Ashbeck

[Cqr]

I'am thinking of using bottled water for brewing, possibly ashbeck
Water calculator, jums beer kit
But having problems entering details already
Anyone got any advice
I realy can't get a water report at the moment
So thoult bottled would be the way to go
I'am trying to brew ipa's / Belgium beers
Many thanks
Martin

 

[YeastFace]

From memory, Ashbeck is perfect for malty, amber beers. I cut it with different percentages of my tap water, depending on what I want. Not got into mineral additions yet, but suspect I will need to do so when I want to brew stouts or lagers.

 

[Personal91]

I'am thinking of using bottled water for brewing, possibly ashbeck
Water calculator, jums beer kit
But having problems entering details already
Anyone got any advice
I realy can't get a water report at the moment
So thoult bottled would be the way to go
I'am trying to brew ipa's / Belgium beers
Many thanks
Martin

have you ph tested your tap water yet ?

 

[Personal91]

From memory, Ashbeck is perfect for malty, Amber beers. I cut it with different percentages of my tap water, depending on what I want. Not got into mineral additions yet, but suspect I will need to do so of I wanted to brew stouts or lagers.

do you filter or RO your tap water ?

 

[dad_of_jon]

I'am thinking of using bottled water for brewing, possibly ashbeck
Water calculator, jums beer kit
But having problems entering details already
Anyone got any advice
I realy can't get a water report at the moment
So thoult bottled would be the way to go
I'am trying to brew ipa's / Belgium beers
Many thanks
Martin

use the tesco value from chase spring instead, cheaper and had great results from it on a range of beer styles. I love it.

ashbeck is my goto for diluting star san though

 

[MyQul]

have you ph tested your tap water yet ?

Why would you test the PH of your tap water? You want to measure the alkalinity amongst other things. It's the mash PH that you test (which is effected by the alkalinity of the water)

 

[Cqr]

Why would you test the PH of your tap water? You want to measure the alkalinity amongst other things. It's the mash PH that you test (which is effected by the alkalinity of the water)

Exactly, I have.no starting point with alkaline
With the info on the ashbeck label ???? Water is more complicated than complicated thing 😂😂

 

[MyQul]

Exactly, I have.no starting point with alkaline
With the info on the ashbeck label ???? Water is more complicated than complicated thing 😂😂

Do they do ashbek in small (500ml or so) bottles? I want to test the alkalinity of Asda smart price water as I've read it's fairly low but the price is much cheaper than the eden falls I've been using. I'm going to Asda to pick some up tommorow but I'll swing by Tescum and pick up some ashbeck too seeing as it's about 1/4 of a mile from Asda on the Old Kent Road and test them both tommorow and tell you what the Alkalinity is

 

[Cqr]

Do they do ashbek in small (500ml or so) bottles? I want to test the alkalinity of Asda smart price water as I've read it's fairly low but the price is much cheaper than the eden falls I've been using. I'm going to Asda to pick some up tommorow but I'll swing by Tescum and pick up some ashbeck too seeing as it's about 1/4 of a mile from Asda on the Old Kent Road and test them both tommorow and tell you what the Alkalinity is

From memory it's about £1.30 for 5 litres
I brew with water from a local Spring normally
But want to brew better beer 😇😇 on a budget in the short term

 

[MyQul]

From memory it's about �£1.30 for 5 litres
I brew with water from a local Spring normally
But want to brew better beer 😇😇 on a budget in the short term

When you make ipa's/belgium beers does the beer taste funny? If not and they taste fine dont worry about adjusting your water. I only use bottled water for pales because when I make them they have and bitter after taste, not the clean bittering I get when I use bottled water. My tap water is great for dark beers so I just use that, untreated (apart from a camden tab for chlorine) for stouts porters etc

 

[LarryF]

From memory, Ashbeck is perfect for malty, Amber beers. I cut it with different percentages of my tap water, depending on what I want. Not got into mineral additions yet, but suspect I will need to do so of I wanted to brew stouts or lagers.

That's deep YeastFace, you got me thinking about that now. Cutting bottled water with tap water to get a desired mineral content for that particular beer, that's brilliant, thanks for that one.

 

[strange-steve]

I don't know if you have this info already but this is the mineral content of ashbeck:



It was a while ago I tested the alkalinity but it's somewhere around 15 ppm.

As you can see it has a very low mineral content, too low for most styles. I wouldn't use it untreated personally. It might be good for a bohemian pilsner but otherwise you'll end up with a fairly bland beer.
Calcium levels should be at least 40 ppm but preferably 100+
For a hoppy IPA the sulphate is too low, for a rich, malty belgian beer the chloride is too low.
For a dark beer the low alkalinity would probably mean a too low mash ph.

