Water question

[Brewnation]

So I have been brewing pretty good beer lately. I'm pretty confident with my recipes but at this point I would like to start getting my water dialed in . I have been making sure that my Mash pH is around 5 .4 and fly sparging with water at about the same pH and adding about a teaspoon of gypsum to both . Also adding a teaspoon of calcium chloride to the boil . I just built a brew stand with a carbon filter on it and am now running my water through that before it goes into the hot liquor tank and mash tun. I don't have an RO unit nor have I had any luck getting a water report for my water company so I would say that anything I do to my water is strictly guesswork. What exactly does the carbon filter remove and leave behind? I am Brewing this weekend and I really wanted to try doing some work on my water profile. Should I just buy distilled water and add the materials I want to get to the profile I want? Or should I just continue with carbon filtered water with the same additives I've been using? Any advice would be appreciated as I do not have a firm grip on what the differences in a water profile actually due to the beer. I've been doing a lot of reading but it is a lot to take in

 

[McKnuckle]

I think the question might be - what is lacking in your beer with the method you're currently using? Can you successfully brew both light and dark beer styles with your current water regimen? Since you don't have a water report, you're guessing right now and perhaps lucking out. Many have it worse! So, congrats.

I think that using DI/RO water with weighed salts is a great approach towards learning how the additions actually make a difference in your beer. Learning is always good. But on the other hand, water prep is a means to an end for most of us. It doesn't have to be something we focus on unless something is lacking - off flavors, inappropriate mash pH, poor efficiency with all other factors ruled out, and so on.

I ultimately want to make good beer, not water. But when I stumbled through a dozen early batches with my well water, I finally realized that I had to learn about it. It was impossible to work with, so I went the DI route. Now I follow a simple regimen that works for me, and get good results (the beer part ).

If you want to work with your house water and can't get a report from the provider, go to Ward Labs. If you don't get those numbers, you can't do anything purposeful with it, and you won't learn how various mineral ppm values produce different taste or performance changes.

You can, however, learn about that by using DI/RO water. The reading material, while certainly fascinating and definitely a baseline for knowledge, is still no match for your own empiricism. Once you've brewed a pale ale with twice the SO4 as Cl, and then vice versa, you can really notice the difference. Is higher SO4 really "hoppy" like people say? You be the judge! (hint: "dry" may be a better adjective.)

 

[mabrungard]

If your tap water has much alkalinity in it, adding a teaspoon of gypsum to the sparging water won't provide the alkalinity reduction that you need for sparging water. Learning to dose the proper amount of acid to your mashing and sparging water is a better alternative. Going to distilled water is another way to assure you have low alkalinity, but that is a bit more trouble and cost than adding acid.

 

[ajdelange]

So I have been brewing pretty good beer lately. I'm pretty confident with my recipes but at this point I would like to start getting my water dialed in . I have been making sure that my Mash pH is around 5 .4 and fly sparging with water at about the same pH and adding about a teaspoon of gypsum to both . Also adding a teaspoon of calcium chloride to the boil . I just built a brew stand with a carbon filter on it and am now running my water through that before it goes into the hot liquor tank and mash tun. I don't have an RO unit nor have I had any luck getting a water report for my water company so I would say that anything I do to my water is strictly guesswork.

It is indeed. Without knowing what is in your water you are really flying blind. Spring for th $25 and send a sample off to Ward Labs.

What exactly does the carbon filter remove and leave behind?

With utility water not much of importance except chloramine and chlorine as long as the flow rate is low enough. If you have earthy, musty smells in your water it should take those out too.

I am Brewing this weekend and I really wanted to try doing some work on my water profile. Should I just buy distilled water and add the materials I want to get to the profile I want?

That is a sure way to achieve your goals though it does represent the easy way out. You will make better beer doing that but you won't learn much about water chemistry that way. Of course you may not wish to.

Or should I just continue with carbon filtered water with the same additives I've been using?

You don't know whether your additions are benefiting or detrimenting your brews until you know what your baseline is.

 

[Brewnation]

Just got off the phone with water company. He said they use 11 wells so the ranges are kinda wide

Ph 6.8-7.2
Soidium 30-35
Mag 0
Total hardness 100-150
Nitrate 4
Sulfate 15-101
Cloride 20-68

Every thing I asked for they didn't test for

 

[gspot]

The numbers you DO have are not terrible--I've seen worse--but you still need more info. I'd either get a test or build it from RO.

 

[Brewnation]

What level do I want mag at and Cloride for northeast style ipa. I'm brewing tomorrow and I would like to at least get those 2 in line

 

[gspot]

That would depend on what your target water profile is. You don't technically have to change what you have, as your levels are perfectly acceptable as they are (i.e. not excessive). It is only if you are trying to match a specific water profile of another place that you would add a source of magnesium and chloride. Keep in mind that malted barley itself contributes minerals.

Generally Magnesium is 2-30 ppm and chloride is 200-300 ppm. I highly recommend the Brunwater spreadsheet as it already contains this information. If you don't have Excel, here's another: https://www.morebeer.com/articles/treating_homebrew_water

 

[McKnuckle]

Chloride is 200-300 ppm?? That is VERY high. I see you pulled that range off the MoreBeer link. I would disregard that information. It also puts the upper range of sodium at 150 ppm (!), then quietly adds "Levels greater than 75 ppm add a disagreeable harshness."

Shoot for chloride 50-100 ppm. Don't add anything for Mg.

 

[gspot]

Yes, please take the morebeer article with a grain of salt. I did pull the quoted ranges from that page but don't actually use then myself. I use brunwater, and recommend it over the information on the morebeer page. I was too lazy to get off the couch, walk into my office, and consult the recommended levels on the brunwater spreadsheet. I just assumed the two sources of information would be fairly similar. I mean, everyone conforms to best practices, right?

Now that I checked brunwater, it recommends chloride at 10-100 ppm, but less than 100 if sulfate is greater than 100, which in an IPA, you'd presumably want. My apologies if morebeer steered anyone wrong