Water additives

[Jag75]

Been learning as much about water as I can recently. I am in the process of getting a water report . Just purchased a ph meter . Now I'm just curious as to what acids /chemicals I should get to start me off .

 

[tegman]

Gypsum, Calcium Chloride & Lactic Acid to start.

 

[Jag75]

Gypsum, Calcium Chloride & Lactic Acid to start.

Thank you for the advise
Are these only available at certain stores ? I've never seen or looked for these things

 

[Rev2010]

Thank you for the advise
Are these only available at certain stores ? I've never seen or looked for these things

You can find all of these in most homebrew shops both online and brick & mortar. You can also find them on Amazon as there's lots of homebrew shops selling on there.


Rev.

 

[Kent88]

CaCl: calcium chloride, reduces pH, boosts the chloride (*not* chlorine) which is good for malty beers. Also raises calcium.

Gypsum: calcium sulfate, reduces pH, increases the right kind of sulfur compound that is good for hoppy beers. Also raises calcium.

Non-iodized table salt: NaCl, raises chloride levels, but sodium has a low maximum content before off-flavors develop.

Epsom salt: magnesium sulfate. Magnesium is important (yeast nutrient?) but not usually deficient in all-malt beer. Gypsum is usually considered a better way to increase the sulfate content.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and calcium carbonate are also used occasionally. Like with table salt, baking soda has sodium and it doesn't take much to get off-flavors. Calcium carbonate doesn't dissolve in water easily and shouldn't be used unless you really know what you're doing.

Lactic acid and phosphoric acid will reduce pH.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Sodium is OK at up to about 100 ppm. Some sources say 150 ppm.

Brulosophy did a high/low sodium exbeeriment wherein the high sodium beer was 100 ppm, and of the 16 taste testers who correctly distinguished a 6 ppm sodium beer from a 100 ppm sodium beer which was otherwise identical, 7 liked the 6 ppm sodium beer better, 7 liked the 100 ppm sodium beer better, and 2 could tell the difference but liked both equally. The remaining 13 (of 29) taste testers could not tell the difference at all.

The guy who conducted the exbeeriment said the following:

To me, the high sodium beer had a cleaner more pronounced hop aroma with sharper flavors and crisper mouthfeel than the low sodium beer. To my surprise, I preferred the high sodium beer.

What I found most interesting was that most sources say sodium enhances sweetness or mellows or smooths out the flavor of beer, and that is certainly not what I see in the above quote.

 

[Jag75]

When using RO water is it customary to use a lot of the additives that has been listed above ?

 

[thehaze]

RO water is lacking any minerals, or the level is low, like 1-5 ppm. So yes, depending on the style of beer you are brewing, adding salts is neccessary, as is acid and baking soda ( for darker beers ).

 

[hezagenius]

And depending on the beer, you will want different amounts of each mineral. Or you might only use 1 or 2 minerals for a certain style.

You will definitely want to get familiar with at least 1 water profile calculation tool. Brewer's Friend has a free web-based one. The Bru'n Water workbook is a popular one here. There are many to choose from and everyone has their own favorite.

 

[balrog]

There's a really good, simple intro here to water chem.

 

[Jag75]

I just got brun water . I didn't know it wouldn't work on an iPad. So I'm in the process of putting the program file on my daughters PC.

 

[Jag75]

There's a really good, simple intro here to water chem.

Yes I've been reading that over a few times trying to retain it . Good stuff , ty

 

[Yooper]

If you want a "water chemistry for dummies" (like me), there is a three part article here:
Part 1: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/
Part 2: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-2/
Part 3: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2018/02/13/brewing-water-basics-putting-it-all-together/

And a basic spreadsheet (but no mash pH prediction, unless you use the advanced): https://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/

I always thought water was really hard to learn, but if you read enough and ask questions, you'll find that it's not difficult at all.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

When using RO water is it customary to use a lot of the additives that has been listed above ?

Calcium Chloride and Calcium Sulfate (gypsum) are staples for sure. And in addition, lighter beers require acidification of both the mash and sparge waters. Darker beers may require that baking soda be added to the mash water only (whereas for such cases the sparge water will still require acidification).

 

[Jag75]

Is it easier to adjust tap water if it's not that bad or build up from Ro?

 

[Yooper]

Is it easier to adjust tap water if it's not that bad or build up from Ro?

to my mind, it's easier to start with RO- but my tap water tastes great. Unfortunately, my water is high in bicarbonate and only suitable for stouts and other really dark beers. So I use my tap water for stouts, and start with RO for everything else.

 

[balrog]

You have to test to find out what your tap water is before you can begin to answer that. My tap is uber-soft, so I add pretty much all the time. You'll know where you stand once you get a Ward Labs report.

 

[Jag75]

Thanks guys for steering me in the right direction . I knew this was a good forum as soon as I found it .

 

[ajdelange]

It's always easiest to synthesize from RO but not very challenging. Some enjoy the challenge of tayloring the water they have to their brewing requirements. Some consider the available water the equivalent of terroir in wine.

 

[Vale71]

Is it easier to adjust tap water if it's not that bad or build up from Ro?

One issue with tap water is that unless you're setting up a small lab you won't know the exact composition of your water on brew day. The reports that you can get from your water supplier are either averaged values or values measured from a single sample and only valid on the day the sample was taken. Depending on how and where you supplier gets and treats its water there can be huge swings even on a day to day basis. As an example, I have a TDS meter that measures untreated water at the intake of my RO system and the value displayed can go from a minimum of 140 to a maximum value of 280 ppm.
With RO water you always start with basically pure water with small traces of minerals (5-6 ppm) that pale in comparison to the huge swings that your untreated water can suffer from, so if you're accurate in your additions you'll be basically getting the same water profile every time with a negligible residual error stemming from those 5-6 ppm.

 

[tegman]

My tap water is so bad we even filter the water going into the dogs bowl. I build up from Distilled, preferring a blank canvas.

 

[Lefou]

As a kid, my local ground water in the Midwest was horrible. I still recall the day we had our water tested and the softener installed. Loads of carbonate, iron, and sulfates. My folks have a water filter for drinking and still use a water softener for washing.
The treated NJ city water I have now is "soft" with a slightly higher pH. It's filtered and suitable for drinking but isn't up to my standard for beer brewing. My "standard" is low mineral soft bottled water treated with just calcium salts.