An addition of gypsum or calcium chloride would definitely help.

 

[MyQul]

I don't know if you have this info already but this is the mineral content of ashbeck:



It was a while ago I tested the alkalinity but it's somewhere around 15 ppm.

As you can see it has a very low mineral content, too low for most styles. I wouldn't use it untreated personally. It might be good for a bohemian pilsner but otherwise you'll end up with a fairly bland beer.
Calcium levels should be at least 40 ppm but preferably 100+
For a hoppy IPA the sulphate is too low, for a rich, malty belgian beer the chloride is too low.
For a dark beer the low alkalinity would probably mean a too low mash ph.

An addition of gypsum or calcium chloride would definitely help.

I use ASDA eden falls for my pales (my tap water seems to be great for dark beers), which tbh I find to be fine untreated. A general rule of thumb which I keep reading it to add a teaspoonful of gypsum to the mash and one to the boil. Would doing this up the calcium levels as well as sulphate levels? I'm guessing so as gyspum is calcium sulphate?

 

[strange-steve]

Yep a tsp of gypsum in 20 liters adds about 45 ppm calcium and 110 ppm sulphate.

 

[MyQul]

Yep a tsp of gypsum in 20 liters adds about 45 ppm calcium and 110 ppm sulphate.

Thanks:thumb:

 

[MyQul]

@strange-steve Another water question. I'm thinking of just boiling my water to 'de-alkalinity' it (that's not a word is it :lol:). In BYOBRA Graham Wheelers says to add 10g of gypsum for every 23L/25L and boil vigourously for 30 mins. He also goes on to say add 5g of gypsum to the boil too. So, because I've added gypsum to my water (and boiled) I dont need to add any to the mash like I would do if I was using the ashbeck/or eden falls

 

[strange-steve]

The idea is to boil while stirring vigorously until CO2 is driven off which causes calcium bicarbonate to precipitate, which you can see from the water going cloudy. Then let the water clear and decant off, leaving the sediment behind.

It does work but it's a lot of time and effort and a reduction to around 80 ppm is probably your limit. Also you're losing calcium in the process.

The addition of gypsum is probably to aid in precipitating the chalk, however it's more usual I think to add a little chalk instead because it is less soluble and will actually help to precipitate more chalk. If you do use gypsum though, you may still want to add something to the mash to replace the calcium lost, but the sulphate from the gypsum addition will remain so bear that in mind.

Have you considered an acid addition instead, much simpler?

 

[MyQul]

The idea is to boil while stirring vigorously until CO2 is driven off which causes calcium bicarbonate to precipitate, which you can see from the water going cloudy. Then let the water clear and decant off, leaving the sediment behind.

It does work but it's a lot of time and effort and a reduction to around 80 ppm is probably your limit. Also you're losing calcium in the process.

The addition of gypsum is probably to aid in precipitating the chalk, however it's more usual I think to add a little chalk instead because it is less soluble and will actually help to precipitate more chalk. If you do use gypsum though, you may still want to add something to the mash to replace the calcium lost, but the sulphate from the gypsum addition will remain so bear that in mind.

Have you considered an acid addition instead, much simpler?

Between my post and yours I've been doing a little reading on boiling to reduce alkalinity, and like you say I will only get about 80ppm which isn't good enough as I have started to make a lot of pales and pseudo lagers so need the alkalinity ppm to be at least 50ppm if not 30ppm. Think I might try acid. I have some CRS. Do I still need to add a teaspoonful of gypsum to the mash and boil if I use acid?

 

[strange-steve]

Presumably this is for a hoppy pale ale or something similar? If so then you want to increase the sulphate level to accentuate the hops which is why gypsum is often added. Using CRS will add some sulphate and chloride but you probably still want to add some gypsum. Do you have a report for your water?

 

[MyQul]

Presumably this is for a hoppy pale ale or something similar? If so then you want to increase the sulphate level to accentuate the hops which is why gypsum is often added. Using CRS will add some sulphate and chloride but you probably still want to add some gypsum. Do you have a report for your water?

It's mostly for pseudo lagers, bitter and not that hoppy pale ales ( IBU about 30). Here's my thames water report. Not actually that usefull https://secure.thameswater.co.uk/water-quality-reports/2015 WQ Report_Z0112_peckham.pdf
I've ust testied the alkalinity of my water it came out at 208ppm