what's the best water for brewing?

[SkyStar]

Hello there! i would ask you guys, if someone here has a wide knowledge in terms of water, ive been using my tap water for brewing for more than a year, but in the last 6 months something changed in my tap water, it became really hard to drink, and with an aftertaste of a paper box, so i started buying bottled water, but...what's the best water for brewing? i mean, wich terms, and data should i look for in the bottle's label in order to get the best results? (oh btw im brewing 85% lagers, and 15 red ipas) thank you in advance

 

[Hoddy]

Hello there! i would ask you guys, if someone here has a wide knowledge in terms of water, ive been using my tap water for brewing for more than a year, but in the last 6 months something changed in my tap water, it became really hard to drink, and with an aftertaste of a paper box, so i started buying bottled water, but...what's the best water for brewing? i mean, wich terms, and data should i look for in the bottle's label in order to get the best results? (oh btw im brewing 85% lagers, and 15 red ipas) thank you in advance

Tesco Ashbeck is by far the easiest to get and reasonable price if you get the big bottles of it for a brew day.

However is it worth investigating why you find you water now tastes “funny” like that. You shouldn’t be getting tap water that really does taste that bad come direct into your house. Have you asked your water company to come and test your water?

 

[SkyStar]

No, since we are getting the full analysis each month with he bill. In Italy Tesco doesn't exists here. I know that's the best water used in this forum. That's why I asked by looking at the waters label which I would need. Since there are too many

 

[Hoddy]

No, since we are getting the full analysis each month with he bill. In Italy Tesco doesn't exists here. I know that's the best water used in this forum. That's why I asked by looking at the waters label which I would need. Since there are too many

Ahh now I understand why your asking. I did suspect you were on some random provincial water supply.

So here’s the Ashbeck water content


Ultimately what is best is a water source that has a bicarbonate of 25mg for pale beers and 75mg for Amber, >125mg for dark beers.

To be honest the others that you need to know are the sulfate, calcium and chloride content because from there you can then add the right amount of ions (gypsum or calcium chloride) to get the water profile you want to match the beer your wanting to make.

TBH if you can get water near the above picture from your local super market then adding 3g of gypsum if your making a pale bitter/hoppy beer or adding 3g of calcium chloride for a more Fuller rounded/less bitter beer on a 20L batch you won’t go far wrong given your circumstances.

 

[SkyStar]

Ahh now I understand why your asking. I did suspect you were on some random provincial water supply.

So here’s the Ashbeck water content


Ultimately what is best is a water source that has a bicarbonate of 25mg for pale beers and 75mg for Amber, >125mg for dark beers.

To be honest the others that you need to know are the sulfate, calcium and chloride content because from there you can then add the right amount of ions (gypsum or calcium chloride) to get the water profile you want to match the beer your wanting to make.

TBH if you can get water near the above picture from your local super market then adding 3g of gypsum if your making a pale bitter/hoppy beer or adding 3g of calcium chloride for a more Fuller rounded/less bitter beer on a 20L batch you won’t go far wrong given your circumstances.

Thank you so much! It's way more. Clear now! I see that I have water with 1500 dry residue here lol

 

[The Baron]

I use this but not for a full brew just as a addition to my water.
Ald

i water 17p for 2 litres

 

[dad_of_jon]

Calcium 38 - 10
Magnesium 12 - 2.5
Sodium 8 - 9
Potassium 2.5 - 2
Bicarbonate 135 - 25
Chloride 12 - 12
Sulphate 14 - 10
Nitrate 5 - 11

ph7.8 - 6.2

the first figure is for chase spring, it's what the baron uses the second is for ashbeck.

 

[Ghillie]

what's the best water for brewing?

The correct answer to this is distilled or RO water.

The best water for brewing is water in which you can add minerals to in order to achieve any water profile you like. So the best water available, is arguably one with very little (RO) or zero (distilled) mineral content. Then you can build it up any which way your prefer.

 

[strange-steve]

For lagers I would want something like this:
50 ppm calcium
25 ppm bicarbonate
30 ppm sulphate
60 ppm chloride

For a red IPA:
100 ppm calcium
45 ppm bicarbonate
120 ppm sulphate
80 ppm chloride

I'd probably stick pretty close to those bicarbonate values and not go below 50 ppm calcium, but otherwise there's plenty of wiggle room so don't get too bogged down chasing numbers.

 

[cheshirehomebrew]

Have to say this is something I have only ever briefly thought about, I use my tap water to brew but am hoping to go over to Buxton for their world famous mineral water, and get enough to do a 5 gallon brew soon

 

[terrym]

Water for kit or extract brewing doesn't need any form of treatment. So in those cases if the tap water doesn't taste or smell of anything to put you off, it's good enough to brew with. I'm lucky, my tap water is fine.

 

[Sadfield]

Have to say this is something I have only ever briefly thought about, I use my tap water to brew but am hoping to go over to Buxton for their world famous mineral water, and get enough to do a 5 gallon brew soon

You'll need to treat it as it's very high in bicarbonate c250ppm. I know a brewer in Buxton and he uses tap water. SevernTrents website says the tap water is treated surface water and soft.

 

[Hoddy]

For lagers I would want something like this:
50 ppm calcium
25 ppm bicarbonate
30 ppm sulphate
60 ppm chloride

For a red IPA:
100 ppm calcium
45 ppm bicarbonate
120 ppm sulphate
80 ppm chloride

I'd probably stick pretty close to those bicarbonate values and not go below 50 ppm calcium, but otherwise there's plenty of wiggle room so don't get too bogged down chasing numbers.

What he said

Thanks for the detailed info for him @strange-steve

 

[SkyStar]

Thank you so much guys!

 

[Ian Blackburn]

Can I use citric acid to adjust the ph of my brewing water
Currently its around 6.5 and if like to bring it down to 5.5-5.8.

 

[Hoddy]

Can I use citric acid to adjust the ph of my brewing water
Currently its around 6.5 and if like to bring it down to 5.5-5.8.[/QUOTE

Yes critic acid will work just fine for ph adjustment. Although as I found that once you start dosing it up to point you do start to get hints of a tart citric character with your beers as it has a lower flavour thresh hold of say CRS.

 

[tommos76]

I'm also interested in looking into water treatment. I currently brew ag IPA and I'm living in Swansea where the water is soft. I've read that the ideal pH would be 5.4 but it's all s bit confusing for me ATM.

 

[Cwrw666]

I've read that the ideal pH would be 5.4

I think that's the mash ph, not the water ph.
Soft water is great for pale ales. Lousy for stouts. Though surprisingly good for black IPAs.
ps. I know sod all about water treatment. I use my tap water (from a spring on the mountain - ph around 5) for everything except stout for which I buy in chase spring water from tescos. The difference is amazing.

 

[tommos76]

Thankyou for the advice. I've been getting consistently good results With the water at present but was just wondering if by adjusting the water it would improve my finished brew