I live in East Anglia and suprise, suprise our water comes from East Anglia Water. Now this area is known as a hard water area.
Do I treat my water before I use it when grain brewing, or would the fact that it is boiled be sufficiant.
If I need to treat it, what is the best thing to use. There is some that say a camden tablet is enough, others say not.
So what is the right way
Water treatment
Re: Water treatment
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/home_brew_ ... linity.htm has all you need to know about water alkalinity and how to treat it. Unless you are brewing a very dark beer, you will need to treat it before mashing or the mash pH will be too high and the beer will have off-flavours.
Basically, treating water consists of either boiling it (with gypsum) or using CRS, which is a blend of acids available from most brew shops. Boiling is more fool-proof but more hassle and you need to add salts to make up for the loss of salts from the water. Using CRS takes a bit more care but is quicker and the by-products of using it are beneficial to the liquor chemistry. It's best to buy a Salifert kit to test the alkalinity of the water before and after CRS treatment to make sure you got it right. That link up there has all the details.
The Campden tablet is used to get rid of chlorine and chloramines in the water. 1/2 a tablet for 23 litres is about the right amount. Crush the tablet with a couple of teaspoons and stir it into the water prior to heating it for mashing or sparging.
Basically, treating water consists of either boiling it (with gypsum) or using CRS, which is a blend of acids available from most brew shops. Boiling is more fool-proof but more hassle and you need to add salts to make up for the loss of salts from the water. Using CRS takes a bit more care but is quicker and the by-products of using it are beneficial to the liquor chemistry. It's best to buy a Salifert kit to test the alkalinity of the water before and after CRS treatment to make sure you got it right. That link up there has all the details.
The Campden tablet is used to get rid of chlorine and chloramines in the water. 1/2 a tablet for 23 litres is about the right amount. Crush the tablet with a couple of teaspoons and stir it into the water prior to heating it for mashing or sparging.
-
Underthethumb
Re: Water treatment
I'm very much a newbee being on only my third all-grain.
However, what I have learned on this hallowed forum is that water quality isn't the most important thing but it helps to get it right. I would suggest:
- Obtaining a water quality report for your area. This should be available online from Anglian water and will specify the alkalinity level (look for the CaCO3 level)
This is my report http://www.portsmouthwater.co.uk/about- ... spx?id=998
- Even better - get a Salifert testing kit to determine your alkalinity level precisely.
- Use Brupaks DLS and CRS to adjust the alkalinity and calcium levels.
- A Campden tablet will sort out the chlorine but not the rest.
Details of how to determine the correct quantities can be found here:
http://www.brupaks.com/water%20treatment.htm
They can be purchased from this shop which is not a million miles from you:
http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/
Best of Luck
However, what I have learned on this hallowed forum is that water quality isn't the most important thing but it helps to get it right. I would suggest:
- Obtaining a water quality report for your area. This should be available online from Anglian water and will specify the alkalinity level (look for the CaCO3 level)
This is my report http://www.portsmouthwater.co.uk/about- ... spx?id=998
- Even better - get a Salifert testing kit to determine your alkalinity level precisely.
- Use Brupaks DLS and CRS to adjust the alkalinity and calcium levels.
- A Campden tablet will sort out the chlorine but not the rest.
Details of how to determine the correct quantities can be found here:
http://www.brupaks.com/water%20treatment.htm
They can be purchased from this shop which is not a million miles from you:
http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/
Best of Luck
-
Eric
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2918
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:18 am
- Location: Sunderland.
Re: Water treatment
As about 95% of your finished beer will be water, it is the most significant ingredient. It is also likely to be the least consistent and possibly the most complicated.
Many, maybe most, on this forum use half a camden tablet to deal with chlorine and similar additions to mains water. I do, but at times I forget and notice no difference.
My water is also hard and a chemical and mathematical minefield and I do treat it. For 20 years I didn't and my finished beer wasn't so good. It didn't stop me brewing damn good beer.
For most of history brewers did no more than boil their water and few gave up because of its chemical composition.
Try brewing first without worrying about treatment, you might get a big surprise. You'll naturally reach the point where you want to tackle this subject.
Many, maybe most, on this forum use half a camden tablet to deal with chlorine and similar additions to mains water. I do, but at times I forget and notice no difference.
My water is also hard and a chemical and mathematical minefield and I do treat it. For 20 years I didn't and my finished beer wasn't so good. It didn't stop me brewing damn good beer.
For most of history brewers did no more than boil their water and few gave up because of its chemical composition.
Try brewing first without worrying about treatment, you might get a big surprise. You'll naturally reach the point where you want to tackle this subject.
Without patience, life becomes difficult and the sooner it's finished, the better.
-
oldtimer
Re: Water treatment
Wow !!!!!!
I didn't realize it was sooooooooooo complicated. Or at least it seems to be on the face of it.
I sure have got to study this one in depth.
Ye gods and little fishes.
I didn't realize it was sooooooooooo complicated. Or at least it seems to be on the face of it.
I sure have got to study this one in depth.
Ye gods and little fishes.
-
Spud395
Re: Water treatment
I'm with Eric, yes it's a hugely important area and I'm sur it makes a massive difference.
It was something I got hung up on before I ever done a batch of AG.
I was persuaded (on here) to relax about it and get a few brews under my belt.
This I done and I have to say I brew good beer.
I am now starting to look seriously at water treatment after 14 AG brews, I'm very happy with my mid to dark beers but my pale ales have a little harshness, still very drinkable but at at his stage I would like to refine them a bit.
Darker beers will prolly be better with what you say about your water, same as mine.
It was something I got hung up on before I ever done a batch of AG.
I was persuaded (on here) to relax about it and get a few brews under my belt.
This I done and I have to say I brew good beer.
I am now starting to look seriously at water treatment after 14 AG brews, I'm very happy with my mid to dark beers but my pale ales have a little harshness, still very drinkable but at at his stage I would like to refine them a bit.
Darker beers will prolly be better with what you say about your water, same as mine.
-
Dennis King
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4228
- Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:52 pm
- Location: Pitsea Essex
Re: Water treatment
As Eric says do your 1st one without worrying to much, the camden table is a must as most of our water seems chlorinated. the fine tuning can come later.
Re: Water treatment
If it seems a bit daunting, you could try brewing with bottled water - ideally stuff that has the chemical composition written on it so you can pick one which is low in CaCO3 - Tesco Ashbeck water, for example. That's not the cheapest stuff though, so you could take your chances with Tesco or Asda value water, on the assumption that it's got to be softer than the stuff coming out of your tap. There is no guarantee this is the case though. I did this for a few brews, choosing Tesco value water and just treating it with 1/2 Campden tab and 1 tsp of gypsum in the mash and the boil. It wasn't the best beer I've brewed but it meant I didn't have to worry about treating the water and could concentrate on getting the technique right.