Calcium Reducing Solution?

[foxbat]

Calcium is important in the brewing process so I'd prefer not to be removing it. With low mineral water it's probably fine, but not in South East England with high levels of calcium in the water.

Additionally phosphate does have a taste, so if you overdo it you will be able to taste it.

Calcium above a threshold is removed, not all and not enough that it matters. To have the two most respected names in brewing water chemistry, AJ Delange and Martin Brungard, begrudgingly agree with each other that it doesn't matter certainly passes my trust threshold.

If your tap water is super hard (like mine >380ppm alkalinity) then you really are stuck between a limestone and a hard place when brewing pale ales. The amount of CRS you'd need to add could push you into mineral/astringent taste territory. Similarly lactic acid has a taste threshold that you could quite easily pass which leaves phosphoric as the general best, most flavour neutral option.

Or buy an RO machine or use bottled Ashbeck!

 

[strange-steve]

To have the two most respected names in brewing water chemistry, AJ Delange and Martin Brungard, begrudgingly agree with each other that it doesn't matter certainly passes my trust threshold.

Careful now, you may not want to go down that rabbit hole

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Blown away by how helpful folks are here and willing to share. Thanks all

 

[user 18729]

Brunwater is a great spreadsheet, so easy to use once you get used to it

 

[JockyBrewer]

Calcium above a threshold is removed, not all and not enough that it matters. To have the two most respected names in brewing water chemistry, AJ Delange and Martin Brungard, begrudgingly agree with each other that it doesn't matter certainly passes my trust threshold.

If your tap water is super hard (like mine >380ppm alkalinity) then you really are stuck between a limestone and a hard place when brewing pale ales. The amount of CRS you'd need to add could push you into mineral/astringent taste territory. Similarly lactic acid has a taste threshold that you could quite easily pass which leaves phosphoric as the general best, most flavour neutral option.

Or buy an RO machine or use bottled Ashbeck!

Not sure I want to get into an argument about phosphoric acid any more than I have. Out of interest, how much phosphoric acid do you typically add to treat your water?

If your 380ppm is as CaCO3 then I’d probably be installing an RO system as I’d find acid additions of any kind would be pretty extreme to treat that level of alkalinity.

At my level of 250ppm (as CaCO3) you can’t taste CRS/AMS, even when residual alkalinity is reduced to 0. Lactic you definitely can.