Adelaide Water

[neophyte]

Would appreciate any feedback on how to handle
and turn Adelaide water (liquid concrete) into something
worth brewing with.
Pale and dark ales.
I intend to batch sparge only.
I will filter the water through a good carbon and 5 micron cartridge.

My real concern is hitting a good mash PH.
Maybe a small amount of dark malts?
Thanks.

 

[doglet]

Check out the SA Water website. They is usually a water profile report on there so you know the mineral content and have somewhere to start with any additions.

FWIW I have actually used Adelaide water for the 7-8 years I have been brewing with 95% of them being ales. I have never filtered the water either. I figure that if you can drink it then you can brew with it. I wasn't brought up on spring water and to be honest I find it a bit bland. h34r:

Make sure everything else in your process is right before overcomplicating and worrying about pH.

 

[neophyte]

Cheers Doglet,
Can't argue with 7-8 years experience.
Will get my process down and worry about water last.

 

[tangent]

I figure that if you can drink it

You can drink that stuff?
I start with rainwater and add salts etc. but I have heard that ADL water is well suited to ales.

 

[RussTaylor]

Welcome to the forum Neophyte!

Adelaide water + puritap is all I've ever used. Have brewed beers from light lagers to heavy stouts without a problem.

Having said that, I've never measured the pH either...I'm led to believe that all long as you've done everything properly the mash should pretty much take care of the pH. I agree with doglet in terms of getting everything else right first.

I'm also a bit suspect about the water profiles provided by SA Water. They provide different results for each reservoir but all/most of them are linked by pipe so that they can maintain water levels. The reports are also only released once per year.
http://www.sawater.com.au/SAWater/WhatsNew...ual+Reports.htm

Russ

 

[Voosher]

For English Bitters and darker ales I use straight, unsoftened Adelaide tap water.
For lighter ales I use 50/50 tap water and rainwater.
For pilsners I use rainwater only.

I actually want a bit of 'concrete' in my darker ales

I agree you should get the rest of the process down pat before you focus too much on specific water chemistry. So long as you have some degree of consistency with the water you use there are far more fundamental aspects of the mash to nail down first.

 

[neophyte]

Cheers Voosher,
That's a good guide for me. I love all the ales so much!
Thanks for the link Russ.
I've heard through the beer vine that using high hop levels in
adelaide water can leave an astringent flavor due to certain
minerals.
I've hopped an english pale to within a inch of its life but used
spring water (not RO) for brewing water, worked really well.
Wondering if I could get the same result with clean tap water.

 

[dicko]

Cheers Voosher,
That's a good guide for me. I love all the ales so much!
Thanks for the link Russ.
I've heard through the beer vine that using high hop levels in
adelaide water can leave an astringent flavor due to certain
minerals.
I've hopped an english pale to within a inch of its life but used
spring water (not RO) for brewing water, worked really well.
Wondering if I could get the same result with clean tap water.

Hi neophyte,

Welcome to AHB.
Good advice from all above.
If you can let your tap water stand in an open container in the sun for a couple of days it helps to rid it of the chlorine or I just boil it with the lid off the HLT the night before if I have time.
I find approx 2mm of food grade phosphoric acid in 40 litres will bring my water (Eyre Peninsula) down to around 5.5 to 6.0 PH.
As doglet said, get all your other procedures under control before you begin to build specific water profiles.
Try to meet up with some of the AGer's in Adelaide, it will be well worth your while as they are a wealth of brewing knowledge.

Edit Should read 2 mils of food grade phosphoric acid

Cheers

 

[peas_and_corn]

I don't do anything to the water I use in my brew- add to hot water urn, mash then boil! I don't have any worries.

 

[Kai]

I use tap water in the hills, all I usually do to it is add a pinch of metabisulphite to the hot liquor though the last couple of brews have received a little gypsum too.

 

[user 384]

I use tap water and don't do anything other that Dicko mentioned, leaving it in the sun for a day or boiling first to break down the chlorine. IMHO this is the biggest issue with Adelaide water particularly in the Summer.

I've heavily hopped both ales and pilsners using untreated Adelaide water eand never found an astrigent taste.

Cheers
MAH

 

[drsmurto]

Ever used the water from the Westend brewery? A few $ for spring water that you know has to be good if a brewery uses it (yes, i realise Westend is cats piss but doesnt mean they dont give a shit about water quality!).

 

[Adamt]

Completely off topic:

THREE CHEERS FOR THE GURU!!!!!

Awesome Smurto

 

[Mr Bond]

Ever used the water from the Westend brewery? A few $ for spring water that you know has to be good if a brewery uses it (yes, i realise Westend is cats piss but doesnt mean they dont give a shit about water quality!).

I know it comes from the Willunga aquifer and is pure water but they prolly filter it and then add salts to adjust to requirements any way.

Adelaide tap water with the required boiling has made me some nice beers over the years.but then again i can drink it unfiltered ,so my taste buds are prolly skewed.Tank water in the city is a bit risky as well. Boiling will kill bacteria and such but it won't get rid of pollutants and heavy stuff that floats around.

 

[tangent]

WE water is RO

 

[RussTaylor]

Tangent, what's RO? I saw it in another thread as well and couldn't work it out.

 

[tangent]

reverse osmosis

 

[Aaron]

I use spring water when I make a light lager but I don't know how much difference it makes as I have made all my lagers that way. For ales I use the "Dicko method" and leave it out for a day or so to get rid of the chlorine.

Remember using really soft water like spring water and particularly RO water is not going to be the best thing for all styles.

 

[Darren]

I wonder about the "RO" status of West End water.

Given that producing RO water relies on losses of around 20% of starting water volumes, are west end "giving" away the 20% that would otherwise be sent down the drain?

cheers

Darren

 

[tangent]

gold coins Darren