Water treatment

[FatherChristmas]

Is it worth treating my tap water for my first AG brew? I'm going to do a 1 gallon batch of motter and goldings smash and the more i read the more worried I am about the hard tap water ruining it....

 

[Mark1964]

its always worth treating water to get the best beer style. Your water company will give you the results of your water (water report) you can then decide if its worth treating

 

[FatherChristmas]

well I meant will the cost and time gone into be worth the difference in the end of the result, so will it really be noticeable to a first time brewer? Or wouldit be worth getting the softest bottled water I can find instead.

 

[Mark1964]

the difference is noticable before we used water treatments our beer tasted not right somehow. The bottled sofetr water is good for lagers etc thats all imo

 

[Aleman]

For your first all grain, I wouldn't bother, Water treatment only really becomes something you should consider when you are consistently brewing good beer without it.

 

[FatherChristmas]

For your first all grain, I wouldn't bother, Water treatment only really becomes something you should consider when you are consistently brewing good beer without it.

do you reckon bottled water would be a better bet than tap water ( Ilive in bath so it's very hard) for a single malt and single hop ipa?

 

[Aleman]

Something Like Asda Smartprice or Tescos AShbeck would be more ghelpful . . . then you add a tsp of gypsum (for 25L) . . .

 

[FatherChristmas]

What's the purpose of the gypsum? SOrry about all the questions.

 

[cnelsonplumber]

its always worth treating water to get the best beer style. Your water company will give you the results of your water (water report) you can then decide if its worth treating

I'm with Mark, look up your local water report on line and put the information into the calculator at the top left of the home page, but don't get too hung up on it to start with. There are other aspects which will make a much bigger diffference to your first AG. But briefly to answer your question:

Gypsum is mainly for adding hardness to water and reducing pH. It also contributes calcium and sulfate ions, sulphate is instrumental in extracting flavour from the hops.

Of course it all depends on the water chemistry you have to start with.

Good luck

 

[FatherChristmas]

Ok thanks for clarifying that, I'll look into my best options.

 

[Jeltz]

Graham Weeler's book recommends boiling, with my limited knowledge of water chemistry that would only remove what is known as temporary hardness (carbonate hardness) but not permanent hardness but it would at least help somewhat.

 

[fisherman]

I would buy a salifert alkalinity test kit online,Test my water for the correct alkalinty then go to the brupacks website and print off and read Information water treatment for additions of CRS ( carbonate reducing solution) and DLS ( dry liquor salts) for mineral additions. it should not be a problem,
Good Luck

 

[oldjiver]

I boil all my water to remove the temporary hardness. I boil for twenty minutes and then let it stand for an hour or so. The chalk drops out and I take off everything above tap level. I did all the tests with PH papers years ago and found that boiling and adding a little gypsum gave me 5.3 ph perfect for bitter. Using the calculator on this site suggests I dont really need the gypsum but I continue because it WORKS for me.