Wow, im blown away by all the advice! Im away on business right now so it will probably be a couple of weeks before I give it a go but I want to see what I’m getting myself into. I have well water so I don’t think chlorine is going to be a problem. Would it be worth it to treat anyways?
Go to ward labs website and order a brewing test kit. Follow the instructions and in a couple weeks (after you ship them a sample) you will know whats in your water.
Meanwhile, I would brew an amber or dark colored beer. Dont give water a second thought till you know what your well has it in.
Denny’s website mentioned before is a great place to start. Just jump in and go for it. You will learn along the way. Dont try to nail down every aspect the first time.
What do you guys think about the Accu-mash packets that Northern Brewer sells with their all grain kits? I’m planing on using them with distilled water on my first batch.
I would strongly suggest using RO with 1 tsp of CaCl2 per 5 gallons (and 1 tsp of CaSO4/Gypsum for hoppy beers) until you can get your well water analyzed. The big question with well water is what sort of ‘filter’ it passes through to get to your well. It might be too high in alkalinity to use as is, or it may be completely fine. Using store-bought RO until then is a real safety net to be able to fall back on.
No chlorine not an issue unless you have some well water treatment system involving chlorine. But as a well brewer, get a water report as Jim says and figure out if your water will be suitable for brewing and manageable with brewing salts. If not, RO is cheap and great alternative.
Accu-mash appears to be brewers salts pre-measured. If so, they are expensive (as is a lot of stuff from NB). A pound each of gypsum, calcium chloride, and Epsom salt can be had for less than $10 and will last a very long time.
Are they specific to the kit you order? If so, not a bad idea for new brewer who doesn’t have equip and other stuff to manage. Let’s you just focus on the process of all grain.
Yeah they are made to match the style of beer you are brewing. I went to their website and read a little on it today, seems like a good idea. Just wondering if anyone has tried it yet.
That’s unfortunate.
I’m not going to have the extra flow to buy a ph meter for the first batch but I will definitely have it for the 2nd…bought to much equipment latley. Lol
Don’t sweat a ph meter and water for a little while. Learn the process, make some beer, and then start reading Martin’s Facebook page and download a copy of Bru’n water. Palmer’s water book might help as well. I haven’t read it, so I can’t vouch for it.
I think I’m gonna go ahead without worrying about the water for now and see how an amber turns out. It seems to be fine with extract recipes so I’m not too worried. I want to get the process down a bit. I’ll send a sample to the lab after I get some batches under my belt.
Right on, I switched to all grain prior to getting fermentation control. Its fine, its not against the law lol. Its more fun than opening a sack of powder for sure. All I am saying is that good yeast handling and fermentation control has way more impact on beer quality than understanding residual alkalinity, fine tuning CaCl, SO4, debating the optimum mash pH for a certain style and whether to go with 88% lactic or 10% phosphoric or acidulated malt.
Its kind of like choosing the perfect powered subwoofer for a car with bald tires and no insurance.
Sounds like my first car haha. Any advice on easy ways to control fermentation temps without breaking the bank? I’ve heard of people using towels and some types of insulation.