# Additions To Rain Water



## TasChris (6/5/08)

Hi all,
After moving house to a place with rain water tanks and no mains water I have noticed a change in the taste of my brews so I have begun investigation additions of various chemicals. I find my beers have become bland with little hop or malt flavour especially my ales
However after trolling through this site and others I am more confused than when I began.

I use 5.2 ph buffer to control ph so I don't need to add anything else to control my ph, but what additives should I add to improve hop and malt flavour.

In my readings I have come across mention of additions of
Gypsum
Calcium Chloride
Salt
Zinc
Epsom Salt

What do people recommend with regard to which substances and how much for ales and lagers considering my water is rainwater in brand new tanks ( thus I assume it would be very close to distilled)


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## BOG (6/5/08)

TasChris,

The following is a Sydney Water Profile take from their web site and used in BeerSmith. Units are Parts Per Million.

Name: Sydney Water - Prospect
PH: 8.2

Calcium: 35.0
Magnesium: 24.0
Sodium: 13.0
Sulfate: 9.0
Chloride: 27.0
Bicarbonate: 35.0
Notes: Where Sydney Water has provided a range the unit used is the centre of the range.


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And here's what it looks like for Burton Water.

Name: Burton On Trent, UK
PH: 8.0

Calcium: 295.0
Magnesium: 45.0
Sodium: 55.0
Sulfate: 725.0
Chloride: 25.0
Bicarbonate: 300.0
Notes: Distinctive pale ales strongly hopped. Very hard water accentuates the hops flavor.
Example: Bass Ale

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To get from Sydney Water to Burton Water you need to add the following;

Gypsum (CaSO4) 23 Grams
Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 4 Grams
Baking Soda (NaHCO3) 7 Grams

These amounts are for a 20Litre Batch. Burtonising the water makes a difference to the final hop flavour.


Hope this helps. 


BOG


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## Stuster (6/5/08)

First stop is Palmer's How to Brew. There's a chapter on water chemistry here. There's also a nice spreadsheet you can download from there which will help you calculate what to add. In essence, you definitely need more calcium in your mash to help the enzymes, chloride ions will help for maltiness, sulphates (gypsum) will help with hop flavour, chalk for darker beers AFAIK, that 5.2 buffer is most useful for those with hard water. With soft water and a few water additions (which will have other benefits) you shouldn't really need it. Anyway, have a read of Palmer and then come back to ask all the new questions you have.


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## drsmurto (6/5/08)

TasChris said:


> Hi all,
> After moving house to a place with rain water tanks and no mains water I have noticed a change in the taste of my brews so I have begun investigation additions of various chemicals. I find my beers have become bland with little hop or malt flavour especially my ales
> However after trolling through this site and others I am more confused than when I began.
> 
> ...



My rainwater is virtually distilled water. When i tested it i had < 0.1 ppm of any of the brewing related ions present. 

So in the past i have used tap water for ales and rainwater for pilsners but will be trying an ale soon with rainwater to see what effect that has.


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## Guest Lurker (6/5/08)

Yeah, I would drop the 5.2 buffer, you wont need it as your rainwater will have no buffering capacity and will happily allow the mash to hit the pH it wants to. It also saves you trying to work out what exactly the buffer is adding, and can work out a calcium addition assuming you have zero in your starting water.


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## Kai (6/5/08)

Agreed, a CaSO4 addition is the best place to start, in lieu of the pH 5.2 buffer. It will both help your pH and improve mash conversion.


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## jonw (6/5/08)

BOG said:


> To get from Sydney Water to Burton Water you need to add the following;
> 
> Gypsum (CaSO4) 23 Grams
> Epsom Salt (MgSO4) 4 Grams
> Baking Soda (NaHCO3) 7 Grams



I've heard people say that adding too much water treatment can impart its own (undesirable) taste. That seems like a lot of Gypsum - does it impart any off flavour?

Cheers,

Jon


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## TasChris (7/5/08)

Stuster said:


> First stop is Palmer's How to Brew. There's a chapter on water chemistry here. There's also a nice spreadsheet you can download from there which will help you calculate what to add. In essence, you definitely need more calcium in your mash to help the enzymes, chloride ions will help for maltiness, sulphates (gypsum) will help with hop flavour, chalk for darker beers AFAIK, that 5.2 buffer is most useful for those with hard water. With soft water and a few water additions (which will have other benefits) you shouldn't really need it. Anyway, have a read of Palmer and then come back to ask all the new questions you have.


Yep read Palmer a fair few times, however I was planning to be lazy to a degree with regard to pH, ie add the 5.2 buffer and what ever minerals were required for improving maltiness and hop flavour ( depending on style). Thus I would not have to worry about the effect of the additions on pH 'cause good ol' 5.2 would sort all that out for me. I know thats a bit of cop out!!

Will look at skipping the 5.2 and adding other minerals and getting some ph papers

Cheers
Chris


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