Pils Recipe Using Softened Brissy Water

[steve78]

Hey guys,

I was after a bit of advice. I know that Pilsener Urquell use soft water as found in Plzen. Now I have been to Plzen and can say from experience that as a worldly beer lover, Pilsener Urquell on tap in Plzen, Czech Republic is probably one of the nicest beers around (just thought I'd add that). I have heard that Brissy water is quite hard in comparison to Plzen (wouldnt surprise me really).

I am planning to do a few Pilseners shortly, and I have access to deionised water, and was just wondering, would it make any difference to use a 50/50 mix of Brisbane/Gold Coast tap water and deionised water (its seriously no hassle to do this) which would soften the water used, or would the difference be negligible, all things being equal (i.e., the recipe)?

Any thoughts on an anal topic?

Stevo

 

[Fourstar]

if you can use water <10ppm of typical brewing minerals you are probabaly better off tahn mxing it. the ony thign id recommend is atleast 50ppm of Ca. i'd do that via a CaCl2 addition, mainly for yeast health and flocculation, nothing more. :icon_cheers:

 

[jakub76]

I know I've been posting this link a lot lately but it is a great introduction to simple water chemistry...
http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15.html

If we're just talking mash ph, softness vs hardness, residual alkalinity then How to Brew gives a great little chart that you can use. First look up your local water report, not hard in these days of the interweb. Then work out the optimal colour of beer to make with your water - dark grains add acidity to counter alkaline water while light beers are better suited to water with low ph.
I imagine all the scientists are gritting their teeth with frustration by now but as I said, introduction to simple water chemistry.
Anyway, back to our simple alkaline vs acidic brewing water - to add alkalinity (if brewing darker beers) put in some bicarb (amounts calculated from link) OR if making a pale beer like a Pilsen then add gypsum to lower your waters ph.

Of course all of the other minerals and compounds have an effect on your beer and they can all be manipulated to effect flavour but if they are all within reasonable brewing range and you want to keep it simple, then residual alkalinity (soft vs hard) is a good place to start

 

[manticle]

I don't know much about water chem but I can suggest the following reasonably safely:

-I think it's a bit more complex than combining two sources of water unless you know what's in them. My understanding is that the mash pH is more important than the water pH (although obviously the pH of the water will affect this too). Hardness is part of the equation, pH is another.

- You should view a copy of your local water report so you know what you are dealing with and what your water is deficient in/excessive in. Here's some from Brisbane suburbs in 2008: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCCWR/LIB16...ITY_RESULTS.PDF

- You will need some minerals for optimum yeast health

-Your water may be made safe for drinking with the addition of chlorine (which can be boiled/heated out) or chloramine (which cannot be boiled/heated out) Good idea to find out which.

There's a really good explanation of stuff here: http://melbournebrewers.org/wiki/TonyWheeler which I'm slowly getting my head around.

Remember too that Plzen pilsner may traditionally have been brewed with a local water but it's very possible that the brewery now treats their water to get the exact profile they want for the beer.