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Water Experts? I need some help

Post #1 made 14 years ago
by deebo
Ok so I got the report from the water dept for my area which has the ranges for minerals etc in the water. (attached)

From what I can work out reading how to brew I have water that is probably better for dark beers, the problem is I prefer lighter beers.

I have been adding 10g calcium sulphate to my brews so far to try and increase the calcium and sulphate levels.
But yesterday I read that too much sodium with sulphate can have harsh flavours? (my sodium levels seemed high compared to other waters already in beersmith 2)

My main question is what additions should I be making to brew pilsners or light ales?
(I mucked around with the nomograph on how to brew and it looked like I needed to add a huge ammount of calcium?)
I dont currently have a water filter and would like to avoid buying large ammounts of distilled water.
I also dont have a means to test PH at the moment but if it means anything my last 4 beers seemed to match the gravity estimates in beersmith pretty closely.

Most recipes I have made so far used 5kg of joe white pils grain and 250kg of carapils
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Post #2 made 14 years ago
by deebo
Thanks sigurdur, I did plug my figures in there originally which is why I added the 10g calcium sulphate (this gave a balanced result). However I used 33L mash, 5.25 kg grain, no crystal and I think 3.1 SRM.

But is this suitable for pilseners or should I be making different additions?

I am also a bit worried about the sulphate/sodium, but not sure what to do about it.
From how to brew: 'The combination of sodium with a high concentration of sulfate ions will generate a very harsh bitterness. Therefore keep at least one or the other as low as possible, preferably the sodium.'

Post #3 made 14 years ago
by deebo
Changing the caramalt to 0.25 doesnt appear to change anything ?

Yeah I think the best bet will be to see how the first 4 beers I have made come out.
One of them had a strange taste out of the fermenter (I wouldnt call it a bad taste), not sure how to describe it as it was a about 4 days ago and my memory is hazy.. maybe tannins from squeezing the bag too much? Will have to have another taste when I hook up the keg and figure out what it is (if its still there).

Post #5 made 14 years ago
by deebo
PistolPatch wrote:deebo, I'm in East Fremantle. Would your recipe report suit me? (Fingers crossed!)
Do you mean the water profile thing? I just emailed the water corp asking for water information( http://www.watercorporation.com.au/F/feedback.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) and they emailed it to me. I think freo would have a different source (this was for West Yokine).
Last edited by deebo on 05 Jul 2011, 20:10, edited 5 times in total.
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