Water profiles for different styles

[The Goatreich]

Good Ed's post in my brew day thread has made me wonder about water profiling.

This brew day will be the first time I do any water treatment other than adding a campden tablet to the HLT, and I have used the forum calculator to get the addition amounts for the style of pale ale as I'm brewing an APA, well a hybrid actually as I have challenger instead of Perle hops.

So, presumably the forum calculator uses Burton water's profile for pale ales, and London for stouts? The simplicity is great for that purpose, but I wondered how serious do people take water profiling when mimicking a particular beer style? For an APA should I be using one of the hundreds of water profiles available in Beersmith2, or would I be better off just sticking to Burton/London for the two main beer variants. To be honest the amount of Water profiles available in Beersmith2 is overwhelming and I wouldn't know where to start.

 

[Good Ed]

Keep it simple is my advice. I use this Brupaks guide http://www.brupaks.com/water treatment.htm. You might also look at the Caraft Brewers Association website and have a search through past Brewers Contract for articles on water treatment.

However water treatment is no substitute for good brewing practices, it's just a part. I just use CRS and then add either gypsum or calcium carbonate or a combination of the both, depending on the style and what you want to achieve.

 

[The Goatreich]

depending on the style and what you want to achieve.

Thanks for the advice. I've read that Brupaks guide several times now. I was mainly wondering whether it's easiest just to start with copying Burton or London waters to start with, or whether I should be looking at a specific profile depending on the style I'm brewing.

I'll look through the other links you have provided, thanks. :thumb: