Water profiles

[Newbie23]

Hey everyone, new to the forum so wanted to say hello!
I’ve done a few brews with the Mrs, have played around with a few things recently like secondary fermentation, and have recently bought a Brewzilla which we’re looking forward to having a play around with.

One thing I’m interested in playing around with is water profiles.
The next beer we’re going to brew is going to be a hazy ipa, and so I’ve had a bit of a look around and understand some things, but just wanted to get confirmation from people in the know.

1.When adding to the water, these are added to the mash? (Sparge water as well)
2. I’ve found a 150ppm chloride/75ppm sulfate mix for the water, but finding it difficult to find an understanding of what ppm means, and how much this translates to for a 23l brew?
3. At this stage I’ll purchase distilled/mineral water for the next few brews, which I understand gives a 0 reading in its water?

Hoping someone can help shed some light on these things

Thanks all!

 

[VikeMan]

1.When adding to the water, these are added to the mash? (Sparge water as well)

Salts can go in your mash water, sparge water (or kettle), or both. Salts can be used in the mash to affect mash pH and flavor. Salts in the sparge water (or kettle) affect flavor.

2. I’ve found a 150ppm chloride/75ppm sulfate mix for the water, but finding it difficult to find an understanding of what ppm means, and how much this translates to for a 23l brew?

PPM means parts per million. At the kinds of concentrations seen in brewing water/beer wort, PPM is for practical purposes equal to milligrams per liter. Doing the math yourself is quite laborious, particularly because you don't add (for example) chloride by itself i.e. it has to be added as part of a salt compound that also brings calcium or magnesium or sodium along with it. Most people use some sort of software. MpH is excellent and free. Or, for a free overall brewing solution, the MpH model is also integrated into BrewCipher. <- Also at this site is an intro to brewing water treatment which you may find useful.

3. At this stage I’ll purchase distilled/mineral water for the next few brews, which I understand gives a 0 reading in its water?

Distilled water is a blank slate to build on, i.e. all PPM numbers are 0. Mineral water is not the same. Avoid it unless you know what's in it and it happens to be a good starting point for whatever you're building.

 

[rburrelli]

When you say “I found a water” what do you mean? Are you using some software to help with additions? Sore are like Bru’n Water will translate ppm to grams required to be added to mash and sparge.

 

[Newbie23]

Hey guys cheers for the feedback so far.

I was meaning that I’ve had a look on this forum and a few threads have mentioned that 150ppm chloride/75ppm sulfate is a good water profile for a hazy, so was using that as a starting point. I haven’t had a proper look at Bru n water or MpH yet so will have a look and no doubt come back with a few questions

 

[Jag75]

Get you one of the programs , a ph meter, gypsum, calcium chloride , lactic acid and some RO water and never look back. I dont know what your water looks like but I had mine checked . Thats the reason I went RO water . Now if I brew a stout , I use my tap water .

Check out water primer thread in beer science section if you haven't.

 

[IslandLizard]

The previous 6 posts were deleted.

Please, offer helpful advice to the OP:

Hoping someone can help shed some light on these things

 

[IslandLizard]

At this stage I’ll purchase distilled/mineral water for the next few brews, which I understand gives a 0 reading in its water?

Depending on where you live, you may be able to get RO (Reverse Osmosis) water from an RO machine. It tends to be somewhat easier on the wallet than distilled.

If you get your tap water from a municipal or privately owned water company, you can contact them for the analysis, and mineral composition.
Look at the stickies in the Brew Science Forum for the minerals we brewers are interested in, and those we want to avoid at any cost.

A Cl:SO4 content of 150 :75 ppm is generally OK for hazy beers, but some go as far as 300:75 and beyond.

Minerals additions are easy. But you really need to focus on preventing your beer from oxygen (air) exposure once fermentation has started.
That's more important for those (hoppy) beers than focusing on mineral content of the water.

I trust you've looked at some of our NEIPA threads?
Here's the big one:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/northeast-style-ipa.568046/

 

[IslandLizard]

a ph meter

I agree with @Jag75, except for that one.^
I'd put that last on any list for beginning brewers. Especially when using RO or distilled water with a (good) water calculator.

 

[dmtaylor]

Water is an advanced topic. It does not belong on the beginners forum.

The most important things with water is to get the chlorine and metals out if present, soften it if it’s terribly hard, acidify if it is alkaline so you can hit a mash pH around 5.5. Beyond that we are getting into bug dust.

 

[Newbie23]

I agree with @Jag75, except for that one.^
I'd put that last on any list for beginning brewers. Especially when using RO or distilled water with a (good) water calculator.

Wow that one is awesome, thanks heaps

 

[Jag75]

Water is an advanced topic. It does not belong on the beginners forum.

The most important things with water is to get the chlorine and metals out if present, soften it if it’s terribly hard, acidify if it is alkaline so you can hit a mash pH around 5.5. Beyond that we are getting into bug dust.

Sort of agree , but depends on the brewer. I think all grain brewing isn't for beginners most of the time. Mash pH comes hand in hand with AG . Imo it basically comes down to the brewer.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Maybe water is a topic where a number of decisions have to be made before it becomes 'easy' (as most of the decisions have been made by the questions) or 'complex' (as the decisions have been deferred to recipe design).

If the decision is to start with RO / distilled water, then

1. with DME/LME: pour the water into the kettle, add the DME/LME. See [1] for details.
2. with partial-mash: Apply reference [2] to the mash portion of the wort.
3. with all-grain: apply reference [2].

If the decision is to start with tap water, that's something that I don't do (and won't talk about here to keep things focused).

There could be additional information about 'seasoning to taste' with kettle salt additions.

[1] How to Brew, 4e, chapter 1.
[2] Water Chemistry – How to Build Your Water – Bertus Brewery