# Ez Water Calculator



## ricardo (3/1/13)

Hi,

I'm going to start all grain brewing in Feb and have been trying to work out the PH of the mash for a Sydney water supply, does anybody know if the EZ Water Calculator uses Imperial or US gallons, i'm guessing Imperial but want to make sure

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/


Cheers


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## pimpsqueak (3/1/13)

Do you have a problem with metric?


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## ricardo (3/1/13)

pimpsqueak said:


> Do you have a problem with metric?



Thanks for the reply

I'm looking at the Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout recipe which is listed in their book. It doesn't say but being an American brewery i'm pretty sure the recipe uses US gallons.

I'm trying to get the mash PH right and need to know if i have to convert form US gallons to Imperial gallons in the calculator


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## nala (3/1/13)

ricardo said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'm going to start all grain brewing in Feb and have been trying to work out the PH of the mash for a Sydney water supply, does anybody know if the EZ Water Calculator uses Imperial or US gallons, i'm guessing Imperial but want to make sure
> 
> ...




On that link, you have a choice of Metric and different operating systems.
Metric is NOT Imperial, metric is Killogrames and Litres. Imperial is Pounds and British Gallons.


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## vortex (3/1/13)

Don't bother with water calculations or adjustments for now. Just use tap water, your beer will be fine.


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## ricardo (3/1/13)

nala said:


> On that link, you have a choice of Metric and different operating systems.
> Metric is NOT Imperial, metric is Killogrames and Litres. Imperial is Pounds and British Gallons.




Good spot, i guess i was using Imperial because the recipe stipulated gallons, either way it looks like i'm going to have to do some conversion as i believe the recipe to be US gallons although i cannot confirm this, its an educated guess


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## ricardo (3/1/13)

vortex said:


> Don't bother with water calculations or adjustments for now. Just use tap water, your beer will be fine.



Really, i thought PH of the mash was pretty important. Not sure what the Adelaide water is like but Sydney is devoid of almost everything


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## manticle (3/1/13)

Todd who designed the calc is from Michigan, so it's a fair guess to suggest US.
However, if you want to be sure, click on the donate page and you will get his email addres through the link.
Ask him or convert the recipe to metric.


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## vortex (3/1/13)

ricardo said:


> Really, i thought PH of the mash was pretty important. Not sure what the Adelaide water is like but Sydney is devoid of almost everything



Some people see it that way, and it might be. But you will still make a bloody nice beer straight from the tap.


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## Phoney (3/1/13)

I was AG brewing (in Sydney) for at least 12 months before I began playing with water adjustments. With the such relatively small difference it makes to your final product I wouldnt bother worrying about it until you have the rest of your brewing methods down pat. Also I would suggest start with something simple like an APA and leave the Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout for at least a few brews down the track.


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## ricardo (3/1/13)

phoneyhuh said:


> Also I would suggest start with something simple like an APA and leave the Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout for at least a few brews down the track.




Cheers for the advice, just playing with a few recipes at the moment. Will definately be trying something easy for the first few brews to make sure i know what i'm doing.


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## manticle (3/1/13)

pH is important as is mineral level BUT when you have water that isn't stupidly hard or has loads of undesirable minerals, the advice to keep it simple at the beginning is pretty sound. Brewing a simple recipe as is then brewing again with mineral and/or acid adjustments will help you work out what the adjustments will bring to the party.
I'd recommend spending time reading and understanding why water/mash is adjusted and brew and adjust accordingly over time and as you taste.
Ultimately your palate is your best qualitative instrument of analysis.
Don't 'not worry about it' in terms of reading and learning and trialling but sydney tap water for your first ag brew is an ok place to start.


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## Mugsworthy (3/1/13)

manticle said:


> Don't 'not worry about it' in terms of reading and learning and trialling but sydney tap water for your first ag brew is an ok place to start.



Sounds about right... from what I understand, Sydney water is about as "middle-of-the-road" as you can get in Australia, so little or no adjustment should be needed. As you're doing an Oatmeal Stout, the dark malts in the grist should contribute a certain acidity to the mash and bring the pH down somewhat but that's probably what you want given that the oatmeal will add a creaminess to counteract any overly acidic character.


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## mikec (3/1/13)

Def keep it simple. I've been doing AG for 10 months in Sydney and have not yet begun playing with water profiles. 
My understanding though, once you do get more technical, is that Sydney water is great for pilsners, lightish coloured ales and so on, but not quite right for dark beers. 
I've done a choc oatmeal stout with unmodified Sydney water (filtered though) and it came out great so you can certainly still do it.


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