Hard Water

[Brummy_Brewer]

I live in a very hard water area, on the 2 brews that I've made so far the starting gravity has appeared quite low (around 1.032)

My question is does hard water affect the starting gravity of your wort?

 

[tubby_shaw]

If it is temporary hardness (that is carbonate hardness) then the answer is yes
As temporarily hard water is alkaline and as the mash should be acidic then they tend to cancel each other out giving poor mash efficiency This shouldn't be too much of a problem when making dark beers containing lots of roasted grains as these add to the acidity, but pale beers will suffer.
To counteract this problem you can use CRS (carbonate reducing solution) which is a blend of acids that will reduce the temporary hardness.
You will need to know your your alkalinity expressed as CaCO3 which you may be able to get from your water supplier or you can by one of THESE test kits which are cheap and simple to use.
Once you know your alkalinity you can calculate how much CRS to use HERE

 

[Brummy_Brewer]

Thanks, I'll give that a go and see what the results are.

 

[tubby_shaw]

What I forgot to mention is that it is a German kit, the results it gives are in MEQ/L to convert the results multiply by 50 to give a CaCO3 result in mg/l :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

What I forgot to mention is that it is a German kit, the results it gives are in MEQ/L to convert the results multiply by 50 to give a CaCO3 result in mg/l :thumb:

Actually it a Dutch kit

 

[ano]

Barrage of questions locked and loaded. Fire:

What do you need besides the kit? Do you need pipettes DI water etc?
Can your water change over time therefore requiring different treatment or does alkalinity stay fairly constant?
Is water treatment just to get the right pH?

 

[Aleman]

What do you need besides the kit? Do you need pipettes DI water etc?

Nothing everything is included in the kit . . I'll try and get my video of the process up on my website later today., but you take a sample of the liquor add an indicator, then add a 'reagent' drop by drop until the indicator changes colour . .. measure what's left in the syringe . . . and compare that volume with a table to get the alkalinity in meq/L times 50 to get it as CaCO3

If you wish to treat your water to reduce the alkalinity then you need some CRS from Brupaks

Can your water change over time therefore requiring different treatment or does alkalinity stay fairly constant?

It depends on where your water company draws it source . . . . I know some that draw from boreholes during the summer and reservoirs during the winter . . . . the boreholes have high alkalinity the reservoirs low. . . . I also know some brewers that have it change significantly on a day to day basis.

Is water treatment just to get the right pH?

:hmm: No, there should be considered two steps to water treatment . . . getting the alkalinity in the right place so that the mash pH falls in the right range, and getting enough calcium into the water to assist int he brewing process later on . . . . You could consider a third element which is controlling the balance of sulphate and chloride depending on if you want a hoppy or malty beer.

 

[ano]

Is water treatment just to get the right pH?

:hmm: No, there should be considered two steps to water treatment . . . getting the alkalinity in the right place so that the mash pH falls in the right range, and getting enough calcium into the water to assist in the brewing process later on . . . . You could consider a third element which is controlling the balance of sulphate and chloride depending on if you want a hoppy or malty beer.

Sorry, yes the mash pH (I did mean that honest :)). It is all slowly slotting into place. Need to do a few brews where I take an interest in water treatment to get it to stick I think.

 

[Brummy_Brewer]

Seems like there is quite a lot to this. Couple of further questions I have.

My drinking water is filtered (I have a triflow tap as I soften my water through a EcoWater softener) - can this softened stuff be used for brewing (I don't drink it, hence the triflow filtered tap)

second question, if I have very alkaline water, would it be worth finding a low alkaline bottled water?

 

[Aleman]

Most water softeners are of a very basic ion exchange type that swap each calcium ion with two sodium ions . . . so they reduce the calcium levels (and the hardness) in the water . . . .but they leave the alkalinity unchanged which is completely the opposite to that required for good brewing liquor.

If you do not wish to mess about with measuring your alkalinity and adjusting it with acid, then try buying some ASDA smartprice water (non sparkling) which has the following water composition

all results as mg/l

Sodium 7
Potassium 0.7
Magnesium 1.9
Calcium 32.5
HCO3 44
Chloride 9
Sulphate 44.5

it would benefit from a tsp of gypsum in the mash and another in the boil (for a 5 gallon batch)