Is anyone out there using ro water to brew with. I am currently using simple city water filtered through a carbon filter. I am an all grain brewer and all i use for a water additive is the ph5.2 stabilizer. Having good luck. Just wanting some input on using ro water?
Water (reverse osmosis)
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ThatVideoKid
Well-Known Member
A lot of people use RO water. They typically use RO water with salt and acid additions to build whatever water profile they want
Yep. Exactly what he posted above.
Also, don't use the 5.2 stabilizer. It's a scam, and doesn't work like you think it does...
Also, don't use the 5.2 stabilizer. It's a scam, and doesn't work like you think it does...
I use my house well water that I've had tested by Ward Labs. For my lighter colored creations, I used to buy and use Distilled water. Until I saw the RO water machine in my grocery store. RO is 1/2 price DW, so when I dilute, it's ROW now. And yes, it's all based on what Brun water tells me to do......
Dcpcooks
Well-Known Member
I just got a RO system from buckeye hydro. It's super easy to build up water from here. Lake Michigan water is pretty decent to brew with but the chloramine is a bummer and they really crank it up in the summer.
I bought an RO system from Buckeye Hydro; I'd do it again. Russ was very helpful in getting me what I needed, fittings and so on. I've included a pic of how I do it below.
Here are a couple considerations, depending on how you're going to draw RO water for brewing. I don't have a tank and a faucet, as you can see from the picture. I simply hung my RO filters on the wall next to the sink, and feed them from the faucet, which has a threaded spout.
I run the RO water directly into a 7-gallon Aquatainer. I do this when I'm brewing, so that the water I start with from the Aquatainer (oddly enough, an almost perfect amount when I add 1 gallon of very hard tap water) is replenished by the RO filter. It's just one of the brew-day duties.
Another consideration is capacity. Mine is 50 gallons per day capacity, and it's pretty close to that in output--3-4 hours of running it into the Aquatainer and I have water ready for the next brew day. If I were to do it over again, I'd have bought the 100 GPD filter; it's only a few dollars more and I'd have less wait time. It works great, and I'm happy, but I'd have gone higher capacity.
If you're feeding a tank with an auto shutoff, and the tank has enough capacity for your brew day, then filter throughput is probably not as important and you can save the few bucks.
The three colored lines you see in the pic are the source water (Blue, hooked up to the faucet, which leaks which is why I have the red rag over it); output line (White, going into the Aquatainer; I drilled a 1/4" hole and it fits the tube perfectly); and Yellow, which is the waste water. The waste water just goes down the drain.
Here are a couple considerations, depending on how you're going to draw RO water for brewing. I don't have a tank and a faucet, as you can see from the picture. I simply hung my RO filters on the wall next to the sink, and feed them from the faucet, which has a threaded spout.
I run the RO water directly into a 7-gallon Aquatainer. I do this when I'm brewing, so that the water I start with from the Aquatainer (oddly enough, an almost perfect amount when I add 1 gallon of very hard tap water) is replenished by the RO filter. It's just one of the brew-day duties.
Another consideration is capacity. Mine is 50 gallons per day capacity, and it's pretty close to that in output--3-4 hours of running it into the Aquatainer and I have water ready for the next brew day. If I were to do it over again, I'd have bought the 100 GPD filter; it's only a few dollars more and I'd have less wait time. It works great, and I'm happy, but I'd have gone higher capacity.
If you're feeding a tank with an auto shutoff, and the tank has enough capacity for your brew day, then filter throughput is probably not as important and you can save the few bucks.
The three colored lines you see in the pic are the source water (Blue, hooked up to the faucet, which leaks which is why I have the red rag over it); output line (White, going into the Aquatainer; I drilled a 1/4" hole and it fits the tube perfectly); and Yellow, which is the waste water. The waste water just goes down the drain.
THIS IS ALONG THE LINES WHAT I AM WANTING TO DO, EXCEPT I AM GOING TO INSTALL MY RO SYSTEM WITH THE FAUCET ON MY SINK IN MY KITCHEN. I AM GOING TO BE INSTALLING THIS SYSTEM http://www.123filter.com/catalog/is...rse-osmosis-uv-alkaline-filter-rcc1up-ak.html
I AM JUST PLANNING ON FILLING THE SAME AQUATAINER'S AND USING MY PUMP TO PUMP TO MY HLT. " I HAVE A 10GALLON 3 TIER GRAVITY FED ALL GRAIN SET UP" SO I DONT WANT TO HAVE TO CLIMB A LADDER TO FILL HLT.
I GUESS MY BIGGEST QUESTION IS WHERE DO I START TO BUILD MY WATER PROFILE, WHAT DO I NEED TO ADD, HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO ADD, AND HOW DO I KNOW THE RATES PER STYLE OF BEER.
IS THERE A PLACE THAT HAS A CHART THAT IS LIKE... STOUT WATER NEEDS TO HAVE THIS MANY PPM OF THEESE MINERAL, SALTS, ACIDS BLA BLA BLA.
I ALSO FIGURE I SHOULD SEND OFF A WATER SAMPLE FROM MY RO SYSTEM SO SEE WHAT IS LEFT IN IT FOR A BASE LINE.
I AM JUST PLANNING ON FILLING THE SAME AQUATAINER'S AND USING MY PUMP TO PUMP TO MY HLT. " I HAVE A 10GALLON 3 TIER GRAVITY FED ALL GRAIN SET UP" SO I DONT WANT TO HAVE TO CLIMB A LADDER TO FILL HLT.
I GUESS MY BIGGEST QUESTION IS WHERE DO I START TO BUILD MY WATER PROFILE, WHAT DO I NEED TO ADD, HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO ADD, AND HOW DO I KNOW THE RATES PER STYLE OF BEER.
IS THERE A PLACE THAT HAS A CHART THAT IS LIKE... STOUT WATER NEEDS TO HAVE THIS MANY PPM OF THEESE MINERAL, SALTS, ACIDS BLA BLA BLA.
I ALSO FIGURE I SHOULD SEND OFF A WATER SAMPLE FROM MY RO SYSTEM SO SEE WHAT IS LEFT IN IT FOR A BASE LINE.
bonecitybrewco
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K, bud. Dial er back there about 20%.
Check out bru'n water. It has basic profiles in there to give you an idea, and you can put in your house water profile or whatever your RO system is producing.
If you look down the forums you'll find one labeled "Brew Science." That's where most discussion of water occurs.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=128
There are a number of water calculators/spreadsheets you can use. BrunWater is one, I think Beersmith has one, EZWater, and so on. Browse the brewscience forum and you'll see what people are doing and how.
I'm no expert on water--trying to become passably effective and used EZWater. I've looked at BrunWater and it's a higher level calculator from what I can discern, but I haven't quite mastered it yet.
Some of the problem w/ learning about water is that different compounds are labeled differently so it's hard to equate them. I'm about ready to go back to college and take a Chemistry course or two, just to get this down.
I have bad water for brewing most beers except the really dark ones, so RO is necessary for me. I don't have to do much, a typical brew day is such that I use 1 gallon of unsoftened tap water, 7 gallons of RO water, and then add 5 grams of calcium chloride to the strike water, 4 or 5 ml of Lactic Acid to the strike water, and 5 grams of Epsom Salts to the sparge water.
One of the mysteries of water, for me, is that the first time I brewed a Rye beer I like, I forgot to add the Epsom Salts. That beer has been complimented by everyone who's had it, such that in my mind it's the "mistake" beer. As a beer connoisseur friend of mine said, "just keep making the same mistake."
Someday if I'm feeling brave I'll add those Epsom Salts and see if I like the results.
