all grain said:the thing about brand name water is they test for the real bad stuff like lead, mercury, nitrates and the list go's on. now us brewers don't want any of that stuff in are beer but the stuff we do want like certain levels of all the salts, CA+2 ,MG-2, NA, CL, SO4 and the such, are not regulated to maintain pacific amounts in bottled water. they just have to keep the poisons out. So when you get bottled water tested or you here what someone's water report was, it is not set in stone that the water you get will be the same. the water could change with the seasons or the area it comes from. there is also the fact that a lot of bottlers of name brand water use reverses osmosis to purify the water then add some salts back to it to make it taste better. Now we get to the cost. that water is not worth what it sells for.. the best thing to do is find and buy RO water and add the salts yourself. its cheaper, more accurate, and more versatile for us brewers who may want to do a pilsner one day and a porter the next. Please remember that this is the way I see it and by all means I'm not the master of anything but my beer is good, most of the time and the most I pay for water is 39 cent a gal for RO + salts I add, witch cost next to nothing .
just don't want to see home brewers get ripped off paying for fancy RO water with a big name on it. spend the cash on hops instead.
jomebrew said:Basically, taste any water you plan to brew with. If it tastes OK, then it is good to brew with.
Baron Von MunchKrausen said:jomebrew said:Basically, taste any water you plan to brew with. If it tastes OK, then it is good to brew with.
Here I must respectfully disagree.
My tap water tastes great but contains 350ppm alkalinity which makes any attempt to budge Ph nearly impossible.
Minerals are necessary, but for me, I find it preferable and much easier to control it from the front rather than modifying from the back.
jtoots said:Here's how I arrived at the basic understanding of the water I use:
Brad Smith recently sent this fantastic article out in his newsletter:
http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/08/24/brewing-water-hard-or-soft/
For what beer style? Sulfates for example, should be relatively low for light beers and pilsners, moderate for ales, and higher for IPA's.I took notes and jotted down the optimal values for each of the minerals.
I would never recommend distilled (by itself) for brewing, even with added mineralsI then followed the link to see the general properties of Boston's water - http://www.beersmith.com/Water/water.htm
(An eye opener is that distilled water has zero's across the board - I won't be using that for brewing!)
If you use the water analysis tool linked above, you can really dial in your water profile based not only on your existing water source, but also on your grain bill. To adjust mash Ph, a bit of acidulated malt (to lower) or a bit of pickling lime (to raise). Either way, cal chloride and gypsum are usually required with RO water to some degree, along with some other elements. Depends on the grain bill. If you enjoy making a variety of beer styles, for me, RO water seems the best water source, adding back minerals requried based on the recipie.Finally I quickly googled a water report for Poland Springs - http://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/Documents/PS_ENG.pdf
Conclusion without doing any testing of my own: Keep adding Calcium/Magnesium water salts like I have been, whether I'm using tap or bottled water.
Baron Von MunchKrausen said:jtoots said:Brad Smith recently sent this fantastic article out in his newsletter:
http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/08/24/brewing-water-hard-or-soft/
A good article, but somewhat basic.
Magnesium is rarely needed as an additive. Remember your grains have trace elements of minerals. I would never use chalk or baking soda. I love BeerSmith, but their water profile tool does not compare to Bru'n Water
For what beer style? Sulfates for example, should be relatively low for light beers and pilsners, moderate for ales, and higher for IPA's.I took notes and jotted down the optimal values for each of the minerals.