I have a terrible attitude towards water additions!

[moto748]

I keep reading posts, as in the 'Managing ph Levels' thread in this folder, which say things like "input your grist and water profile into Brewfather", or some such. And really, I don't want to do that. I've spent half a lifetime inputting stuff into various technical software, and don't want to do any more of that. You may well say, well, if he won't learn, he can't be taught, and I guess that's fair enough. But I don't think it's negatively impacted the beers I've brewed thus far.

All I know is, the water profile locally seems pretty good to me. the water is soft, and doesn't taste of chlorine. My haphazard rule of thumb, for what it's worth, is, I generally bung a pinch of calcium chloride into everything, and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of gypsum to bitter type beers, and the same amount of citric acid (most people seem to use lactic acid, but does it matter? Citric was what I had in the cupboard) into stouts. I guess really what I'm asking here is, am I doing anything terribly wrong?

 

[samale]

Bottom line if your happy why change it.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Your beer… your rules

I think for those of us with really hard water it’s more of an issue; but for you probably only if you want to replicate a certain style?

 

[moto748]

Actually the surprise for me was learning how localised water supplies are. As I discovered a few weeks ago, posters here who live only 10-15 miles away have completely different water to me, it seems. Which may be unsurprising to many of you who are better acquainted with the topic than I am, but nevertheless surprised me.

 

[Oneflewover]

I'm with you. I tend to take a very technical approach to things until I've figured out that I have achieved the balance I want between that technicality and the results I want to achieve; I know what compromises I can - and more crucially am prepared to - make and to achieve what I want.

 

[moto748]

Thar was almost philosophical, Oneflew!

 

[DocAnna]

Ok so this is where I put my hand up and mention that I weigh my salts out to +/- 0.01g, and paid Murphy & Son to tell me that the publicly available water report was pretty representative of my water. Also recognising that your approach is more aligned with Gordon Strong who has oodles more experience than any of us... from his modern homebrew recipes book:

“I did the calculations on how many grams are in volume measurements of salts; now I just measure my additions with teaspoons rather than gram scales since it’s faster and has adequate precision for my needs.
I like this approach to water treatment since it’s easy, and allows me to handle each beer in basically the same way. I’m also not sold on the various water calculators since they are simply models, and models aren’t always accurate; they make necessary assumptions, but those assumptions may not be in line with how I brew”

@moto748 That would seem to be a pretty clear vindication of your approach to salts in your water .

 

[moto748]

@DocAnna

Ha! that reminded me of

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons...

 

[Oneflewover]

Thar was almost philosophical, Oneflew!

I was a bit pished !

 

[Clint]

I've got a little bit into water treatment and it's definitely improved my beers.
With the calc I normally use now gone I'm relying on my quite precise brew journal..
One thing I do wonder about is that no two water addition calculator will give you the same results!

 

[DixeySJ]

I've done 'rule of thumb and 'calculate to fractions of a gram' ... not sure I can tell the difference. Your additions for soft water sound very reasonable. As @Clint has pointed out, results vary depending on the calculator, so clearly there are no absolutes.

 

[RichK]

I'm with you. Water here is very soft so I just add half a teaspoon of gypsum. Job done.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I'm missing SS's software which was excellent. Luckily I wrote my recipe additions in my recipe book. But new recipes are an issue.

 

[An Ankoù]

I, too, have a terrible attitude towards water additions, or so my neighbours tell me. Am I the only guy in France who drinks his pastis neat?

 

[The Baron]

I, too, have a terrible attitude towards water additions, or so my neighbours tell me. Am I the only guy in France who drinks his pastis neat?

I don't know how you drink that stuff?
Talking about strange things I like Aniseed sweets but hate anything with aniseed flavour such as Pernod, Fennel, Star Anise and any spice with the slightest aniseed Taste, the same goes with Coffee I like a cup of coffee but hate anything that is coffee flavoured.
Am I alone or just strange?

 

[MickDundee]

I didn’t treat my water for the first 5 years I brewed, and then for 6 months I was arbitrarily adding a dash of gypsum or calcium chloride to my water depending on beer style until I had a hilarious Mr Bean type mishap (I’m too embarrassed to go into details because thinking back it was a stupid stupid thing to do and I have no idea why I even thought to do it in the first place).

For the last few brews I’ve been using the calculator on Jimsbeerkit and it’s been spot on - I think my NEIPA is the most spot-on mouthfeel I’ve ever had in a beer.

 

[An Ankoù]

I don't know how you drink that stuff?
Talking about strange things I like Aniseed sweets but hate anything with aniseed flavour such as Pernod, Fennel, Star Anise and any spice with the slightest aniseed Taste, the same goes with Coffee I like a cup of coffee but hate anything that is coffee flavoured.
Am I alone or just strange?

While I disagree with you about pastis, ouzo, anisette, absinthe, arak, raki, etc. etc. I, too, don't like things flavoured to taste like others. Putting coffee, and even worse- chocolate in beer is just perverse, in my opinion. OK, subtle flavourings like coriander and orange peel, very gently done in a Belgian, or a bit of vanilla in a stout, but these are barely discernible and not really flavours. Come to think of it, I don't think I'd like aniseed flavoured beer, either, and while this one might, I say might just, be ok: CASTLE MALTING®: Beer and whisky recipes , spiced English ales are something to avoid as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

What would I add to raise the PH of the water? I have got an idea of a beer I want to make but it has rather a lot of dark grains in it and I've ended up with a PH of 5.1. I thought I could use bicarb to raise it but will it make it taste salty? Sorry for daft question!

 

[An Ankoù]

What would I add to raise the PH of the water? I have got an idea of a beer I want to make but it has rather a lot of dark grains in it and I've ended up with a PH of 5.1. I thought I could use bicarb to raise it but will it make it taste salty? Sorry for daft question!

What pH are you aiming for? A pH of 5.1 isn't miles out, by any means. If it were me, I'd leave it alone you could add a bit of bicarb and the amount you would need wouldn't really be discernible.

 

[The Baron]

I am with AA on this Lisa, many brewers would wish they were that close with 5.1 PH as 5.2 to 5.7 is the sweet spot and you are knocking on the door