Palmer's new water book

I am a water tinkerer thanks to Palmer's spreadsheet, and was ready to claim he went too deep in his new book, but then I hit page 147.  Looking ahead, the next 30 pages look like what I was hoping for. 

Anyone else reliving Chem 101 nightmares in the first part of the book?  I saw a few nuggets that I may use to adjust what I do, but it's paper-bound melatonin, baby.

They had all three for a good deal at Amazon so I bought all three (the yeast, hops and water book) and I haven't been able to bring myself to open any of them yet for the exact reasons you hint toward above.  I heard the yeast book is a tough read and I'm guessing the water book is no different.  Would you suggest  skipping ahead to pg 147?  How important is everything up to that point? 

I still need to order water, although I'm not sure what I'll get out of it.
Yeast is a good book.  I haven't attempted to read it all.  I don't have time for that sort of in depth study of yeast right now but I have picked and chosen what I wanted to read and it's full of good info.

I found Yeast easy enough to read, though I've not finished it.  I tend to look for tangible things I can apply to brew day, and chemical equations are not it. 

The nuggets were things like chalk not dissolving well enough to be useful, and phosphoric acid in the sparge water may drop out calcium.  And malt supplying all the needed Mg, etc.    And just last night I read something about putting 2/3 the chemicals in the mash, and 1/3 in the boil being old brewer's wisdom.  I got the idea from the EZ water sheet, but they didn't explain it in the sheet. 

So, yeah, if you want to quickly appreciate the purchase, I'd start at page 147.  The earlier sections will be there, waiting for you.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

After watching the beersmith podcast I got the impression Palmer wasn't going introduce anything radically new about water. I think I'd rather read Yeast! 5 times first, but eventually I'll read the water book. You can get a lot of "nuggets" from reading posts from AJ and Matt B on HBT (this is most likely the source of information in this book).

+ 1
I thought I was back in chemistry class but Palmer warn us in the start of the book. I really was expecting a book equal to How To Brew but didn't turn out the way

MaltLicker said:

... if you want to quickly appreciate the purchase, I'd start at page 147.  The earlier sections will be there, waiting for you.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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Agreed. I thought there would be more of the flavor found in the others (Yeast, Hops...) explained in everyday language but no; very technical this one is (you'll need to do you own Yoda impersonation here.)

Still found those nuggets helpful, though. It adequately explained why I could add 3/4 teaspoon of a 10% phosphoric acid to 5 gallons of water at room temperature and get a reduction in pH of only 1.8 points, and I could then add another 1/4 teaspoon and get an additional 1.7 point reduction! Apparently a non-linear function. Learned all about buffering I did (Yoda again...)

Water! is on my Christmas list.  I do have questions though pertaining to the Water Profile Tool.

In BeerSmith, my water profile (Vancouver, WA) is listed and it seems to be fairly accurate.

Is the BS "Water Profile Tool" as simple as it seems?  Can I just put in my target water profile (for example, Dublin, Ireland) and click on "Calculate Best Adjustments" and just follow the recommended water additions? 

Another question has to do with, "The volume of base water to use".  Is this the "Total Water Needed" from the Volumes tab of my recipe?

Right now, I'd be making water adjustments without knowing the reason why, other than say using Dublin, Ireland water profile when I make a Dry Stout.

It's a hobby people.  Not torture.

What you brew is good, eh?

Rep said:

It's a hobby people.  Not torture.

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This made me chuckle.  I have to admit, though, that I have never looked at a water report, nor have have I ever checked Ph on anything, but I have made some really good beer.  I mostly use water that is store bought (easier to measure).  Maybe I should look into trying my local water, but I have always just bought it by the gallon.

I dumped a whole year's worth of brews after reading Palmer say "If water tastes good, then it's good enough to brew with." due to tannins.