• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

Water modification

H

harebare

Playing with the more advanced features of BeerSmith got me interested in the chemical composition of my local water. After digging on the village web site and a few emails to the water department's chief chemist, I got the following: (WHY can't you copy/paste from the display pane in BS?)

Calcium 34, Sulfate 63, Magnesium 15, Chlorine 134, Sodium 75, Bicarbonate 84, pH 8.7

That's right, 8.7! Pretty damned alkaline, huh? And that's the average. Readings went as high as 8.9.

So my question is, what effect is that unmodified water having on my mash and what should I do to corrected for the pH or any other mineral you see that's out of line?

- Hare
 
I use the Aquasana (http://www.aquasanausa.com/) water filter to remove the chlorine/particulates and then use 5.2 PH stabilizer in the mash and sparge. John Palmer (www.Howtobrew.com) has some great info about water and how to adjust it to the beer you want to brew. For me the above steps have been fine.

FYI here is a great resource to find what your water is. (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html)

Cheers

Preston 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top