Hi Guys, Now that I've had about 10 all grain batches under my belt, I'm slowly working on Water Treatment. For all my previous batches I have simply used Poland Springs bottled water for all my brews. I finally sent my water sample to Ward Labs to get it analyzed and I have the report back. I have yet to brew a batch with my new information. I have a PH meter on the way as we speak. For the most part I understand the brewing salt additions and what effects what in my water. my question is, do you treat the water used for the mash as well as the sparge water, and also treat the mash? I know Mash PH is the most important, and ive read that treating your mash water is like putting the cart before the horse, so im wondering what your thoughts are on this since I am still fairly new to this. I've gone to brewers friend and played around with their PH calculators. I just want to set things straight before I go into my first "treated" batch. Thanks Guys!
How about you post your water report? It would be easier for people to steer you in the right direction. That said, you treat your mash and sparge, but generally sparge is just acidification. Any salts you can add to the sparge, you can add directly to the kettle, and there is no loss. There are plenty of water calculators out there. I use the one contained in Brewcipher, which is MpH Water Calculator. I've used EZ Water and Bru'n Water Calculator as well.
pH 8.1 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 184 Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.31 Cations / Anions, me/L 3.0 / 3.0 ppm Sodium, Na 10 Potassium, K < 1 Calcium, Ca 46 Magnesium, Mg 3 Total Hardness, CaCO3 128 Nitrate, NO3-N 3.2 (SAFE) Sulfate, SO4-S 5 Chloride, Cl 19 Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0 Bicarbonate, HCO3 118 Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 98 Total Phosphorus, P 0.02 Total Iron, Fe < 0.01 "<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit
Pretty decent water to work with. You'll probably want to cut your water with RO/Distilled for pale beers. You'll be adding Gypsum and Calcium Chloride, as well...quantities dependent on what you're brewing.
Yeah, then you'll want to dilute (shoot for a bicarb under 50), and have your Sulfate ratio greater than your Chloride. So, you'll be adding more Gypsum than Ca. Chloride. Grab some Lactic Acid when your next at the LHBS, and you'll want your Mash pH to be between 5.2-5.4...though I think there may be some debate on this point. This is just basic information, you can read up a little more on additions from How To Brew, and various online articles like this one: http://byo.com/light-ale/item/921-ipa-a-tale-of-two-beer-styles This is also a good read: http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...ity_and_efficiency_in_single_infusion_mashing
Probably closer to 25/75, tap water being the lower amount. You could go as high as 40/60 if you want to save some money....but 25/75 would be my suggestion.
Mark, I would recommend that you download the MpH water tool (spreadsheet): http://homebrewingphysics.blogspot.com/ With this tool you can enter your water characteristics and the grains you will be mashing and the tool will provide a predicted mash pH. This tool is accurate for my tap water and homebrewing. I have alkaline tap water and I personally use some lactic acid to acidify my mash and sparge water for brewing pale colored beers. Cheers! P.S. Also this thread may be helpful: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/help-with-water-chemistry.186095/
That's what I used to think until reading "ADD MINERALS TO SPARGING WATER OR THE KETTLE?" by Martin of Bru'n Water fame. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=576625849059769&id=464551136933908 WHEN TO ADD WATER ADDITIVES? https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=609371019118585&id=464551136933908
My understanding is that tannin extraction is a factor of both temperature and pH, which are unaffected by Ca...at least to a practical degree. I am less familiar with oxalates, and why I should be concerned with them. That said, if what Martin says is true, it would seem to be of greater concern to those that batch sparge. It's interesting nonetheless, but this is the first time I've come across this recommendation.
The recommendations in Martin's FB post came as a surprise to me. IIRC ... info in the Bru'n Water spreadsheet says it's OK to add sparge salts / minerals to the kettle. Made the switch from kettle-addition to sparge-addition for the last batch. Not sure how much of this really matters for us nano-brewers.
This water has a residual alkalinity of ~60 ppm (as CaCO3), which is pretty good for brewing lots of styles. As @JackHorzempa suggests, only a small amount of acid will be required to hit a decent pH when brewing pale ales and IPAs, especially if you get the Ca up in the 150 ppm range with CaCl and/or CaSO4. I don't think I would (generally) bother diluting with RO/distilled.
