Why water treatment is so important

[DerbyshireNick]

Well like many I couldn't resist and cracked open a Belgian iPa experimental recipe I did after 1 week in the bottle.

This was the first brew I have done where I have accurately treated the water (with maths and everything!)

This brew is going to be great... Simple as. After 1 week it is better than the other one that's been conditioning for 4 to 5 weeks. What was really interesting is the full on malt flavour that came through thanks to the calcium levels being good.

I guess the point to this pointless post is if you haven't treated, try it... For me the difference is insane.

[subfaction]

Nice to hear, I'm trying to get my head around treatment for a brew tommorow, any good tips?

[DerbyshireNick]

I am no expert but starting with an alkalinity test kit is a must! You can than follow the brupack formulas from there.

[Capped]

If you can treat your water successfully to make great beer I salute you! However, when I went through a stage of being convinced my water wasn't right I ended up making a succession of sub-standard ales due to the addition of this and that. So I quit all the fiddling and good beer returned; I'm obviously blessed with good water for the style of beer I favour. Lucky ol' me,huh ?

[DerbyshireNick]

Indeed.

Mine is an extreme case as I have fantastic water. Unfortunately with this blend of fantastic water comes no alkalinity. The result was a no flavor and a very watery body. Fortunately I had a little help along the way with some very good advise from someone on here.

[dynamic dave]

Helps with the mash efficiency I believe plus beer flavours,I have a friend who brews in the same area as me for many years and he never treated his water we often discuss it and there's no way he will change his views

[gnutz2]

Exactly what and how much do you add, just cuious.

My beers sometimes had an overly bitter aftertaste and hoppy beers would taste of soap.

I sent my water along to Murphy and son lab and they sent me the exact minerals in the water, which i then put in grahams water treatment calc.

If i'm making a bitter or pale ale i use murphys own blend of DWB to save time.

[DerbyshireNick]

for me no CRS was required but the maximum 1.1g per L of DLS was needed. The fact it needed the maximum on the scale maybe says why I needed it so badly!!!

[nigelsch]

too true blue. My big brewing step changes were:
- water treatment
- good FV temp control
- liquid yeast

Also waiting 3 weeks before drinking helps, but I fail on that one!

[DerbyshireNick]

my 3 were pretty much the same. Still working on little tweaks here and there. I like to make an improvement with every brew if I can. Some just for process to make life easier or simpler and so to improve the output.

[brodington]

If you can treat your water successfully to make great beer I salute you! However, when I went through a stage of being convinced my water wasn't right I ended up making a succession of sub-standard ales due to the addition of this and that. So I quit all the fiddling and good beer returned; I'm obviously blessed with good water for the style of beer I favour. Lucky ol' me,huh ?

Less is more is my best advice. I also have moved past a stage of sub-standard brews due to too much treatment. Before I started treating I was getting some very astringent bitterness. Last few brews have been simply sublime.

Its worth the experiments.

[fisherman]

Very pleased you are doing well and your beer is better than it used to be. It's a hobby where small mistakes with individual minerals can make massive changes to the finished product. Thats why I like DLS.
Happy brewing

[nigelsch]

Heard it said before, buts its very true. Once you get over the main hurdles, brewing can be very forgiving.

When I first started I loved making things (engineering wise), now I just keep it simple.

JP's xls speadsheet is a fantastic tool. I use it for all my brews.

Since I didnt do chemistry @ school I found the theory behind water treatment hard. When I 1st started I got hung up on the PH of the
mash & alot of fannying around with a PH meter. But on doing alot of reading the penny dropped; stop worrying about the PH of the
mash and just get your start water alk right for the type of beer your brewing.

I even make up my own crs now, with the base acids. So I can get a more malty jobby by increasing HCI or more hoppy by increasing
Sul acid.

Great hobby, but does the cleaning up I hate