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

[JFB]

:shock:
Have you double checked those figures? The calcium seems very high compared to the alkalinity.

Maybe I should have got an F in science not a D!
I redid the test and it turns out I read .081 for CA when it was .81 which means
90ppm of calcium.
Redid the KH it changed a little or I got it a little wrong a little 229ppm.
So for my Belgium strong ale I think ill need:
1mm/L of CRS
.1g/L of calcium chloride flakes

Thanks for your patients

 

[Ale]

My water has an average of 98.8 mg/l of Calcium. What does that mean (other than the water is collected in underground reservoirs under the South Downs so run through the chalk and pick up calcium)?

 

[strange-steve]

Maybe I should have got an F in science not a D!
I redid the test and it turns out I read .081 for CA when it was .81 which means
90ppm of calcium.
Redid the KH it changed a little or I got it a little wrong a little 229ppm.
So for my Belgium strong ale I think ill need:
1mm/L of CRS
.1g/L of calcium chloride flakes

Thanks for your patients

:lol:
That sounds much better, Ca is generally somewhere around 40% of the alkalinity which is pretty close to what you've got.
Your CRS looks about right, though I might add a touch more calcium chloride, maybe 0.15g/L, just to emphasise the malt flavours.
Also don't forget the campden tablet.

 

[strange-steve]

My water has an average of 98.8 mg/l of Calcium. What does that mean (other than the water is collected in underground reservoirs under the South Downs so run through the chalk and pick up calcium)?

On its own, not really a lot. Alkalinity is a more important figure because it'll give you an idea of mash pH.

 

[BeerCat]

Hi Steve. I am going to be doing a Black Lager so am i right in thinking i need 40ppm of Calcium added to my RO water. Best added with calcium chloride at 0.15g per litre? The IPA's i have done recently with additions have come out really well. Hard to pinpoint but seems to enhance the hop flavour. Its made it more moreish if that makes sense. Cheers

 

[strange-steve]

Hi Steve. I am going to be doing a Black Lager so am i right in thinking i need 40ppm of Calcium added to my RO water. Best added with calcium chloride at 0.15g per litre? The IPA's i have done recently with additions have come out really well. Hard to pinpoint but seems to enhance the hop flavour. Its made it more moreish if that makes sense. Cheers

Yeah keep the calcium fairly low for a lager. What sort of flavour profile are you going for? If it's a schwartzbier type thing I'd go for a 50/50 split with CaCl2 and gypsum for a balanced flavour.
How are you getting the black colour, cold steep, late mash addition or standard mash? This will determine your alkalinity adjustment.

 

[BeerCat]

Yeah keep the calcium fairly low for a lager. What sort of flavour profile are you going for? If it's a schwartzbier type thing I'd go for a 50/50 split with CaCl2 and gypsum for a balanced flavour.
How are you getting the black colour, cold steep, late mash addition or standard mash? This will determine your alkalinity adjustment.

Its a Schwartzbier using some melanoidin malt and cold steeped roast barley.

 

[JFB]

:lol:
That sounds much better, Ca is generally somewhere around 40% of the alkalinity which is pretty close to what you've got.
Your CRS looks about right, though I might add a touch more calcium chloride, maybe 0.15g/L, just to emphasise the malt flavours.
Also don't forget the campden tablet.

Yes already been using campden tablets:)
I've just mashed in and the PH at start is 6.3 and on 30 min stir 5.4.
Should I call that a success?

 

[strange-steve]

That sounds pretty perfect to me :thumb:

A fun little experiment that CRS users might want to try is to take a litre of your untreated water, test the alkalinity, then add a known amount of CRS to it, say 1ml, give it a good stir, leave a few minutes then retest the alkalinity to make sure it has dropped by the expected amount.
I've heard that the strength of CRS can be quite variable from what the manufacturers info says.

 

[clarkeuk]

Would there be any problems with treating the HLT water the night before
Cheers clarke

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[strange-steve]

Would there be any problems with treating the HLT water the night before
Cheers clarke

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Nope, I always treat my water the night before brewing.

 

[clarkeuk]

Nope, I always treat my water the night before brewing.

Thanks again ss
Vermont ipa brew day tomorrow 😊

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[strange-steve]

Thanks again ss
Vermont ipa brew day tomorrow 😊

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Awesome :drink:
Don't forget those NEIPAs are unusual in that they go for a high chloride content, rather than using gypsum.

 

[clarkeuk]

Hi yes did notice that in the OP iv added 12g @0.25 g/l to take my original 25ppm to 93 ppm and leaving my KH alone at 14ppm or would you raise the KH a little
Cheers clarke

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[Manxnorton]

Lovely, Steve! I'm slowly but surely getting my head around water treatment. This and your answers to my questions on other threads have helped me out tons

Stickied! :thumb: (Edit:Chippy got there before me :lol:)

Phewww!!
You just knew I'd be confused as always!!! lol
It make sence once I read it 100,000 time..and put it to action.
Brilliant stickie!!

 

[strange-steve]

Hi yes did notice that in the OP iv added 12g @0.25 g/l to take my original 25ppm to 93 ppm and leaving my KH alone at 14ppm or would you raise the KH a little
Cheers clarke

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

:thumb:
I probably wouldn't bother raising the alkalinity unless you have a lot of crystal malt in there.

 

[strange-steve]

Phewww!!
You just knew I'd be confused as always!!! lol
It make sence once I read it 100,000 time..and put it to action.
Brilliant stickie!!

Hopefully it clarifies what can be (but doesn't have to be) a rather complex subject for us non-chemists

 

[Manxnorton]

Hopefully it clarifies what can be (but doesn't have to be) a rather complex subject for us non-chemists

Yeahhhhhh!
I got confused when I was teaching a single epecycle gearbox and jaguar carberation years ago!!
Now I get confused to thinking he he!!
But once taught never forgot!!!...(apart from 'skill fade') lol

 

[MyQul]

Phewww!!
You just knew I'd be confused as always!!! lol
It make sence once I read it 100,000 time..and put it to action.
Brilliant stickie!!

I only do the stripping out of the alkalinity as I'm happy with the taste of my beer. I havent got around to using other salts yet (even though I bought some gypsum ages ago). But Steve's thread makes that area of water treatment that much clearer. I'll still probably need to ask more questions but Steve's a nice bloke so I'm sure he'll do his best to answer anything I still dont understand :thumb:

 

[clarkeuk]

:thumb:
I probably wouldn't bother raising the alkalinity unless you have a lot of crystal malt in there.

😊 too late
Treated the mash water and brought it up to 22ppm
There's just 500g of crystal 60 in there
Thanks again 👍

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