Keg O' Mineral Water

[PostModern]

Hi,
Due to my poor planning, I currently have some keg space and having seen SWMBO buying carbonated San Pellegrino and Perrier and all that stuff, I figured I could make a 20L batch for craploads less than the imported stuff. So I gassed up a keg and put in a teaspoon of calcium carbonate and a ~pinch~ of epsom salts. SWMBO say's it's not bad, but it's not as good as the bought stuff.

So next plan is to boil up the water first, maybe even in the keg, to drive off the oxygen. But I'm looking to make the water something like the San Pellegrino stuff which tastes alright (even I can tell it from my gassed up tap water). All I can find on the net about it amounts to this:

San Pellegrino is high in mineral content - mostly Calcium, Magnesium, Bicarbonate, Chloride, and Sulphate. The extremely low Nitrate level is perhaps San Pellegrino's greatest virtue.

The bottle itself does not list its mineral content, except "low sodium". Nestle's own site is also useless (just marketing bull$hit). I did see this in relation to calcium concentrations tho:

"CONTREX (486 mg/l) or VITTEL Grande Source (202 mg/l)"

So I think I can put in substantially more salts than I did. Anyone got a "recipe" they use or at least some guidelines so I don't end up poisoning us both? (I've taken to drinking pints of it on my AFDs )

I was thinking along the lines of this in 20L

4 teaspoons calcium carbonate,
2 teaspoons bicabonate of soda,
1/2 teaspoon calcium sulphate
1 pinch epsom salts.

 

[turto77]

Sounds good PM,
let us know how it goes. I have just been carbonating straight boiled water for SWMBO and she thinks it is fine, this might be a nice alternative every now and then.

 

[Guest Lurker]

We get through a keg or two a month of soda water. There is enough of those salts already in Perth water, and the great improvement in flavour over tap water simply comes from removing the chlorine by leaving the keg open in the sun for an afternoon, and the carbonic bite from getting the water in equilibrium at 300 kPa and fridge temp.

 

[PostModern]

Illawarra water is pretty soft (compared to European mineral water anyway). I might just use the current keg as a guinea pig and just add a bit as we go until we hit "the taste" then work it from there on the next keg.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I thought that mineral water bottles had a mineral analysis on them

You should be able to match (or get close to) what's listed on the bottle - in the same manner that people adjust brewing water for different styles

Mineral waters are usually high in bicarbonates

But I'm sure that a trip to a supermarket with yield some typical analysis tables

I usually force carbonate balgownie water - and everyone seems to enjoy it - i might give the salt adjustment a go for interest sakes

I spent that last month in italy and must have had at least 20 types/brands of mineral water - the shops there had whole sections dedicated to it

Cheers

 

[drsmurto]

Bore water has a higher mineral content than tap water........ and my next door neighbour has a bore. Hmmmmm. I might just have to get a sample and test it.

 

[PostModern]

San Pellegrino that Mrs PoMo is picking up lately has no analysis at all. The Aussie branded stuff that does is pretty much tap water. I can taste the difference between tap and mineral, even when the tap stuff is carbonated, and the calcium is good for bone density and other shite (the mother-in-law has osteo, and the Mrs hates milk, so some Ca in the water should be a bonus... pardon the pun).

 

[drsmurto]

Is there anything google cant do? - Link

Seems very high in sulphate as well as bicarbonate, not that far off burton on trent levels.....

 

[PostModern]

Thanks Dr S

1109 TDS
7.7 ph factor
0.38 Bromine
208 Calcium
74.3 Chlorides
0.52 Fluordine
135.5 Bicarbonate
0.2 Lithium
55.9 Magnesium
0.45 Nitrate
2.7 Potassium
9 Silica
43.6 Sodium
2.7 Stroncium
549.2 Sulphates
1292 Conductivity

I'll have a play with ProMash water adjustment and see what I can come up with.
Mucho gracias.

 

[RobB]

Thanks Dr S

1109 TDS
7.7 ph factor
0.38 Bromine
208 Calcium
74.3 Chlorides
0.52 Fluordine
135.5 Bicarbonate
0.2 Lithium
55.9 Magnesium
0.45 Nitrate
2.7 Potassium
9 Silica
43.6 Sodium
2.7 Stroncium
549.2 Sulphates
1292 Conductivity

I'll have a play with ProMash water adjustment and see what I can come up with.
Mucho gracias.

That's weird. I have a bottle of San Pellegrino in front of me and the analysis is slightly different to the above. Perhaps there are different sources and it's bottled under license? Or maybe there are seasonal variations and each batch is labelled accordingly.

Anyway, my bottle reads:

960 TDS
??? ph factor
??? Bromine
181 Calcium
57.5 Chlorides
0.5 Fluordine
239 Bicarbonate - big difference here
??? Lithium
53.5 Magnesium
2.2 Nitrate
2.5 Potassium
7.5 Silica
36.1 Sodium
3.2 Strontium
459 Sulphates
???? Conductivity

 

[tangent]

I'd be interested to hear about the resulting keg PoMo.

 

[PostModern]

That's weird. I have a bottle of San Pellegrino in front of me and the analysis is slightly different to the above. Perhaps there are different sources and it's bottled under license? Or maybe there are seasonal variations and each batch is labelled accordingly.

The bottles we got recently had no analysis on them. Strange.

I'd be interested to hear about the resulting keg PoMo.

Played about with bicarb in a glass last night. 1/2 a tsp in a pint was nice... hm. I might have to review my salting upward.

 

[PostModern]

That's weird. I have a bottle of San Pellegrino in front of me and the analysis is slightly different to the above. Perhaps there are different sources and it's bottled under license? Or maybe there are seasonal variations and each batch is labelled accordingly.

The bottles we got recently had no analysis on them. Strange. Maybe now that Nestle own them, they just bottle any old water and carbonate it. Realistically, carbonation level is all that many people notice in their mineral waters.

I'd be interested to hear about the resulting keg PoMo.

Played about with bicarb in a glass last night. 1/2 a tsp in a pint was nice... hm. I might have to review my salting upward.

 

[RobB]

The bottles we got recently had no analysis on them. Strange.

This was a pretty big bottle, maybe 1 or 1.5 litres. I suspect that the smaller bottles would have the analysis on the carton instead.

 

[PostModern]

I think ours were 750ml or 1L.
*shrug*

 

[brettprevans]

PoMo. Whats the final recipe? Now that im moving to kegs Ive got the missus onside with the line "I can have keg of mineral water for you if let me keg".

We just need a tonic water recipe and we're laughing.

 

[SJW]

I just filled a keg with Newcastle tap water and set the reg to 300kpa and it is great. Nice soft water in Newcastle.

 

[LethalCorpse]

PoMo. Whats the final recipe? Now that im moving to kegs Ive got the missus onside with the line "I can have keg of mineral water for you if let me keg".

me too. Pays to find the right pitch.

I'd be disinclined to add too much calcium, because I hate the taste of evian and similar, which are from limestone caves and taste like they took an empty milk bottle and filled it with water without rinsing in between. I'd be more interested in the magnesium, sodium and potassium sulphates.

 

[PostModern]

After all that poking about, I never made another keg of it. I got too much beer happening to have a spare spot in the fridge for water. Come Summer, I'll get back into it.

 

[brettprevans]

bumpy bumpy PoMo. you made a keg yet? Im wanting to put a keg down on the weekend for the missus and little ones