Water treatment - is it important?

[An Ankoù]

I've been doing most my brewing in London. When I started I could make great English ales, Belgian ales, lagers, stouts, but my IPAs would come out really bitter. I treated the water and my IPAs started tasting great. I moved to Ireland where the water is very soft and all my brews came out great and my efficiency increased.

Here's a water calculator which really helped me: https://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water.html
Here's a great article for beginners on water chemistry: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/
Here's something a little more in-depth: https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge
And here's a post from Strange_steve about water treatment which is also really good: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/beginners-guide-to-water-treatment.64822/

I find water chemistry a bit tricky but am trying to get my head around it.

I've just read Strange Steve's explanations and recommendations and they're excellent. Do read the two reports. Steve refers to Gypsum which some others refer to as Calcium Sulphate. They are the same thing. The Calcium Sulphate we use comes in the hydrated form which is Gypsum.

 

[Edison]

We have pretty hard water where I live, so when I started into AG I looked into water chemistry and it looked so complicated. I didn’t fancy having to buy and interpret a water report and try and correct with acids that then add additional minerals into the mix.

I picked up an RO filter set for aquatics off e-bay for about £35. It takes about 9 hours to get 35l so I get this running the day before brew day. I use BeerSmith or Brewers Friend (free on-line tools) to calculate the water profile I want for the style I’m brewing and have a small collection of minerals and a very sensitive set of scales (thanks again e-bay!). I do tweak the ph with lactic acid if I’m brewing something pale though.

 

[cushyno]

I'm a recent adopter of water chemistry to try and boost the quality of my lighter beers. My water is high in bicarbonates so brewing darker beers with roasted grains has given the best results so far.

What I've noticed is that it's much easier to get the pH of the mash right with plenty roasted grains. Light amber and pale ales are difficult to get the pH down. PH is important for an effective mash.

A couple of things to consider. It's not just about getting the pH right. There's a wealth of info out there on achieving the right balance of salts - the ratio of sulphites to chlorides rather than the quantities seems to have a greater effect on perception of taste and whether the beer seems malty or hoppy.

For me, so far, I've experimented with a couple of different water sources, from tap at home and tap at work, as well as Tesco ashbeck. I've mixed different sources to get the best base water chemistry, always treated with 1/2 campden tablet, and dabbling with CRS and calcium chloride additions to get the salt balance right. I'm beginning to get some data points and a noticeable improvement in beer quality.

It's not easy, but once you've worked out the basics you can adjust from there.

 

[jceg316]

what do you all use to measure pH?

 

[Clint]

As I'm only learning I do very basic adjustments with gypsum and CRS. I have three brews conditioning that I've treated so still waiting for the results. Currently I measure my mash pH with some of those little paper strips. Today's mash colour is 5.4.

 

[strange-steve]

what do you all use to measure pH?

I have a Voltcraft pH meter (about £55) and I have an unbranded pen type meter from eBay (about £6) and they give very similar results. Have a look at my thread here where I compare the two. That was about a year ago and the cheap one is still reading pretty accurately.

 

[Edison]

I use this one: www.vyair.com/ph-80-ph-water-testing-meter.html and calibrate it with 4.0 buffer before I use it. I hear you should test the sample at 20c even if the meter has temperature compensation.