Re: Water Treatment Videos

RabMaxwell · Post by **RabMaxwell** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:28 am

What's with all these videos Chris the only one you haven't made yet is a porno one or have you

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:48 am

That's great Chris. I've never tested alkalinity but i'll give it a go now. There should really be a FAQ/sticky with these videos

RabMaxwell · Post by **RabMaxwell** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:26 pm

Mysterio do you want to raise your Alkalinity as our water supply it's as soft as a babies bum

.My water report figure when entered into Mr wheelers calculator gives CO3 4.33.I normally add 4g of carbonate to the mash with a pale ale for 120 litre brew .Darker beers get 4g + i add most of the darker grains near the end of the mash.When i don't add a little carbonate i often get a 4.9 mash PH.If you test it let me know what figure you get to see if it's similar to the water report.

mshergold · Post by **mshergold** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 1:34 pm

I'm moving to AG breweing in the autumn hopefully and while water treatment etc is going to be the last thing on my mind for the first few brews, I'll have a go at it when I feel the time is right. However, I'm a bit colour blind but am able to tell if two things are the same colour. Do PH kits come with a coloured strip so people like me can compare what's on our white saucer or tile? I bought what I thought was a pink shirt a few years ago (no sniggering at the back) which my current girlfriend later told me is lilac in colour, so you see my problem.

Edit: For those of you with an enquiring mind (might be useful for pub quizzes), the Wikipeida Book of Lies has this to say on the subject of lavender:

Lilac in human culture

- In academic dress, lilac symbolizes a doctoral degree in dentistry.

- The color lilac is sometimes associated with lesbianism.

- Vexillology: In the Hispanic flag, the three maltese crosses that represent the three ships of Columbus are colored deep lilac.

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:32 pm

I tested mine, finally. Worked out about 28 - 31 mg/L, just about what I guessed maybe a bit higher. Err maybe you were right Chris, I will test again on brew day

JackA · Post by **JackA** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:16 pm

Is this the correct kit at a good price?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SALIFERT-CARBONAT ... 286.c0.m14

cheers

kfm · Post by **kfm** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 11:53 am

Chris-x1 wrote:
Do PH kits come with a coloured strip so people like me can compare what's on our white saucer or tile?
These aren't ph kits as such, they are used to determine alkalinity, albeit by using ph to determine it and ultimately to produce the correct mash ph-but that's not important.

There aren't that many good alkalinity test kits out there, some are pretty inaccurate, this is the only one I know of that produces reasonable results so you're probably pretty much stuck with it.

PH strips are a different matter, there are a couple of varieties and all have a a comparison chart (seperate or build into the strip) which can be compared against a white background but they don't really help when determining alkalinity.

All I can suggest is getting someone else to do it or getting a ph meter and making your own reagent but that's a whole new can of worms.

Chris I can get hold of a decent ph meter at cost and I wondered what is involved in using it to test water alkalinity and mash ph?

OldSpeckledBadger · Post by **OldSpeckledBadger** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 1:05 pm

kfm wrote:
Chris-x1 wrote:Chris I can get hold of a decent ph meter at cost and I wondered what is involved in using it to test water alkalinity and mash ph?

pH meters don't measure alkalinity (otherwise we'd be able to measure it with pH strips).

kfm · Post by **kfm** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:57 pm

Thanks Chris - cheap ph meter it is then

delta9 · Post by **delta9** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:53 pm

Thanks Chris for the video, didn't even need the instructions with your help !!!

I've just tested my water. I had bang on 0.85ml left in the syringe when the solution turned pink. So given those fiquires, I worked it out to approx 42.5 - 43mg /l CaC03 ?

Can you please suggest what I need to add to my liqour water? ie gypsum, crs etc I'm completely new to ag brewing, just about to order my grains

dcq1974 · Post by **dcq1974** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:31 pm

Will order a testing kit and have a go I reckon. I have all the equipment to look at pH etc correctly in the lab however, I want to be able to test water before each brewday and build up a true picture of my local water profile. Nice one Chris

delta9 · Post by **delta9** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:29 am

Managed to gather some info together (from this site), hope these calculations are correct.

My water:
42.7mg /l CaC03

42.7-25/180 = 0.0983ml per litre

x30 = 2.94ml CRS (for 30L)

target=25mg /l CaC03 (pale ale)

1tsp gypsum in mash
1tsp gypsum in boil

Hopefully will be brewing this week

EccentricDyslexic · Post by **EccentricDyslexic** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:52 am

Delta9, this is a useful website- http://www.brupaks.com/brewing-aids.htm Im also trying to get my head round water treatment!

Steve

delta9 · Post by **delta9** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:11 pm

Thanks Eccentric, that was a good read!

Cheers Chris, don't know what to do now

Are you saying that these adjustments could be a bad thing? ie worse than untreated water?
Thanks again

dcq1974 · Post by **dcq1974** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:45 am

The kit will also enable you to test whether you have accurately treated your water.

Chris I take it you mean check the initial alkalinity, then check after addition of CRS to calculate the residual?

My local water is rock hard! With a alkalinity figure of 227 mg/l (CaCO3) so my CRS additions are always pretty high at 20 ml for every 25 L of water that I treat.

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