High CaCO3 water for IPAs?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Hjandersen, Jan 20, 2014.

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  1. Hjandersen

    Hjandersen Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2014

    I recently got around to start looking into brewing water after many of my IPAs had a bit of muddy/harsh bitterness to them (kind of lingering but astringent hoppy/tart taste). Additionally, although not bad beers many of them where a tad similar even though made after completely different recipes.

    Here's my local tap water report:
    • CaCO3 - 212.39 PPM
    • Nitrat - 41 PPM
    • Ammonia - 0.02 PPM
    • Chloride - 35 PPM
    • Chlorine - 0 PPM
    • Fluoride - 0,15 PPM
    • Iron - 0.01 PPM
    • Mangan - 0,005 PPM
    • Nitrate - 41 PPM
    • Nitrite - 0,0050 PPM
    • Phosphor - 0,011 PPM
    • Sulfat - 21 PPM

    Other parameters:
    • Non Volatile Organic Carbon - 0,72 mg/l
    • Conductivity at 12°C - 52 mS/m
    • pH at 12°C - 7,7 pH

    Total microbes:
    < 1 no./per 100 ml

    For use in IPAs I'd want to decrease my alkalinity and increase my sulfate concentration right? How should I go about it - would boiling the brew water and adding gypsum do that trick?

    80 % of what are brew are APAs or AIPAs so for now I'm mainly interested in how to improve my water in that context.

    Any comments or advice are welcomed..
     
    #1 Hjandersen, Jan 20, 2014
  2. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    The CaCo3 number is an equivalent. At the pH of most water you will have HCO3 and Ca. Only when you boil or raise the pH to around 10 will you have CaCO3, and it drops out of solution as chalk. CaCO3 can express the Total Hardness or the Alkalinity, or some times those are combined to give a total. Ask what it represents, or go back and look, then post what it is.

    The report does not have all of the brewing ions. You might ask for those nicely.

    Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, SO4, HCO3 are what you want.


    Where are you at? That Nitrate limit exceeds the US legal limit of 10ppm.
     
    #2 hopfenunmaltz, Jan 20, 2014
  3. Hjandersen

    Hjandersen Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2014

    Thanks a lot for the reply!In relation to CaCO3 that's properly my fault (the source says: Hardness - 11.9 german degree) I just trusted a random online converter. Regarding the ions you mention:
    SO4 = SulfateCl = Chloride
    So I need additional info on calcium, magnesium, natrium and bicarbonate?
    I'm in Denmark btw - High nitrate is properly due to extensive farming (legal limit here is 50ppm)
     
    #3 Hjandersen, Jan 20, 2014
  4. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    I looks like you have fairly hard water. Hardness is not so bad. Alkalinity is what I consider a minus.
    Read this. Water knowledge.
     
    #4 hopfenunmaltz, Jan 21, 2014
  5. jae

    jae Initiate (0) Feb 21, 2010 Washington

    Get cheap RO water from the grocer and start from scratch.
     
    #5 jae, Jan 21, 2014
  6. TheHumanTorch

    TheHumanTorch Devotee (353) Jul 19, 2013 Connecticut

    Harsh bitterness can come from the mash pH being too high. John Palmer says if the pH of your mash is over 6.0 hop utilization will increase to a point that your bitterness will be coarse or harsh. Your mash pH may be high because you have water that has high alkalinity, preventing your mash pH from dropping (malts are acidic). A few solutions are cutting your water with RO water or using RO completely, boiling, and using slaked lime.

    You could grab some pH strips and test the pH of your mash to see if this is the potential problem.
    My preference is using RO completely and building from there with salts.
     
    #6 TheHumanTorch, Jan 21, 2014
  7. marquis

    marquis Pooh-Bah (2,313) Nov 20, 2005 England
    Pooh-Bah

    Slaked lime will raise the pH as it is a strong alkali. It will however in judicious amounts remove bicarbonate ions.These are bad news in brewing though a good pre boil of the liquor should remove them as well as reducing any free chlorine.
     
    #7 marquis, Jan 21, 2014
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