Everytime I try to learn about water chemistry with regards to brewing I just always seem to end up confused and frustrated.
I understand the concept of appropriate ranges of minerals, and pH ranges, but it’s putting that information into execution in a mash that I just start to get confused.
Here is my most recent water report levels:
Ca - 65 mg/L
Hardness [as CaCO3] - 246 mg/L
Mg - 21 mg/L
Na - 77 mg/L
Alkalinity - 112 mg/L (My water report doesn’t show Bicarbonate HCO3)
SO4 - 160 mg/L
Cl - 78 mg/L
When I put these numbers into the equation in Ray Daniels’ “Designing Great Beers” book
pH = (CaCO3 x 0.056) - (Ca x -0.04) - (Mg x -0.033]) x 0.028 + 5.8
I get an approximate mash pH of 6.1
The only way I seem to be able to calculate a mash pH of 5.4 (and still stay within ideal ranges of Ca and Mg) I would have to start with a negative amount of CaCO3 (which i assume means an acidic water)… this is where I begin to become frustrated. Can you even have negative CaCO3?
im confused… :-\
Also, could anybody further explain to me using R/O Water vs. Distilled? At least as far as how the differences apply to brewing…
R/O water still has a negligible amount of ppm (parts per million) dissolved solids, but is almost all sodium. I produce mine from softened water which is almost all sodium as well. I’ve grain brewed with softened in the distant past. Distilled has almost no ppm and the pH can be swayed easily by what is placed into it. A blank slate for you to write on with salts and grain and hops.
I use R/O to help build my water since it behaves the same as distilled at the brewing level. IMO.
I use R/O to help build my water since it behaves the same as distilled at the brewing level. IMO.
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From what I hear, R/O seems to be the most popular choice for building water profiles. If I was to buy R/O water from the store, do different brands contain different profiles as far as their hardness and pH?
That calculation is an estimate. There are a lot of variables that impact its outcome, such as the grains you are mashing. In general, darker grains will lower the pH. That said, you do have fairly hard water, so unless you are brewing a Porter or Stout, you may run towards the high end of the 5.1 to 5.5 target range for a mash. You can’t strip out Calcium Carbonate, so you have a few options. You can add a little acid to your mash to drop the pH (lots of brewers use a small amounts of lactic acid for this), you can use an acid rest or use acidulated grain, or you can dilute your water with either distilled or RO, which is probably what I would recommend. Most brewers don’t have the capacity to do a step mash with an acid rest and adding too much lactic can impart some flavors you might not necessarily want.
Lots of brewers like to start with distilled or RO as a blank slate to build up their water profiles themselves, but you don’t have to do it that way. What you really need to understand is the difference between using distilled/RO water vs. spring water. Largely negligivle quantities of minerals and salts remain in distilled/RO water, whereas the spring water will have whatever mineral profile the spring has which you are unlikely to know.
Best advice I can give you though…if you are working towards a water profile, do not necessarily target one of the “typical” city water profiles. You don’t know how those brewers are treating their own water, and you can easily overdo it. Also, if you need to make adjustments to your mash pH, try to use brewing salts or acid in the mash, not that “5.2” stuff. I’ve used it before, and I and a lot of other brewers have noticed a chalky taste/mouthfeel to those beers.
If you are going to spend time with the water chimistry:
Get a pH meter. Use it during the mash, to then adjust up/down.
Download Bru’nwater, it has been very accurate for me with in 0.1 for most beers. Still use the pH meter to check. Bru’m water also has some waters based on the beer you are brewing, and the profiles for boiled water from the classic brewing cities.
Use RO water and build, or learn to dilute your water with RO using Bru’nwater. The RO I buy from the machine at a local grocery is almost distilled water, but cheaper.
Get some pickling lime (CaOH) to raise the pH, if needed.
Get some phosphoric acid to lower the pH.
Realize that color is weakly correlated to the mash chemistry. See Kai’s article in Zymurgy this issue. Read his water and mash articles in braukaiser.com
Don’t over do it. Less is more.
In my opinion, 5.2 was a waste of my money, but I had to try it.
I haven’t used Martin’s spreadsheet yet but usually dilute my hard city water with 50-75% R/O for “pale” styles. Anywhere from 25-50% for darker beers. However, I can brew Brown ales and darker with just my local water and they come out pretty good.
Taking on a pH meter adds a little more complexity to the venture. The pH strips suck so a digital meter is almost a must. When I started brewing there was no inkling of how involved it can get, and no idea how much equipment I’d start to amass.
My back yard gets so cluttered from all the shit that I use on a brew day. Haha. Especially because I don’t have a consolidated system. I just have pieces laying around everywhere. Definitely makes clean-up quite dreadful!
I fill my hot-liquor tank (80qt) up to the brim or with the total amount of water calculated for the entire process. I’m sure filtered tap water would be ok for the sparge if you had to break up the amounts for some reason.
I treat the entire amount with campden tablets to strip the chlorine. Best done at the beginning and if I only have one volume of water to deal with then there are less mistakes to be made. You never know when the gremlins will steal some water or wort away…
I use RO water. I have four 5 gallon bottles that I refill at Culligan machines (Walmart). It’s inexpensive. I was using spring water but RO water costs around $4 per batch vs $12 or more for spring.
I use only RO water. Initially I took someone’s advice and just threw some gypsum into the mash water. I had some issues so I downloaded the Bru’n Water spreadsheet. Takes a little time to figure out the spreadsheet, but it’s time well spent. Several books cover the subject, too. “Designing Great Beers” is one, if I’m not mistaken.
I have been using EZwatercalculator http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/ and have found it easy to understand and
use. I will check out Martin’s spreadsheet next session to see how they compare.
Also, even if you can’t find the ion information from the utility company send them an email, took about 2 days for my water utility to figure out what I wanted, but after a bit, they got me exactly what I needed. Make sure you ask for the Secondary Standards, that is where almost all the brewing Ion information is located.
The pH strips suck so a digital meter is almost a must. When I started brewing there was no inkling of how involved it can get, and no idea how much equipment I’d start to amass.