The important factor is the pH, you want it to be 7 or slightly below. Using an alkaline water (my tap water has a pH of 7.4-7.6) causes the starsan solution to go cloudy and be less effective at killing bacteria.
Errm - I am familiar with how shops work.
Good for you. That make at least two of us then.
oh dear, thanks steve as I didnt know this. the bicarbonate in my tap water is 355ppm. I've been using chemsan in the recommended 10ml per 5 litre solution for sanitising. I've gone through 6 batches doing this and not had any problems yet but do you think this is just luck? with that bicarb count do you think the chemsan is even doing anything?!
Why? What's wrong with it?
thanks for the reply, really appreciate it - could I ask one more qn, would you go anywhere near tap water with a 355ppm bicarbonate for brewing? or should i stick to bottled? rest of the stats are fairly manageable with some additions (Calcium 132ppm though) but this has really put me off trying it for fear of a spoiled/off batch
That is a lot of bicarbonate for sure, but why not try a batch using your tap water with some CRS treatment to see how it compares? You won't spoil the batch, worst case scenario is that it won't be quite as good as previous batches, but on the other hand you might prefer it with a high mineral content.
When I lived in coastal Suffolk I brewed with carbon filtered tap water with an average alkalinity of 400ppm bicarb. I treated it with a blend of Phosphoric and Lactic acid so as not to go over the taste threshold of either. I would avoid CRS like the plague because 1) it adds Sulphate and Chloride ions, making your life more difficult when trying to hit a profile, and 2) it is a blend of Sulphuric and Hydrochloric acids, which are both horrible to handle safely when compared with Lactic and Phosphoric.
thanks for the suggestion on this, really helpful. In terms of measurements, did you just use enough to get the mash pH down to an appropriate level of c. 5.5? ie that's your main guide for the total addition?
Yes it adds sulphate and chloride which might make a specific profile impossible, but that's entirely dependant on the starting profile and how much sulphate/chloride you want. Saying "avoid it like the plague" isn't very helpful in my opinion. Plenty of people use it quite happily, because unlike many of our US based friends, we can be in the UK generally aren't afraid of a higher mineral content.
