Suffolk water

[suffolkbeer]

Any brewers in Suffolk or similar hard water areas?

Just wondering what you add to your tap water to improve lighter beers such as IPAs and pale ales?

Not looking to use bottled water or RO, just hoping there’s some simple additions that I could ‘chuck in’ lol

Our water here seems great for stouts and porters but not great for IPA?!

 

[terrym]

What comes out of the tap in Ipswich may not be the same as in Lowestoft. So if you really want to modify your tap water you need a typical analysis from your water company for your local area as a good start point. Most water companies websites will allow you to punch in your post code and you will get your analysis.

 

[MmmBeer]

The water here is described as 'Moderately Hard' and like yourself, I have had good results on dark ales, but less so on pale ales. I tried adding Lactic acid, but found it had a noticeable milky flavour in the final beer. Now I have started using CRS (a mixture of Hydrochloric and Sulphuric acids), which is giving good results.

As terrym said you need to get a water analysis, either from your supplier, or using an aquarium test kit. See the first few posts on this thread for more details. https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/beginners-guide-to-water-treatment.64822/

 

[Norfolk79]

Here in Norwich our water is pretty hard. I just measure the hardness using an aquarium test kit, and then adjust the water by the addition of CRS.

 

[terrym]

Here in Norwich our water is pretty hard. I just measure the hardness using an aquarium test kit, and then adjust the water by the addition of CRS.

Do your spot checks vary much with each other and/or with the typical analysis provided by the water company?

 

[Simonh82]

For anyone considering water adjustments, I would really recommend contacting Neil at Phoenix Analytical. email - enquiries @ phoenix-analytical.co.uk (remove the spaces to get a valid address). He runs analyses about once per month and it is both cheaper and more comprehensive than what you get from Murphy and Sons (via brewUK), which I've also used. He tests for Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Chloride, Nitrate, Phosphate, Sulphate, Total alkalinity expressed as calcium carbonate, pH, electrical conductivity and total residual chlorine. This gives you everything you need to make accurate adjustments to water chemistry.

I brew in South West London and have moderately hard water but by using phosphoric acid to reduce the alkalinity and then either sulphate or chloride to adjust the flavour ions I can brew pretty much any style of beer I want.

I really think water adjustments are worth getting into as it definitely does make a difference to the finished beer and if you aren't happy with your pale ales, it is really worth looking at.

 

[Norfolk79]

Do your spot checks vary much with each other and/or with the typical analysis provided by the water company?

Latest Anglian Water report for Jan-June 18, their reading 311 ppm

Brew yesterday was 215ppm. It usually does vary from brew to brew, usually depending if its rained recently aunsure....

 

[terrym]

Latest Anglian Water report for Jan-June 18, their reading 311 ppm

Brew yesterday was 215ppm. It usually does vary from brew to brew, usually depending if its rained recently aunsure....

So I suppose the order of water treatment methods is then roughly
1. Spot test (best)
2. Use typical local area analysis
3. Use local water classification (from soft to very hard)
4, Do nowt (which is fine for extract or kit brewers but perhaps not AG brewers)

 

[Spratt]

I've been reading this forum for about a year now, and never felt I could contribute very much,but had to chip in on this one as I'm based near Bury St Edmunds in West Suffolk and have been messing around with water treatment over the past year. I did a Murphy lab test via BrewUK as my starting point and also contacted Anglia Water to get a "second opinion".

A.W. can give you a pretty localised report, though it can appear a tad confusing at first. For example the sulphate figures for my supply varied from 22.9 minimum to 173 maximum. The range was so wide I phoned A.W. and got a very helpful guy, who was clearly pleased to talk to a home brewer and find some-one who was actually using their figures for a practical figure. The explanation was that my supply's sulphur is nearly always going to be around the 22 mark, but very occasionally they have to blend it with water from the fens which accounts for the very high sulphate figure. They are obliged to state a maximum and minimum figure even though 99% of the time it will be the minimum figure.

To answer your specific query Murphy's recommendation for my supply is split into three general groups Bitters+Pale Ales, Stouts, Porters+Milds, and Lagers+Pilseners. For the latter they were recommending using Lactic Acid (20ml per 25L liquor), Calcium Chloride Flake (4.3g per 25L beer)and Calcium Sulphate (2.3g per 25L beer). This seems to work pretty well for me and is not far off what Brunwater (which I've started using recently) suggests. However, for my pilseners I've started using 30-40% reverse osmosis water that I get from an aquarium shop at about 14p per litre and then adding whatever extra Brunwater suggests for that mix. In my opinion my best beers are always my darker ones but my sons seem very keen on the pilseners, so clearly it is possible to manipulate water for lagers even in the very hard water which exists in most of Suffolk.

I had hoped to pick the brains of the guys at Greene King when I did their brewery tour, but they put all their water through reverse osmosis as they are brewing so many different "regional beers" Old Speckled Hen (Oxfordshire), Ruddles (Rutland) and I think even Belhaven (Edinburgh) is sometimes brewed in Bury too.

David

 

[suffolkbeer]

I've been reading this forum for about a year now, and never felt I could contribute very much,but had to chip in on this one as I'm based near Bury St Edmunds in West Suffolk and have been messing around with water treatment over the past year. I did a Murphy lab test via BrewUK as my starting point and also contacted Anglia Water to get a "second opinion".

A.W. can give you a pretty localised report, though it can appear a tad confusing at first. For example the sulphate figures for my supply varied from 22.9 minimum to 173 maximum. The range was so wide I phoned A.W. and got a very helpful guy, who was clearly pleased to talk to a home brewer and find some-one who was actually using their figures for a practical figure. The explanation was that my supply's sulphur is nearly always going to be around the 22 mark, but very occasionally they have to blend it with water from the fens which accounts for the very high sulphate figure. They are obliged to state a maximum and minimum figure even though 99% of the time it will be the minimum figure.

To answer your specific query Murphy's recommendation for my supply is split into three general groups Bitters+Pale Ales, Stouts, Porters+Milds, and Lagers+Pilseners. For the latter they were recommending using Lactic Acid (20ml per 25L liquor), Calcium Chloride Flake (4.3g per 25L beer)and Calcium Sulphate (2.3g per 25L beer). This seems to work pretty well for me and is not far off what Brunwater (which I've started using recently) suggests. However, for my pilseners I've started using 30-40% reverse osmosis water that I get from an aquarium shop at about 14p per litre and then adding whatever extra Brunwater suggests for that mix. In my opinion my best beers are always my darker ones but my sons seem very keen on the pilseners, so clearly it is possible to manipulate water for lagers even in the very hard water which exists in most of Suffolk.

I had hoped to pick the brains of the guys at Greene King when I did their brewery tour, but they put all their water through reverse osmosis as they are brewing so many different "regional beers" Old Speckled Hen (Oxfordshire), Ruddles (Rutland) and I think even Belhaven (Edinburgh) is sometimes brewed in Bury too.

David

Thank you David, for taking the time to write such an informative reply to my query!
Many thanks
Mike

Ps. I’ve now sent a sample to Murphys and am awaiting the report!!