It might be possible to remove some of the hardness from the total hardness of the water by simply boiling the water. This can also be expressed as parts per million (ppm) which is the same as mg/litre. It is normally measured in mg/litre as Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). Hardness is a measure of certain minerals bound in the water, primarily calcium and magnesium. What is the difference between hardness and temporary hardness?Ī. Use of one campden tablet in 10 imperial gallons (around 50 litres) is more than adequate – any residual sulphite will act as a harmless bacteriostat and anti-oxidant. A carbon filter will also remove other undesirable compounds, such as iron and other heavy metals, but these should not be an issue with domestic tap water. If you aren’t worried about pH and alkalinity levels and salt additions then you should at least start with clean water. You want to remove these to avoid TCP/band-aid characteristics in the finished beer. There is debate about if this is really necessary but campden tablets or filtering through a carbon filter can be used to remove Chlorine (unstable gas) and Chloramine (a stable form of Chlorine that evaporates very slowly). Are there any standard treatments that I should be using?Ī. To add salts to influence the flavour profile and mouthfeel.To adjust its alkalinity level to hit the right mash pH.However, your reasons for treating your water might be: Also, if you are using malt extract (liquid or dry) levels of alkalinity and calcium are minor considerations when not mashing. For example, London tap water can be suitable for making dark beers. Ordinary tap water will produce some very good beers and, indeed, could be a good choice for some beers styles. The point is many modern breweries change the water to suit the style they are creating.Ī. Typically you can build up a water profile but it is very difficult to take away from the water to create the soft water required for a style like Bohemian Pilsner. Traditional water supplies also gave specific character to some beers like Burton Ales which have a distinctive sulphurous nose. So if you want to mimic a traditional beer style it is useful to know what water chemistry they started out with as this influenced their use of malts and process. However you have to remember that these traditional water sources were mostly from well water so likely had a higher concentration of minerals and don’t represent modern city water supplies which are sourced from rivers and lakes. For example: London=Porter, Dublin=Dry Stout (Guinness), Pilzen=Bohemian Pilsner, Munich=Malty lager, Vienna=Amber lager. Traditional water profiles were important and did influence the style of beer that could be made. Does this mean I’m limited in the beer styles I can make because of my water?Ī. I hear talk about different traditional water profiles from traditional brewing cities. Also water can be built up by adding salts to create suitable mouth feel and flavour profiles in the finished beer. Water pH or more importantly mash pH and sparge water pH can be adjusted to more suitable levels. Some contaminants can be removed by filtering or chemical reactions (eg. It should have a clean and pleasant taste and no aroma. Water should be clean and free from contaminants like sediment and bacteria. What kind of treatments are we talking about?Ī. First we cover "what" and then we reveal "how". There is plenty of good information out there on this. We are covering the key topics and commonly asked questions to provide a good foundation for understanding pH adjustments, but won’t go into detail about salt additions and ratios. Is this a one stop information point for water treatment?Ī. People commonly ask the same questions when trying to understand the subject so we have addressed the subject using a Q&A format. Water treatment for is a complicated and tricky subject to get a handle on.
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