Whats your easiest method for water adjustment?

[HopHound12]

So today I took the plunge and bought the equipment to start brewing lagers. In order to do this properly I also plan to start adjusting my water profile. I have been doing some pretty extensive reading online and I am still baffled by the process. So essentially I am reaching out to see if anyone has a relatively simple way of doing this??

I am looking to start from good old Florida tap water and hopefully hopefully make it a little more suitable for brewing clean lagers. Currently I just use campden tablets and I know this won't cut it. Thanks!

 

[iijakii]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460 is the easiest way. You'll need a good water report to know where your starting point is, or use some RO.

 

[Rcbandl]

Unless you get a water test there is not much info anyone can give. But in west coast FL we have some pretty nice water for brewing. But it leans towards darker maltier beer.

For lagers you can try mixing 50/50 filtered, dechlorinated tap water and RO or distilled. If your going more pilsner then do 25% tap 75 ro/distilled.

Its not science but without a water report there is not much more info that can be given

 

[Brauer]

This is about as easy as it gets.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460

 

[Biscuits]

Trying to learn whats what about water right now is a very confusing time. John Palmer is preaching Residual Alkalinity (RA) and AJ Delange seems to be on the mash pH side of the spectrum. Personally, I side with AJ, simply because unless I start a lab in my basement, my water is never going to match RA with any historic water profile.

So, to answer your question.focus on mash pH. Get a water report, get a good pH meter and have some baking soda and lactic acid on hand to adjust as needed.

 

[HopHound12]

Thanks for the info guys I really appreciate it. I like the idea of simply just adjusting the mash pH. Would these strips be appropriate for testing or should I get one of the electronic thermometer like testers?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S730YWG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Biscuits]

The strips are not very good...get a good pH tester.

 

[gbx]

Trying to learn whats what about water right now is a very confusing time. John Palmer is preaching Residual Alkalinity (RA) and AJ Delange seems to be on the mash pH side of the spectrum. Personally, I side with AJ, simply because unless I start a lab in my basement, my water is never going to match RA with any historic water profile.

So, to answer your question.focus on mash pH. Get a water report, get a good pH meter and have some baking soda and lactic acid on hand to adjust as needed.

Pretty much everything ever written about brewing water chemistry is over complicated pseudoscience. There are 2 good resources: AJ's water primer thread that has already been linked and Gordon Strong's Brewing Better Beer. They are the only things I've seen that answer the question "what should I do to my water?" and what you want to read if you don't care to learn about the competing theories and fake beer history (historic water profiles) and just want to know what to do.

 

[bacgabe]

Actually, I think the easiest approach is to get your water report then download brun water by Martin Brungard. Read the intro and helpful tips carefully and you will be able to treat your water for any situation or recipe. If you have any questions he is also very active and generous with his time in the brewing science area of the forums, as is A.J. Delange.

 

[Gavin C]

I tackle it this way.


Step 1: Build the water

• Determine the mineral content in your brewing water via a Ward Labs report or use RO water (essentially zero mineral values or negligibly close to 0)
• Determine the water profile you want based on the type of beer your making and personal tastes
• Make the appropriate dilutions of tap-water with RO water to reduce ion levels as needed and add minerals you want to add ions as needed. (Do not use chalk)

Water Adjustment Tool


Step 2: Control mash pH

• Using the adjusted water from above, the grain-bill and planned water volume to calculate a predicted mash pH with an online tool (I use Bru'n Water, it's great)
• Make adjustments if needed to add the required acid (there are some extreme examples where adding alkali may be needed but this is not something I have ever encountered and can't feasibly see this ever occurring)
• Measure mash pH using a well calibrated effective pH meter (pass on the cheapo's, waste of money, as are the strips)
• Compare the predicted with the actual mash pH and note the difference. Use this information to tailor future acid additions.
• Mash pH can be nailed down with some accuracy as your data set grows.
• *A test mimi-mash is another useful tool.

