos pressure opening the bottle, but the head disappeared quickly. Beer had decent flavor but low carbonation. So did I get to try and be too "pure" in using the water I did? Thanks
(Sgt) Roy