Mineral content off tank water question.

[proudscum]

Just moved back to the bush and am on tank water and wanted to use some ball park figures to put into the ez water calculator.As we all know the mineral content will be low and the water very soft.I will be able to do a pH at work of the water and maybe mash samples as its only a 3 min drive to the lab.I hope that this may end up being a resource for other tank water users.One Rye IPA coming up.

 

[seamad]

Do you have a tds meter at the lab ?
My tank water ( concrete tanks with epoxy lining ) give me a reading @ 10ppm after going through the filters ( sediment and a carbon), so I treat my water as being just straight water. If you do have access to a tds meter and get a high reading you may want to get an analysis done ( or check to see how clean the tank/gutters are )

 

[GalBrew]

Not a cheap option but I believe MoreBeer from the US sells a home water testing kit for mineral content. No affiliation etc.

(Edit: linky - http://www.morebeer.com/search?search=lamotte)

 

[dicko]

Use your EZ Water and put you rain water in as RO water then add your salts to suit the grain bill.
Access to a PH meter is a must when adding salts for the mash.

There is no hard and fast addition that you can go by as the mash PH wil change with each different recipe.

Calcium is the most important part as it is required for yeast health and if from what I have observed over time, the absolute minimum reqirement is about 5 gr of calcium chloride to start with if your total water is around 30 to 35 litres.

Google A J DeLange on Homebrewtalk and have read of his views.....I found them quite interesting.

If for a pils type beer you could go with around 8 gramms of cacl and a couple of gramms of caS04 and see what EZ Water says.
The above is roughly what I use when I make an aussie lager. I also add a bit of acid to adjust the PH.
The CaS04 will be a personal thing as it will change the perceived hop bitterness in a brew....it'll depend on what you want to achieve.

Addition of chalk can be hit and miss in the home brew situation and I have found that by steeping all the dark grains say for example in a porter or a stout and then adding the liquid to the mash at the end or to the boil it negates the need to add chalk to the mash to adjust PH. Chalk then can be added to the boil if required.

I dont think anyone will be able to give you an absolute solution to water additions.

Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Your local council should be able to test it. I know they do here if you ask ( and pay ) them

 

[proudscum]

Thanks Dicko good bit of advice as with all things home brewed its all a bit suck it and see.Just punched some numbers in and looks like a bit of Carbonate may need to be added to bring some mash pH up.Looks like a quite drive to the lab on brew day will help nut this one out.Cheers to the other comments.

 

[manticle]

If you really need to push pH up, have a look at other available methods besides chalk or bicarb soda.
Remember your mash pH is more important than water pH.

 

[proudscum]

Your local council should be able to test it. I know they do here if you ask ( and pay ) them

Come on Stu am a homebrewer dont want to pay for anything especially when as part of my PD i can use any ingredients so long as there are samples brought in for sensory evaluation.

 

[proudscum]

If you really need to push pH up, have a look at other available methods besides chalk or bicarb soda.
Remember your mash pH is more important than water pH.

Be kettle addition for mouthfeel.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Come on Stu am a homebrewer dont want to pay for anything especially when as part of my PD i can use any ingredients so long as there are samples brought in for sensory evaluation.

Going to cost you either way if you really want to know what your water is.

 

[Dan2]

Bicarb is very effective at raising pH if you are adding roast/crystal to the mash.
I brewed a Porter yesterday (I use filtered tank water), and used some brown and amber in the mash.
Brewersfriend has been spot on for my mash pH predictions, but not the Porter. Even with leaving the roast and crystal out until MO, BF told me I needed 8g Bicarb to bring it up to 5.4 - ended up being 5.6 - Still hit all targets, but I'll drop it to 4g next time.
EZwater predicted 5.8 for the same additions, and is often 0.1-0.2 higher than measured pH

 

[manticle]

What was it before you added the bicarb?

 

[Dan2]

What was it before you added the bicarb?

I can only tell you that BF predicted 5.1 without salts. I don't measure before adding, I add salts and grain at the same time then measure 1/2 way through mash.
I then adjust additions for next brew if I'm not happy.

 

[dicko]

I think that most of the spreadsheets work on the fact of around 50% utilisation of Calcium Carbonate with regard to mash PH adjustment.

I would assume that Brewers friend would be similar.

There is a method of utiising the chalk by dissolving it in a carbonated water. Apparently the acidity of the C02 in the water will dissolve the chalk.
I am not sure where I read that....It may have been Braukaiser but I am not at home at the moment to be able to confirm.