Point me in the right direction....

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by ghostinthemachine, Jan 21, 2016.

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  1. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    I want to learn more about water profiles and building up water for different styles of beer. Thinking about it kind of gives me a headache (hell, i changed college majors to keep from having to take chemistry). I have bru'n water and brew cipher but I think I need to do some reading to understand it better before I start tweaking.

    Thanks in advance
     
    #1 ghostinthemachine, Jan 21, 2016
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    If you really want to understand the chemistry, read @utahbeerdude's white papers at http://homebrewingphysics.blogspot.com . But for a style specific guide (i.e. flavor tips), I don't know of one, other than maybe the Water book. It's been a while since I read it though. Maybe someone can confirm/refute that it has style specific water profile flavor contribution content.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Jan 21, 2016
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  3. AlHounos

    AlHounos Initiate (0) Nov 3, 2015 California

    #3 AlHounos, Jan 21, 2016
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  4. PortLargo

    PortLargo Pooh-Bah (1,831) Oct 19, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    Water is a Hard read. It does have a semi-generic beer style water-profile table . . . but doesn't directly address flavor contributions. Or maybe it does? In typical Palmer style, if a technical concept can be explained in 3-4 pages then it deserves 10 pages with multiple paths of decision making/alternatives/cross-references.

    For the OP, if you're chemistry-adverse, you will not like Water. In fact, many of the tech papers I've reviewed assumes you already understand what's going on. A better approach may be to follow a more knowledgeable brewer through the steps. If someone were to publish a Water Treatment for Dummies it would be a bestseller.
     
    #4 PortLargo, Jan 21, 2016
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  5. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    #5 HerbMeowing, Jan 21, 2016
  6. CurtFromHershey

    CurtFromHershey Initiate (0) Oct 4, 2012 Minnesota

    I found the mouse-over comments in brewcipher to be very helpful. Building a couple recipes in there with 100% distilled and doing trial and error with the mineral additions also shows you how each addition affects the results. I'm typically a visual learner, but water chemistry was one that for me was easiest by jumping in and not letting the overwhelming feeling be a deterrent.
     
    #6 CurtFromHershey, Jan 21, 2016
  7. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    The "Water Profiles" sheet in MpH Water Calculator summarizes recommended Ca, Cl, and SO4 levels for various beer styles from four different sources: How to Brew, Water, the Zymurgy water series of articles (by Martin Brungard), and Kai Troester's web pages.
     
    #7 utahbeerdude, Jan 21, 2016
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  8. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    I have bru'n water and mph calculators. I don't understand what is going on and I think I need to be a little more familiar with what the different salts and such do. All I know now is that my ph needs to be about 5.4 on the mash lol
     
    #8 ghostinthemachine, Jan 21, 2016
  9. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Less familiar with MPH than Bru'n Water.

    Didn't understand much at first either.
    As with anything else ... you get the hang of it afterwhile.
    Good start!
    Bru'n Water's tutorial ... Palmer's book ... and @OldSock blog are helpful resources.
     
    #9 HerbMeowing, Jan 23, 2016
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  10. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    What follows is something I posted a while back regarding getting started with thinking about brewing water. Cheers!

     
    #10 utahbeerdude, Jan 23, 2016
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