Brewing A Lager

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Kai

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I bought the ingredients for a lager today, I'm going to put it down soon then forget about it while I brew many other quicker drinking ales, and then revive it at the end of winter. I've only done one lager before and it was less than stellar.

This one is 2kg pils malt, 250g carapils, 250g melanoidin and 1 tin of unhopped extract. Hops are 50g perle for bittering to about 35 IBU and 25g tettnanger for flavour. Yeast is 2308 munich lager.

I'm wondering what do do for the water, since adelaide water is probably somewhat unsuited. I figure my options are these:

Use a benchtop water filter. I assume this won't be sufficient.
Purchase RO water
Choose and purchase spring/mineral water
Use a combination of RO and spring/mineral water
Purchase RO water and doctor it in some fashion, but I'm disinclined to run out to buy chemicals.

What shall I do?
 
I just use a bench top filter that connects up to the tap, does soften the water to some degree.my lagers are noticably better using the filtered water........
Water chemistry is a pain, best to keeo it simple. Use 1/2 RO and 1/2 filtered if you want....


Cheers
 
RO water is too pure - you'll end up with a lower pH wort and greater tannin release from what I gather. In order to use the water, you'd probably need to add a few trace elements to get adequate brewing water.

If I was faced with this problem I'd either purchase spring or use filtered water.

I'm no expert, but I was reading BYO today.
 
Kai said:
I'm wondering what do do for the water, since adelaide water is probably somewhat unsuited. I figure my options are these:

[post="54705"][/post]​

Kai. If your tap water overly worries you Big W sell demineralized water in 4lt containers. It's usually quite cheap and stored in the automotive section near the car batteries.

Warren -
 
Kai

As you are only doing a partial mash, it opens your options up a bit more. The extract will contain some of the minerals that the yeast needs. I would do 1/2 rainwater or RO water and the other 1/2 filtered tap water.

If straight RO, then you would need to add calcium etc for the yeasties.
Cheers
Pedro
 
Gulf Brewery said:
Kai

As you are only doing a partial mash, it opens your options up a bit more. The extract will contain some of the minerals that the yeast needs. I would do 1/2 rainwater or RO water and the other 1/2 filtered tap water.

If straight RO, then you would need to add calcium etc for the yeasties.
Cheers
Pedro
[post="54731"][/post]​

Thanks, Pedro. I'd completely forgotten that the extract would contain a mineral profile until someone reminded me in chat.
 
Kai said:
Gulf Brewery said:
Kai

As you are only doing a partial mash, it opens your options up a bit more. The extract will contain some of the minerals that the yeast needs. I would do 1/2 rainwater or RO water and the other 1/2 filtered tap water.

If straight RO, then you would need to add calcium etc for the yeasties.
Cheers
Pedro
[post="54731"][/post]​
being that this is a part mash, would it be a good idea to add some of the extract to the mash, would doing this add the minerals needed for conversion? :party:
 
I bought the ingredients for a lager today, I'm going to put it down soon then forget about it while I brew many other quicker drinking ales, and then revive it at the end of winter. I've only done one lager before and it was less than stellar.

I think i sense of bit of the same impatience that i suffer from. I havent layed down a true lager yet myself for pretty much the reason that i cant wait that long to sample the product.
And worst thing is that wilst i have brew taking up space in my fermenting fridge i cant doing any filler brews.
I'm planing a HUGE brew day soon of an ale of some sort, enough that will last me during the beer drought that will follow after i do a lager. Might even attempt a double brew day. I'll have to keep that one a secret though. The missus already thinks i drink too much beer as it is.

cheers

vlbaby.
 
Kai,
If possible just use rainwater. If you dont have a tank yourself, talk nicely to your neighbours.
Curious as to why you are using extract though. Why not mash a bit more grain?
All grain will be a better lager.
cheers
Darren
 
Its probably a really stupid question but what is RO water?
 
Basically it's the process of forcing water through a semipermeable membrane. Think of a sheet of some special polymer that has incredibly small holes. so small that bugs and most minerals are blocked but water can get through.

Have a look at RO Method


Trev
 
Darren said:
Kai,
If possible just use rainwater. If you dont have a tank yourself, talk nicely to your neighbours.
Curious as to why you are using extract though. Why not mash a bit more grain?
All grain will be a better lager.
cheers
Darren
[post="54742"][/post]​

Rainwater is an option I'm considering, but I have none and the neighbours don't either. My father makes the trek down here regularly, so I was considering sending him home with a container. However, with the minerals in the extract I can't see why it wouldn't be a bad idea just to use RO... price dependent, of course. Any reason I'm missing?

As to why I'm still using extract, my current "mash tun" is a 6-pack esky, so I'm limited to 2.5 kilos. I'm getting a bigger one from a generous ahb member, then the challenge will be to see if the wok burner on the stove can handle it :)
 
Kai, if you are carting water in a car then RO will be just a simple.

Do you know the concentrations of salts in the extract? What if the extract was made with relatively soft water?

" then the challenge will be to see if the wok burner on the stove can handle it"

I hope you don't have a SWMBO present. You know what they say about a watched pot! Scorched wort is a ******* to get out of the inside of a stove.

cheers
darren
 
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