Mash Acidification Calculation


All mashes require acid to get the pH into the target range. This acid comes in various forms. Some of these can be used in any given mash.

• Acid malt
• Roast malt
• Crystal malt
• Added lactic/phosphoric acid
• Largely impractical: Carrying out a beta-glucan rest (for hours) with poorly modified malts

Measuring Mash pH 20-30 minutes into a mash


The thinner the mash the more acid is needed to achieve the same pH as a thicker mash of the same grains with the same water.

Tackle water profile and mash pH completely separately and it's very simple

• Don't concern yourself with the pH of mash water
• Sparge water may need to be acidified with lactic/phosphoric acid
• Don't try to adjust mash pH with mineral additions. Use acid in one or more of the forms previously listed.

I'm not suggesting this is the only way to tackle water chemistry. My approach is simple, based in reasonable science, effective and repeatable. It makes perfect sense to me to do it this way. It is resulting in beers with flavors I enjoy.

 

[Natdavis777]

I would recommend starting with RO or distilled water until you have a water report back from your tap water. As for programs, I suggest Bru'n Water. Play with it for a bit to get the hang of it. Once you have a good grasp, plug in your volumes, grain bill, and then your desired mineral levels for your beer style. Then evaluate your mash pH. If its still high, you can treat the mash with some acid (via acid malt, lactic or phosphoric) to drop it down to your desired pH. If pH is too low and alkalinity is needed, you can treat with pickling lime (I feel treating water up and down with minerals is wasteful), or you can: 1) reserve some minerals that lower the mash pH and add to the sparge/boil addition, or 2) reserve some of the dark grains until the end of the mash or sparge.

 

[gbx]

Wow, those are your "easiest methods for water adjustment"? Are you brewing 40pt beers and want to make them 41pt beers? Then do all those things. If not then RO + tsp of CaCl will work for ALL styles of beer (even straight RO is fine for most recipes). Temp control, pitching rate, ingredient freshness, serving temp, clarity, carbonation rate, draught line cleanliness all have a much bigger influence on beer quality than a couple tenths of a pH during the mash or your Cl:SO4 ratio

 

[Gavin C]

Wow, those are your "easiest methods for water adjustment"? Are you brewing 40pt beers and want to make them 41pt beers?

Not to put too fine a point on it but, yes. To challenge myself to make a great beer. The best I can make. Here is a recent example. Hopefully there will be more.

The post seems very complex but the process is not. To each their own. I don't find my method to be at all complicated.

 

[doug293cz]

Not to put too fine a point on it but, yes. To challenge myself to make a great beer. The best I can make. Here is a recent example. Hopefully there will be more.

The post seems very complex but the process is not. To each their own. I don't find my method to be at all complicated.

I use pretty much the same approach for water adjustment as Gavin C, except that I use lactic acid additions instead of acid malt (acid malt also adds lactic acid, but in a malted grain carrier.) It's not that hard to do if you have Bru'nWater (or another good water calculator.) It is a little confusing until you have done it a few times, but after that you will wonder why you felt so intimidated before you started doing it. It's a smaller jump in process complexity than going from extract to all grain.

Brew on

 

[HopHound12]

Wow guys thanks for all the detailed responses after reading the whole thread i think I will ebnd up dowenloading the Bru'n water software and play around with it. Still in the process of getting a used chest freezer to pair with my temperature controller so I have a bit of time to figure this all out.

 

[HopHound12]

Gavin your munich helles recipe looks amazing I might just have to make it my first lager brew. I spent some time in Germany and the Czech Republic last summer, drinking the beer there is really what made me make the jump to wanting to make lagers.

 

[Gavin C]

Gavin your munich helles recipe looks amazing I might just have to make it my first lager brew. I spent some time in Germany and the Czech Republic last summer, drinking the beer there is really what made me make the jump to wanting to make lagers.

Thanks @Hophound12

If you brew it I'd love to hear how it turns out for you. Almost all I've been brewing of late are German lagers and hybrids. Really enjoying the process.