I got into home brewing in February of 2010 when I brewed a small extract batch that came in a kit someone had given to me as a present. I was so excited because soon I would be brewing my very own beer at home. The only thought I gave to my brewing water was hoping I had enough of it mixed in with the malt extract to hit my target volume. Over the next three years I did expand my brewing skills to include steeping grains, liquid yeast, all grain full wort boils, all sorts of hopping schedules, making yeast starters and yeast washing. Which is pretty much the natural progression to advanced brewing.
Today I know how small differences in temperature, during various stages of the brewing process, influence the taste and quality of my finished beer. As an all grain brewer the most obvious are mash and fermentation temperatures. Too high a fermentation temperature encourages the production of fusel alcohols and too low a temperature leads to an increased lag phase, lower attenuation and the production of green apple and buttery off flavors.
When brewing all grain recipes a lower mash temperature produces wort that ferments into a thinner bodied higher alcohol beer and a higher temperature mash produces wort that ferments into fuller bodied sweeter tasting beer. In my fourth year of home brewing I dove into brewing water properties and discovered how they influence the fermentation characteristics of wort. I also learned how brewing water properties can easily be adjusted to significantly improve the flavor, taste, color and quality of all my beers. Who knew?
I started out by filtering water through a two stage carbon filter, filling the hot liquor tank and then mixing in a tablespoon of gypsum to increase hop flavor. I didn't realize that chlorine or chloramine in the brewing water worked against producing a beer with a crisp clean hop flavor. Instead their presence in brewing water muddied up both the hop and malt flavors producing a duller tasting beer. Chlorine can be boiled off, charcoal filtered out or will dissipate out of water if left uncovered overnight. Removing chloramine requires at minimum the addition of Campden tablets, be sure to buy Campden tablets that contain potassium metabisulphate and not the sodium metabisulphate tablets, leave those for the winemakers out there.
You can further improve the taste of your beer by increasing its malt flavor, while offsetting harsh bitterness, by adding a little calcium chloride and Epsom salt to the same filtered, chlorine and chloride free water. I think of brewing water as a way to brighten the color and taste of my beer, in much the same way a treble control is used to increase the brightness of music during playback. If you're really interested in learning more about creating the perfect brewing water profile visit the EZ Water Calculator site and download their free easy to use spreadsheet. It takes all the guesswork out of adjusting your water properties while keeping your additions within safe recommended ranges. There is a whole lot more to water chemistry, but you can begin to get your feet wet using just a few little tweaks and produce some really great beers.
Vince Feminella [aka: ScrewyBrewer]
www.thescrewybrewer.com
[email protected]
For more from Vince "The Screwy Brewer" Feminella please be sure to visit his blog, or keep checking back in the coming weeks for more from this awesome brewer!
Today I know how small differences in temperature, during various stages of the brewing process, influence the taste and quality of my finished beer. As an all grain brewer the most obvious are mash and fermentation temperatures. Too high a fermentation temperature encourages the production of fusel alcohols and too low a temperature leads to an increased lag phase, lower attenuation and the production of green apple and buttery off flavors.
When brewing all grain recipes a lower mash temperature produces wort that ferments into a thinner bodied higher alcohol beer and a higher temperature mash produces wort that ferments into fuller bodied sweeter tasting beer. In my fourth year of home brewing I dove into brewing water properties and discovered how they influence the fermentation characteristics of wort. I also learned how brewing water properties can easily be adjusted to significantly improve the flavor, taste, color and quality of all my beers. Who knew?
I started out by filtering water through a two stage carbon filter, filling the hot liquor tank and then mixing in a tablespoon of gypsum to increase hop flavor. I didn't realize that chlorine or chloramine in the brewing water worked against producing a beer with a crisp clean hop flavor. Instead their presence in brewing water muddied up both the hop and malt flavors producing a duller tasting beer. Chlorine can be boiled off, charcoal filtered out or will dissipate out of water if left uncovered overnight. Removing chloramine requires at minimum the addition of Campden tablets, be sure to buy Campden tablets that contain potassium metabisulphate and not the sodium metabisulphate tablets, leave those for the winemakers out there.
You can further improve the taste of your beer by increasing its malt flavor, while offsetting harsh bitterness, by adding a little calcium chloride and Epsom salt to the same filtered, chlorine and chloride free water. I think of brewing water as a way to brighten the color and taste of my beer, in much the same way a treble control is used to increase the brightness of music during playback. If you're really interested in learning more about creating the perfect brewing water profile visit the EZ Water Calculator site and download their free easy to use spreadsheet. It takes all the guesswork out of adjusting your water properties while keeping your additions within safe recommended ranges. There is a whole lot more to water chemistry, but you can begin to get your feet wet using just a few little tweaks and produce some really great beers.
Vince Feminella [aka: ScrewyBrewer]
www.thescrewybrewer.com
[email protected]
For more from Vince "The Screwy Brewer" Feminella please be sure to visit his blog, or keep checking back in the coming weeks for more from this awesome brewer!
