Water treatment for beer kits

[Obfu]

In the interests of science, I could do a split batch I guess...

Pick a pale kit, like Coopers Canadian Blonde or Australian Pale Ale, scale to 4 gallons and do :-

1. Water just sat overnight
2. Water sat overnight with campden
3. Water sat overnight with campden and CRS
4. Tesco bottled water

The reason for 1 gal is that I have 4 Demi's i can use but only 1 full size fermenter. My only problem at this time of year is that I might struggle to keep 4 vessels warm enough.

Would this be of any use?

 

[strange-steve]

In the interests of science, I could do a split batch I guess...

Pick a pale kit, like Coopers Canadian Blonde or Australian Pale Ale, scale to 4 gallons and do :-

1. Water just sat overnight
2. Water sat overnight with campden
3. Water sat overnight with campden and CRS
4. Tesco bottled water

The reason for 1 gal is that I have 4 Demi's i can use but only 1 full size fermenter. My only problem at this time of year is that I might struggle to keep 4 vessels warm enough.

Would this be of any use?

Definitely worth an experiment in the interests of science :thumb:

 

[Obfu]

It goes without saying that I'll lie about the results to support what I've been saying :whistle: so, in the interests of science, and whilst obviously no one wants to be sent free beer, I will have to dispatch a sample of each version to a couple of you. Sorry.

 

[Obfu]

This experiment is happening! Since Tesco Direct have 25% off some stuff and we're looking at pale beers, I've picked up a Woodfords Sundew for the experiment. Better yet, I had a club card voucher expiring in a couple of days so the kit has only cost £12.

 

[Obfu]

I started the experiment last night as follows:-

The kit:- 2-tin Woodforde's Sundew
The water:-
1 - Tap water
2 - Tap water with campden
3 - Tap water with campden and CRS
4 - Tap water boiled for 15 mins, cooled and decanted off the residue
5 - Tesco Ashbeck Spring water

I have 5x5ltr fermenters. 1 glass Demi, 2 Better bottles, 2 5ltr Ashbeck water bottles with grommets fitted in the lids for bubblers.

Splitting 2 cans of thick wort syrup evenly between 5 vessels struck me as overly difficult so I boiled 1ltr of Deionised water and mixed that with the syrup to make it easier to divide.

The 2 tins of wort + deionised water came to 4080g so each fermenter got 816g each (or darn close).
Each fermenter then had 3.5ltr of their nominated water - I thought I'd play safe to avoid Krausen climbing out.
I used the Woodfordes yeast, 6g/5 = 1.2g per fermenter.
All fitted with bubblers containing campden solution.
Today, there all bubbling along happily on my kitchen floor - I'm hoping they'll stay under 20C there.
Now we wait.

 

[mr_bridger]

Sub'd to this thread. Sounds v interesting.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[dad_of_jon]

I started the experiment last night as follows:-

The kit:- 2-tin Woodforde's Sundew
The water:-
1 - Tap water
2 - Tap water with campden
3 - Tap water with campden and CRS
4 - Tap water boiled for 15 mins, cooled and decanted off the residue
5 - Tesco Ashbeck Spring water

I have 5x5ltr fermenters. 1 glass Demi, 2 Better bottles, 2 5ltr Ashbeck water bottles with grommets fitted in the lids for bubblers.

Splitting 2 cans of thick wort syrup evenly between 5 vessels struck me as overly difficult so I boiled 1ltr of Deionised water and mixed that with the syrup to make it easier to divide.

The 2 tins of wort + deionised water came to 4080g so each fermenter got 816g each (or darn close).
Each fermenter then had 3.5ltr of their nominated water - I thought I'd play safe to avoid Krausen climbing out.
I used the Woodfordes yeast, 6g/5 = 1.2g per fermenter.
All fitted with bubblers containing campden solution.
Today, there all bubbling along happily on my kitchen floor - I'm hoping they'll stay under 20C there.
Now we wait.

I vote 1,4,2,3,5 in order of worst to best although placing the askbeck ahead of 3 was a tough call :lol:

 

[strange-steve]

I have a feeling there will be very little difference between them all, unless you have a lot of chlorine in your tap water. If there is a best then I'd guess no. 5.

 

[Fore]

Can I ask a thread related question... I don't have a chlorine issue at all, and I'm not worried about pH for kits, but I do wonder about calcium levels. My tap water is amazingly low on calcium, at about 37 ppm. About 50 or 60 is a normal recommended brewing minimum, with say 70-100 being a more sound zone. I normally add calcium when brewing AGs. As I understand, calcium helps the yeast, so this is more relevant to kits than some of the other purely mash related factors. So should I be adding calcium to my water when brewing kits also, to help the yeast out?

 

[Obfu]

So, 'The Five' fermented well, all the same tempo, tailed off together. They're ready to bottle now, I've just got to pull my finger out. What surprised me is that they fermented faster as 5 containers than had they been together in 1. Anyway, tomorrow I will bottle them.

 

[dblkayak]

Can I ask what "RO water" is?

 

[foxy]

Can I ask what "RO water" is?

Reverse Osmosis, something I have been considering buying is a portable reverse osmosis set up they are cheap now (Alibaba)and though I already do water additions these do certainly make life easier for emulating water from different parts of the globe.

 

[Llamaman]

I think the 5 brews should have finished conditioning by now... :)

 

[Drunkula]

Whether it's a kit or not the sulphate and chloride levels can change the hoppy<->malty accent of the beer. Tea is blended differently for different areas of the UK to account for the water profile, that won't be happening with kits.

 

[aamcle]

There in no mash to worry about But there is the Chloride/ Sulphate ratio which can and will effect the taste. You can change the taste of beer in your glass by messing with it if you want to give it a try but make sure you don't add too much and make it unsafe.

So if you know your water profile it's probably a good idea to ensure the Cl/So4 ration is appropriate for what ever you are making.


Aamcle

 

[Tuizner]

Ahhhh! Read two pages of comments and waiting for the all important results ....... it must be ready to drink by now !

 

[Frogbrew]

Me too