Yes. I hope there is acceptance in this forum thread for a little water discussion? Was such a great read, though it has been a while since my first read-through.
It seems trappist breweries alter the profile of their municipal water supply. So, in the example of the municipal water report of Chimay, which in ppm/l and ml/l is:
70 calcium, 21 sulfate, 21 chloride, 7 magnesium, 7 sodium, 216 bicarbonate
Look at the insane level (?) of bicarbonate? All of the trappist breweries have this similar high level of bicarbonate.. From what I've read this far, bicarbonate results in an increased alkalinity in your mash, which makes it tougher to affect pH up and down, in this case a lot, further resulting the need of a lot of acid (or other means) to get from say 5,5 pH down to 5,2-4 pH. High levels of alkalinity is great for brewing dark beers, but not for light beers, which our Westy mash is.
I assume when Chimay brew with their local water they reduce their bicarbonate levels by some method first? Maybe using pickling lime a.k.a. calcium hydroxide to precipitate out the excess bicarbonate? It can be boiled out as well to some degree, 2/3rds or something.
Further, if one is to follow John Palmers recommendations for minimum sulfate and chloride levels in brewing water taken from his book "Water - a comprehensive guide for brewers, " , chloride and sulfate needs to be at a minimum of 50 ppm to start have an effect on the perceived flavours in beer. According to Palmer, brewing water typically has 50-250 ppm of sulfate and 0-250 ppm of chloride. And furthermore, one should have double amount of chlorides to sulfates in order to give a sense of fullness to malt-forward beers.
70 ppm of calcium seems ok? There is a recommended "minimum" of 50 ppm there as well, stabilizing the enzymes in the alpha amylase range, aiding in protein coagulation which helps the lauter run off, and also benefiting the yeast flocculation. The problem for me with the chimay water profile looks to be that when you have low levels of sulfate and chloride but ok levels of calcium, adding calciumsulfate and calciumchloride to increase your levels of chloride and sulfate would bring your calcium levels up to 140-170 ppm.
Recommended range is between 50-150 ppm calcium for brewing water.
Any input in understanding this particular municipal water profile from Chimay and what to do with it? What would be a good target profile for a belgian dark strong ale? If I have misunderstood something then feel very free to correct. I've just begun to read about water in beer brewing.
It seems trappist breweries alter the profile of their municipal water supply. So, in the example of the municipal water report of Chimay, which in ppm/l and ml/l is:
70 calcium, 21 sulfate, 21 chloride, 7 magnesium, 7 sodium, 216 bicarbonate
Look at the insane level (?) of bicarbonate? All of the trappist breweries have this similar high level of bicarbonate.. From what I've read this far, bicarbonate results in an increased alkalinity in your mash, which makes it tougher to affect pH up and down, in this case a lot, further resulting the need of a lot of acid (or other means) to get from say 5,5 pH down to 5,2-4 pH. High levels of alkalinity is great for brewing dark beers, but not for light beers, which our Westy mash is.
I assume when Chimay brew with their local water they reduce their bicarbonate levels by some method first? Maybe using pickling lime a.k.a. calcium hydroxide to precipitate out the excess bicarbonate? It can be boiled out as well to some degree, 2/3rds or something.
Further, if one is to follow John Palmers recommendations for minimum sulfate and chloride levels in brewing water taken from his book "Water - a comprehensive guide for brewers, " , chloride and sulfate needs to be at a minimum of 50 ppm to start have an effect on the perceived flavours in beer. According to Palmer, brewing water typically has 50-250 ppm of sulfate and 0-250 ppm of chloride. And furthermore, one should have double amount of chlorides to sulfates in order to give a sense of fullness to malt-forward beers.
70 ppm of calcium seems ok? There is a recommended "minimum" of 50 ppm there as well, stabilizing the enzymes in the alpha amylase range, aiding in protein coagulation which helps the lauter run off, and also benefiting the yeast flocculation. The problem for me with the chimay water profile looks to be that when you have low levels of sulfate and chloride but ok levels of calcium, adding calciumsulfate and calciumchloride to increase your levels of chloride and sulfate would bring your calcium levels up to 140-170 ppm.
Recommended range is between 50-150 ppm calcium for brewing water.
Any input in understanding this particular municipal water profile from Chimay and what to do with it? What would be a good target profile for a belgian dark strong ale? If I have misunderstood something then feel very free to correct. I've just begun to read about water in beer brewing.
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