Beginners Guide to Water Treatment (plus links to more advanced water treatment in post #1)

[DixeySJ]

My beer tastes ok but if I can do better...

A good philosophy. There's probably no short cut, though - one has to just change one thing at a time. Look forward to hearing how it goes :)

 

[Clint]

Well my chemicals have arrived and my malt miller order...just waiting on my jewellery scales. I'm looking forward to it. I feel it adds another piece to the jigsaw and if it's what you want,progresses you from kits,part mash and AG and of course it makes you look dead clever when you have onlookers...who will no doubt stand watching,arms folded with that all knowing nodding of the head going on holding you in complete awe as you magic up your next brew.

 

[strange-steve]

I'm back brewing after a gap of 20 years. Kids have grown up! Want to get my water right and so bought the 2 test kits.
Having done the tests it took no time at all to get a colour change 3-4 drops for each kit. 20-30 ppm on both counts.
Looking through other posts it seems my water is similar to Tesco bottled?
Would I be right in thinking for a pale ale I should only need to crank up the Calcium with a little Gypsum?
Thanks in advance...

Your tap water sounds about the same as mine then, so yeah some gypsum to bring the calcium up to around 100ppm, maybe a pinch of calcium chloride as well if you want to balance it out a little.

 

[strange-steve]

and of course it makes you look dead clever when you have onlookers

This is what I was hoping for, but when my Mrs sees me weighing out all those fancy sounding chemicals she just thinks I'm a right tit aunsure....

 

[-Bezza-]

Is there a spell one should mutter whilst summoning the diastic power?

 

[strange-steve]

Is there a spell one should mutter whilst summoning the diastic power?

That's a little beyond this thread but yes there is:

Diastatic power equals the sum of each grain's weight times its degrees lintner value divided by the total grain weight.

Or:

DP = ((Grain1 weight x °lintner) + (Grain2 weight x °lintner)) / total grain weight

If the answer is >30 then you're good, otherwise you may need to adjust the grist or add some diastatic malt

 

[-Bezza-]

That's a little beyond this thread but yes there is:

Diastatic power equals the sum of each grain's weight times its degrees lintner value divided by the total grain weight.

Or:

DP = ((Grain1 weight x °lintner) + (Grain2 weight x °lintner)) / total grain weight

If the answer is >30 then you're good, otherwise you may need to adjust the grist or add some diastatic malt

Was only meant as a joke, but thanks!

 

[Clint]

There’s some right anoraks on here....

 

[strange-steve]

Was only meant as a joke, but thanks!

Oh right... I mean, erm me too

 

[strange-steve]

@Clint You should see my stamp collection...

 

[Clint]

Now all my gubbins are assembled to proceed with water treatment I’m making plans for next days off...I intend to do as Steve says and just go with my two basic measurements initially to keep it simple. I do however have a full report and have messed about with the forum water calculator.....is it correct that adding other value such as sulphate and chloride can change my basic calculations?

 

[BoybynameUK]

Thanks for the helpful post! I’m looking forward to trying this out and seeing how this would improve my brews.

Sorry if it’s been asked before but there are so many pages on this thread.

I brew partial mash and generally top up the fv with around 6 litres of tap water. How should I account for this?
Do I simply treat it similar as the sparge water?

 

[Clint]

I'm looking at my calcs for my weekend brew which I've decided is going to be Fox Bats bitter...
Going on my values of KH @ 91ppm and CA @ 75ppm for 12l mash my additions seem very small...1.2ml CRS and 1.32g gypsum...I don't have any calcium chloride ATM...if I go for a "brown beer" style...am I getting this wrong?
Cheers
Clint
Edit...if I put what values I know into the water calc the results are very different.

 

[Ben034]

I use the brewers friend calculator and that estimates 3.5ml CRS to bring 12l (alk 91, cal 75) down to 35ppm. What level of alk are you aiming for? I tend to add the gypsum and chloride and then measure alk and adjust down as needed.

 

[Clint]

That looks on par with "amber"I was adjusting for "brown" which is 75ppm. Should I go for amber for bitter?
I've recalculated..rounded up to reduction of 60ppm Kh gives 3.84ml CRS...getting there...s l o w l y!
It does seem like my additions are quite minor...will they really make a difference? I see some videos of people adding lots of salts...then I suppose that depends on their water!!

 

[Ben034]

That looks on par with "amber"I was adjusting for "brown" which is 75ppm. Should I go for amber for bitter?
I've recalculated..rounded up to reduction of 60ppm Kh gives 3.84ml CRS...getting there...s l o w l y!
It does seem like my additions are quite minor...will they really make a difference? I see some videos of people adding lots of salts...then I suppose that depends on their water!!

So if you're going for 75 than your addition of 1.2ml looks spot on. Don't think it will make a huge difference but should help you to hit a 5.2-5.6 pH range.

If you're bitter is more brown than amber than I would aim for 75 as opposed to 35 alk. You can always always adjust if needed after 15 mins (I just check with some 5-6ph strips).

 

[David Heath]

Very nice guide :)

 

[Patrick Robinson]

Thanks Steve, this guide is really spot on and it can definitely help a lot of people. Cheers man!

 

[Poynton Blue]

Superb post, Steve. As a relative newby, who just sourced some malt from a local microbrewery, it makes sense now that they added a touch of calcium chloride, given we brew with the same water. Hoping this helps my DDH IPA thats in the FV!

 

[bobukbrewer]

Does this make sense - it is info from my water company

Alkalinity is reported as mg/l as CaCO3 (calcium carbonate).



The value for your area is 242mg/l as CaCO3.



If you want the hardness value as HCO3-, then multiply by 1.22, which would give you a value of 295.24mg/l as HCO3-