water water water

snickerrby · Post by **snickerrby** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:23 am

Hey all,

I'm messing around with my water right now and gave beertools, promash, and brewsmith tools a try. In the beginning i was crossing my fingers that i could put in my water characteristics and plug in what i wanted and it would tell me what i needed to add to have this happen. After i figured out it doesn't work that way, and realized that it's actually better that you can choose what to add, i'm now wondering if anyone has any tips on what i should read on water chemistry for brewing. i've got the basic palmer and miller books down, so i'm looking to get a little more advanced.

Now that i'm cooking in the garage, and out of the kitchen, thank you derrin, i figured i should go beyond just adding 'the stuff' together and now start play the artistic/scientific brewer role.

And since i'm on a role.... are there any text books on brewing? Anyone willing to sell/let me borrow their books? any brewing subject would be appreciated.... grain, yeast, hops...

Thanks guys, any point of reference is appreciated.

Cheers,

Rob

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:14 am

Hey Snickerrby:

The first chapter of George Fix's book has some "dry" info on water chemistry for brewing ... it is entitled "Principles of Brewing Science". Likewise, the first chapter of "Brew Chem 101" by Lee Janson also has some water stuff worth reading. "Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels has a good section too. Last (and certainly not least ... maybe even first) Greg Noonan's book "New Brewing Lager Beer" has a great section on water treatment (Chapter 3 ... including how to use your water analysis!)

I think the best starting place might be Noonan's book. I got mine from Amazon.

Ray Daniels book is an excellent reference for "artsy scientific" formulation stuff and it is worth having a copy ... this was another Amazon purchase for me.

Dan

P.S. I seem to recall some good practical replies in "The Homebrewer's Answer Book" by Ashton Lewis as well.

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:21 am

Have you had your water tested yet?

I have a copy of Designing Great Beers you can borrow. Just please take good care of it

I plan on attending the upcoming meeting in Dec so if you want to pick it up then you're more than welcome. If you want it sooner, I live in Orange.

snickerrby · Post by **snickerrby** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:08 pm

i have not had my water tested from my tap. i got a report from the huntington beach website. How accurate is that? will getting a personal report make that much of an impact? Also, how would i go about doing that?

I've been messing around with beertools, brewsmith, and promash. Anyone have a preference on which to use?

Cheers lads,

Rob

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:28 pm

snickerrby wrote:i have not had my water tested from my tap. i got a report from the huntington beach website. How accurate is that? will getting a personal report make that much of an impact? Also, how would i go about doing that?

I've been messing around with beertools, brewsmith, and promash. Anyone have a preference on which to use?

Cheers lads,

Rob

I went through a phase where I started with RO water and adjusted it to match certain water profiles for whatever beer I was brewing. It was a huge PITA for me and I have since just gone back to using regular carbon filtered water for most beers and I split 50/50 with RO when brewing lagers and lighter beers. I've checked my mash pH a few times and each time it was very close to 5.2 so I haven't really worried about it since.

I would recommend sending in a sample of your tap water to Wardlab and choose test W6. It's $16.50 per sample. I'm not sure how thorough the report from HB is. Also note that the water source can change throughout the year so use it as a rough outline. Also, you might have excess chloramines in your water which is not good for brewing. But if you haven't noticed anything off about your beers then I wouldn't worry to much about it.

I used Promash just because it's what I've been using since day 1.

Post by **brahn** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:44 pm

If you get your water tested by Ward labs, make sure to request the free sampling supplies and shipping labels. See this http://beta.brewcommune.com/tips-a-tric ... lysis.html.

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:39 am

brahn wrote:If you get your water tested by Ward labs, make sure to request the free sampling supplies and shipping labels. See this http://beta.brewcommune.com/tips-a-tric ... lysis.html.

Sweet find Brent!

Post by **brahn** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:58 am

Oh, and on the books, it doesn't look like anyone mentioned How To Brew. That's definitely a must-read. I'm not sure if the online version is the most recent version, my paperback has been used to the point that it's falling apart.

Brent

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:02 am

Well I didn't mention it because Snickerrby indicated that he had the Palmer and Miller Books down .. but you're correct, How To Brew is a very important read.

Dan

Post by **brahn** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:25 pm

Well, I guess I should have read closer. Still, I might say that the next best thing you could read would be How To Brew again.

snickerrby · Post by **snickerrby** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:57 am

thanks for the input guys. After Derrin sold me his setup i've been trying to grasp a good understanding of what i'm actually doing. My first allgrain brew in this saturday. i'll call it a success if i don't blow up, but i'm feeling good about it.

Cheers

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:04 am

snickerrby wrote:thanks for the input guys. After Derrin sold me his setup i've been trying to grasp a good understanding of what i'm actually doing. My first allgrain brew in this saturday. i'll call it a success if i don't blow up, but i'm feeling good about it.

Cheers

Good luck! I'm sure with all of your preparation and help from Derrin, you'll have no problems.

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:20 pm

brahn wrote:Well, I guess I should have read closer. Still, I might say that the next best thing you could read would be How To Brew again.

I agree ... I've been through the online version and I bought a paperback copy too. Mine isn't dog-eared (yet) but I find it an invaluable reference. Plus I'm old and I don't remember things as well as I used to so having a hard copy available is useful for me.

BTW, I didn't mean anything by my post .. I was just mentioning one reason why I didn't mention Palmer. It would've been high on my list for any beginning brewer. I also concentrated on books that specifically mention water chemistry.

Good luck on your Saturday session snickerrby! We'll look forward to sampling!!!

Dan

snickerrby · Post by **snickerrby** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:56 am

yes i agree. even i am looking forward to sampling. in fact, we should have a new section on this blog that only talks about sampling. there should be a section that talks about what type of brew currently have on tap, when there at work, and how we can sneak through the back gate to 'sample' everyones beer..... of course we would leave feedback... haha. Cheers guys, it would be killer if i could bring a keg to the next brew meeting

BrewMasterBrad · Post by **BrewMasterBrad** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:21 am

I agree that How to Brew is the single best source for practical brewing knowledge. I read the all grain section several times before doing my first all grain batch.

Wardlab is a great resource for getting your tap water tested and you should get it tested a few times throughout the year since your blend may change with the seasons. Like Rezzin, I have tended to over think these things and I have finally come around to the KISS method of brewing (keep it simple, stupid). According to Palmer, the most important factor in your brewing water is the residual alkalinity. He has created a spreadsheet for formulating your mineral additionsto your mash and adjusting the pH of your sparge water. Easy.

Brad