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

[SilverShadow]

I’d say the only no-negotiable is to add half a ground up Camden tablet to remove the chlorine. You‘ll get decent beer with just that :-)

Great news, I have some of those on order, so will try with my next batch. Thank you for the advice

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Great news, I have some of those on order, so will try with my next batch. Thank you for the advice

Welcome. The other stuff like lowering the pH and getting the sulphate/chloride right will help too, but honestly the main thing is just to get the chlorine out otherwise you can end up with the dreaded TCP flavour

 

[SilverShadow]

I had that on my 2nd brew of Gamma Ray.

Tbh, it's still a myriad of info to decipher, but if I can get close to my desired pintage then I can fine tune from there.

Many thanks

 

[ColinGee]

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with biab, as it's the way I'm trying, albeit with dubious results

I'd just like to ask, what are folks experiences with just using tap water without any modification?

I'm trying IPA recipes, and at the moment, just looking to get something 80-90% right without needing to buy loads of kit.

My Severn Trent water in Nottm has an Ave pH of 7.2, so sounds like I need to adjust it to around 5.5 by the sound of it. To get even close to the beer I like, are there 2 or 3 key things to adjust?

I use AMS to get to pH and half a Campden tablet, ground and fairly pleased with my results. Once I'm happy with the rest of my processes I'll start adjusting water.

 

[bobukbrewer]

Ascertain your alkalinity from your water Company. Reduce it with AMS to levels "required" by your beer style. Pale SMASH beers need the most AMS, very dark beers little or none. John Palmer is clear and helpful on this.

 

[SilverShadow]

Cheers guys

Sounds like I need to reduce the Ph to around 5.1(ish) for the IPA, if the recipe isn't specific about it. Also sounds like treating the water should be done the day before mashing, to give it adequate time to have the desired effect.

I've also found out boiling with the lid on is a big no no, so as to avoid unpleasant tastes. Previously kept the lid on, as the brewing pot wasn't large and didnt want to lose too much via evaporation

So much to learn

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I've also found out boiling with the lid on is a big no no

I wouldn’t worry too much about that - it’s not a problem with modern grain varieties :-)

 

[SilverShadow]

I wouldn’t worry too much about that - it’s not a problem with modern grain varieties :-)

Thanks man, always appreciated when you guys help

I think I got my plan sorted for my next BIAB brew then.

Working backwards, my 10L keg = 11L batch for the fermentor, to allow for dry hop sediment before kegging. The post boil will be 11.5, to keep 0.5L trub away from the fermentation process. Boiling with the lid on = 12.5L, to allow 1L evaporation. Mashing will lose about 1.5L water to the 2.3 kg grain, so I need about 14L as my starting off point.

It's probably easier reading that backwards but it's how I figure out my starting volume.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

It's probably easier reading that backwards but it's how I figure out my starting volume.

heh - no, it’s quite normal to work it out ‘backwards‘ like that :-)

Brewing calculators like Beersmith will let you create an equipment profile to work out your volumes. However as you have shown, the sums aren’t complex

 

[SilverShadow]

Is that Beersmith the android app at £4.69, mate?

I could really do with something like that, but wasn't gonna waste the money if it was a load of tosh

Brewfather is also meant to be good by the look of it. But for now I'm using Beer Shop, as its a freebie. It's good for recipes, but not so hot for calculations

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Is that Beersmith the android app at £4.69, mate?

I could really do with something like that, but wasn't gonna waste the money if it was a load of tosh

Brewfather is also meant to be good by the look of it. But for now I'm using Beer Shop, as its a freebie. It's good for recipes, but not so hot for calculations

I use this one: BeerSmith™ Home Brewing Software, Recipes, Blog, Podcast and Discussion Forum on my Mac (but I see they now have a browser based version) I'm sorry but I don't know whether there is an Android app for it...
It's not perfect, but it's pretty good: I don't regret buying it. I think it's pretty widely used?

 

[SilverShadow]

Many thanks, I will take a look

 

[Timhg65]

I use Beersmith3 and Brewfather software. But the Brewfather will do your water calculations easily if you use AMS and DWB water treatment.

 

[phildo79]

Reet, so I checked my tap water pH and the alkalinity. pH is 7.10 and alkalinity is 5.4. I am about to do my first BIAB brew so am I right in thinking that I do not need to fiddle around with the mash water (calcium additions aside)? Sorry if this is a daft question.

 

[phildo79]

Hang on, so 5.4 alkalinity = 96.66 so does that refer to the ppm? And if I wanted to brew an amber beer I would need to reduce the alkalinity by about 60 ppm?

 

[Argentum]

Your Alkalinity (as CaCO3) must be stated in German dH units. If that is indeed the case, then 5.4 dH is roughly 96.4 mg/L (ppm).

 

[phildo79]

Your Alkalinity (as CaCO3) must be stated in German dH units. If that is indeed the case, then 5.4 dH is roughly 96.4 mg/L (ppm).

Hmm, I used a Salifert Alkalinity test kit to get that number but this generic overview of the water in my area would suggest otherwise. However I do not know how old it is. I am inclined to go with the results from the test kit.

 

[phildo79]

Actually, I think that overview is from a January 2019 report.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

@phildo79 did you follow @strange-steve “how to” with the test kit?

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ifert-alkalinity-and-calcium-test-kits.68369/

 

[phildo79]

@phildo79 did you follow @strange-steve “how to” with the test kit?

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ifert-alkalinity-and-calcium-test-kits.68369/

I just used the instructions that came with the kit. Are they not as good as they should be?