Coming unstuck- unexpected result- what do i do next

(That's water to the rest of us!) Beer is about 95% water, so if you want to discuss water treatment, filtering etc this is the place to do it!
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wilfh
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Coming unstuck- unexpected result- what do i do next

Post by wilfh » Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:19 pm

Ok so I thought that I had got my head around it and knew what I needed to know.
Alas I should have known better.

It’s been a while since I did a brew last but I’m all lined up for a brew tonight. A few years back I had the water tested by Murphy’s which came back with 21ppm for alkalinity. Brilliant I thought –nailed it.

Unfortunately I’ve come unstuck with my readings. I now have an alkalinity of 280 ppm (salifert test) and I’m not sure about what I do next.
I’m in the North East and I understood the water came from Kielder. I guess Northumbria water changed the source to borehole water from somewhere else.

Plan a is:
I have some CRS which I will use to reduce the alkalinity to about 50ppm however I’m not sure what additions I should add,

I want to add calcium to about 180 and have DWB, Calcium Chloride and Calcuim sulphate powder so can make additions.

Unfortunately I am not up to speed with making my own additions (I’ve generally followed the recommended additions based on the 21ppm reading which has up until now been just fine (and always been measured as such using the salifert test)

I don’t believe that the salifert test is misleading- I had to use the whole 1mil syringe to get it to change colour

Can anyone make any suggestions what I should be adding?

Once this brew is done- looks like I’m going to be doing a whole lot more water chemistry!
Thanks
Wilf

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vacant
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Re: Coming unstuck- unexpected result- what do i do next

Post by vacant » Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:35 pm

http://brupaks.com/pro-brewing-aids takes you through how to calculate additions.
I brew therefore I ... I .... forget

guypettigrew
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Re: Coming unstuck- unexpected result- what do i do next

Post by guypettigrew » Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:15 pm

Graham's water treatment calculator on here says 1.25ml CRS per litre of tap water to be treated to get you to 50ppm alkalinity.

I'd add a bit less than the calculator suggests and recheck with your Salifert kit before adding some last additions.

As to the calcium, you'd have to know how much you've got to start with to work out how much of the calcium salts to add to get you to 180ppm.

Guy

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HTH1975
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Re: Coming unstuck- unexpected result- what do i do next

Post by HTH1975 » Sat Feb 23, 2019 4:11 pm

If you’re in a fix, use Tesco Ashbeck water and add salts to taste. 6g calcium chloride and 7g gypsum in a 23L batch is a good ballpark for a pale beer using this water.

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