Water pH question

[NScooknet]

Hello all,

I just bought a reverse osmosis water filter system for my home so we can finally drink our crappy well water that always has coliforms present, and one of the features of this water filter is that there is a resin filter stage in the output of it that gives alkaline water at around 7.4 - 8.6 pH.

This apparently is a major health benefit, which is great, but what I'm wondering is how will this effect my beer making?

I was under the impression that the pH had to be slightly acidic to brew good beer, but am not sure why this is, maybe to make the yeast happy with an environment they can thrive in?

Does the pH effect the yeast cells at all, or any other aspect of the brewing process?

Should I do something to lower the pH, or is it OK as is?

Until now, I've been using the big 18L jugs of Canadian springs bottled water from the store to brew my beer kits, but have no idea what pH that water is.

Thanks!

Chris

 

[BigEd]

Hello all,

I just bought a reverse osmosis water filter system for my home so we can finally drink our crappy well water that always has coliforms present, and one of the features of this water filter is that there is a resin filter stage in the output of it that gives alkaline water at around 7.4 - 8.6 pH.

This apparently is a major health benefit, which is great, but what I'm wondering is how will this effect my beer making?

I was under the impression that the pH had to be slightly acidic to brew good beer, but am not sure why this is, maybe to make the yeast happy with an environment they can thrive in?

Does the pH effect the yeast cells at all, or any other aspect of the brewing process?

Should I do something to lower the pH, or is it OK as is?

Until now, I've been using the big 18L jugs of Canadian springs bottled water from the store to brew my beer kits, but have no idea what pH that water is.

Thanks!

Chris

Once again, it is not the pH of the water it is the pH of the mash that is of major concern. However, the a high water pH may indicate an ion content of carbonate/bicarbonate that would need to be dealt with for brewing purposes. At the least you need to find out what those ions are and what quantity are present. Then you can modify your water as necessary for brewing as needed. BTW this is much more of a concern when brewing all grain beer. As far as extract goes in most cases you can go with the old standby method of using the water with little problem as long as it tastes good.

 

[NScooknet]

Once again, it is not the pH of the water it is the pH of the mash that is of major concern. However, the a high water pH may indicate an ion content of carbonate/bicarbonate that would need to be dealt with for brewing purposes. At the least you need to find out what those ions are and what quantity are present. Then you can modify your water as necessary for brewing as needed. BTW this is much more of a concern when brewing all grain beer. As far as extract goes in most cases you can go with the old standby method of using the water with little problem as long as it tastes good.

How could I find out what those ions are, and how could I "deal" with it to make sure it's ok?

I'm considering using some malted barley along with my malt extract and DME this time for the 1st time, and don't want to screw it up!
Chris