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Using RO Water - The results are delicious

Post #1 made 8 years ago
by shetc
Gang,

I finally decided it was time to start controlling the water aspect of my brewing, especially as I felt a had the other main factors under control. Decided to go the route of RO water (from my local Wholefoods), and calcium chloride, gypsum and acidulated malt from the LHBS (yea, I finally have one!). Using the Bru'n Water calculator, TDS-EZ METER and Duotest pH strips.

I have brewed Dr Smurto's Golden Ale (a Superbowl party success story) and the BCS California Common. These beers are markedly improved over my previous efforts. Very smooth and clean tasting, which was the next plateau I was hoping to reach.

After all my reading, it is actually remarkably easy to work with brewing water. I did read Palmer's Water, which reminded me that I sucked at chemistry in high school and university. Anyway, a satisfying result so cheers!

Steve
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Post #2 made 8 years ago
by Mad_Scientist
Sounds good Steve. I started using RO sometime last year. It's easy to use a calculator and come up with your profile. Yay!!!

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Post #3 made 8 years ago
by shetc
Hey MS, Think I am going to brew your Dead Guy clone again, using RO water.

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Post #4 made 8 years ago
by Mad_Scientist
Guess it's time for me to use Bru-n Water. Any ideas on which Android app to use that supports these macros? I currently use Brewers Friend.

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Post #5 made 8 years ago
by shetc
Bru'n water is an Excel spreadsheet like the BIABacus so I downloaded the freebie version to my laptop. It has a setting for RO water, which makes it pretty simple to do the calcs. Will probably pay for the pro version once I get a few brews under my belt.

BTW, how has your beer changed and/or improved using RO water?

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Post #6 made 8 years ago
by Mad_Scientist
Just had a play with Bru'n Water  :)   For our Dead Guy (supposed to be malty) this is what I am guessing using "Amber Malty"?  What do you think?

I'm liking Bru'n Water now.  I know Rick uses it.

Using Brewers Friend I targeted "Balanced profile" a lot of times.

Looking to experiment going "Malty"
MS Dead Guy - Brun Water v1_16bsi.xls
Just transferred a Dead Guy yesterday to serving keg.  My 100 ml sample was excellent.... :drink:  Will post more about it on my recipe thread.

Cheers  :peace:
MS
Last edited by Mad_Scientist on 12 Jan 2017, 08:36, edited 2 times in total.
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Post #8 made 8 years ago
by PistolPatch
Great post shetc :salute:.

Definitely something almost all new brewers don't need to worry about however, when you get to the stage you are at, it does open up another world of exploration and fun. The RO world is "clean" and sometimes too clean. I brew my beers with RO now but some of them have a "hollow" in the middle of them which I haven't worked out what "salt" will 'fill' it with yet. I need to brew more often to fix that or just wait for guys like you to teach me how to fill it :peace:.

Keep us informed of your progress please. Good on you,
PP
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Post #9 made 8 years ago
by Lumpy5oh
I've used the brun water a few times. I need to sit down and really look at it tho to understand it. I generally use one bottle(5 gal) of RO and the rest tap water with whatever salts needed. Usually just gypsum.
Some people are like slinkies. Not good for much, but bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

Weehoosebrewing.ga
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Post #10 made 8 years ago
by Rick
I'm still yet to do a full RO IPA, but it's on my list. I know Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker brews the Pale 31, Union & Double Jack this way (with nothing other than CaSO4 and CaCl additions) targeting 5.2 pH. Those are all world class brews, IMO.

I've been having luck with the Pale Ale profile on Brunwater, but I also don't want to be limited to it. I generally only need 3G of RO for an 11G VIF batch to tame my tap water.

I haven't had Dead Guy in a while, but based on their website's description Amber Full looks like a good choice. Balanced or Dry would accentuate the hop characteristics, but it seems like they want more of a focus on the malts and body/mouthfeel.

I've used Amber Balanced for my Flander's Red, Black Balanced for my RIS, Brown Balanced for Old Ale just to set that baseline for the future. So far, happy with all of 'em.
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Post #11 made 8 years ago
by shetc
Yeah, I did the Dr Smurto's first because I thought it would be a paleish hoppyish beer to play with. Once I'm happy using RO with less "extreme" beers then I'll go for an IPA; maybe do the Bells Two Hearted clone again.

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Re:

Post #12 made 8 years ago
by shetc
PistolPatch wrote:Great post shetc :salute:.

Definitely something almost all new brewers don't need to worry about however, when you get to the stage you are at, it does open up another world of exploration and fun. The RO world is "clean" and sometimes too clean. I brew my beers with RO now but some of them have a "hollow" in the middle of them which I haven't worked out what "salt" will 'fill' it with yet. I need to brew more often to fix that or just wait for guys like you to teach me how to fill it :peace:.

Keep us informed of your progress please. Good on you,
PP
Hey PistolPatch, have you read Palmer's Water book? It's a bit of a slog but there is a whole section on salts. My newbie understanding is they are not required but they may give you that qualitative thing you are missing. (A soft copy of the book cost $4 US from Amazon.)

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Last edited by shetc on 17 Feb 2016, 09:48, edited 1 time in total.
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