Spotless water

[hoppyscotty]

Not wanting a discussion if it is fit for human consumption as I’ve decided to give it a go on my next brew tomorrow. If you don’t hear from me again then don’t touch the stuff!! Anyway I can’t ascertain if it is RO or DI water or even if that matters - I think it’s RO. I’m looking dilute 85 litres with 15 litres of the spotless water for the main purpose to try to reduce the alkalinity of the water for easier ph management (reduce buffering) so will add into brewfather the dilution of my tap water with the Spotless water.

Appreciate 15 litres in 85 might not be a lot but I’m giving it a whirl anyway and can up the dilution in a later brew.

So does anyone know if it is RO water? Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Not wanting a discussion if it is fit for human consumption as I’ve decided to give it a go on my next brew tomorrow.

I would read this first - Deionised water - reassurance wanted

 

[gyurmaember]

I'm still alive, i use it 2 parts of spotless to 1 part of tap water. That give me tds of a shop brought mineral water. The beer tastes good, an it's cheap, and easy.

 

[Caramel Ox]

I use it in every brew at 55% dilution as I have 35l of bottles available to make the collection and can then brew twice. The more water you need the more it makes sense to get your own filter though. At 15% you won’t really know if it has been a success?

 

[gyurmaember]

I use it in every brew at 55% dilution as I have 35l of bottles available to make the collection and can then brew twice. The more water you need the more it makes sense to get your own filter though. At 15% you won’t really know if it has been a success?

The more water you need you'll realise the affordable filters are so slow, they're not worth to bother.

 

[MashBag]

Isn't a few ml of acid easier? Perhaps even cheaper?

 

[hoppyscotty]

I already manage via acid additions but I find the usual calculators very inaccurate and managing a PH meter is a bit of a PITA though I've just 'invested' in a better more professional PH meter because its not just about managing mash PH. But go on, I'm giving it a go and going down the route of diluting the water with the RO water to reduce alkalinity rather than replacing all the water with RO.

Cost about £1.30 for 17 litres...something like that, so not expensive at all. but obviously drives more water additions so probably not cost effective....but it's cheap enough.

 

[MashBag]

Never felt the love for "calculators"... Particularly when they come up with differing results

I do the math in excel. For me, it's easier to see how I got there rather than plug in the numbers. And it's my fault

 

[hoppyscotty]

We’ve all seen the perils of depending on models/algorithms and in almost all circumstances it doesn’t end well. You can’t beat measuring if you don’t have complete consistency. And with tap water you don’t. It varies over time so what are the right additions one day ent be right every day.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I use 100% spotless then add salts as required. I know a fair few at my local brew club also use spotless. I was under the impression it is RO.

 

[bobukbrewer]

Never felt the love for "calculators"... Particularly when they come up with differing results

I do the math in excel. For me, it's easier to see how I got there rather than plug in the numbers. And it's my fault

Hello MashBag, I have my own crude excel sheet, could I please have a squint at yours, although I don't now how if I am not allowed to publish Email address - CHIPPY - can you help at all ?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I am not allowed to publish Email address - CHIPPY - can you help at all

PM your email address.

 

[RoboBrewBot5000]

I'd planned to start using spotless for lagers so I can build a good profile.. spotless is 0TDS and they do mention brewing on the website I think. To the best of my knowledge it is RO.

I know of several others who have gone down this route.

I am yet to actually try it

 

[Twostage]

I use 100% spotless then add salts as required. I know a fair few at my local brew club also use spotless. I was under the impression it is RO.

Do you work to style profiles (hop forward, malty etc.) or city based profiles ?
Just got my first batch of spotless to make a pils but it’s so cheap I think I’m going to use it for everything from now on.

 

[aolcot]

I just target style profiles with what i'm brewing - although I don't fret too much with the specific numbers of each salt.. as long as its in the right direction i.e. sulfate/chloride balance and has enough calcium in the mash then all good..

Spotless is great for mixing up chemsan/starsan as well. stops it going cloudy/slimey if you have hard water. i generally mix up a batch and keep it on hand for a week or two (i have a 5l bucket+lid) and it remains good.. great for quick dunking of equipment as you brew. change it though when it starts to either go cloudy, or has ph >3, or just time for a change.

I've also used it for much longer in my keg where i created a 20L batch (spotless+chemsan) months ago and its what I push out with co2 to the next empty keg and leave it in there until i'm ready to package the next beer. I top up with more distilled water and check ph after each keg transfer and its still about 2.6ph after about a year and looks good.. will prob change it as a matter of course in a few months anyway

 

[Caramel Ox]

Bizarrely I have been invited to a meet and greet at my local spotless facility with free food and…water. If that doesn’t seem strange then consider that the extent of the place is a 1/4 shipping container with a hose on the outside. There is room for maybe 2 deckchairs next to it?

 

[YeastFace]

Is it the grand opening? Must feel humbling to get an invite to such an historic event.

 

[nickjdavis]

I got invited to one in Ipswich a couple of years ago shortly after our station opened. They gave away some "merch" and directed me to a burger van that was in the carpark and invited me to have what I wanted.

Young marketing type folks...in their 20's, so the reality of life is yet to crush their dreams, but they were friendly, enthusiastic about their system, keen to understand the use cases that folks were finding for their water and quite surprised about it being used for brewing.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Young marketing type folks...in their 20's, so the reality of life is yet to crush their dreams, but they were friendly, enthusiastic about their system, keen to understand the use cases that folks were finding for their water and quite surprised about it being used for brewing.

Lol...I'm a 'not so young marketing type' and still waiting for my dreams to be crushed, though some of them have now passed me by, like becoming a fighter pilot, but though I'm massively cynical in my old age I still have a few dreams left!

Sounds like a good approach by Spotless though..clearly this is a byproduct of other processes and they're looking for potential markets for it so they can better target it. If they realise there are other markets out there they can target then that can only be good since it will make it even more accessible.

I've done a few brews now using my tap water diluted with Spotless water and I've noticed improvements in managing PH levels with little or no PH adjustments needed and more ability and flexibility to achieve target water profiles. I've got pretty good water for brewing so no night and day difference in the flavour of the resulting beer, but I now have more scope to experiment with water profiles so looking forward to experimenting a bit more.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I must admit, I don't quite undertand how Spotless make money. I've never spent more than £1 at a time, although I imagine window cleaners are likely using much more than me.
Doeas anyone know if the water is processed elsewhere and transported to their sites, or is it filtered in those shipping container-type things? I imagine the former.