1st timer advise

(That's water to the rest of us!) Beer is about 95% water, so if you want to discuss water treatment, filtering etc this is the place to do it!
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jubby
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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by jubby » Fri May 20, 2016 4:01 pm

I would advise treating as per Graham Wheelers book by boiling with plenty of Gypsum. It will put your liquor right in the ball park. It's time consuming but it works very well for me with water at around 235mg/l alkalinity brewing lighter summer ales.
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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by mbrew » Fri May 20, 2016 4:50 pm

[quote="Aleman"][quote="mbrew"]Is the Alkalinity as Calcium carbonate @ 136 not relevant?.[/quote]
Do you know I am so used to it never being quoted that I didn't even look for it, although what use a single measurement for a 12 month period is is difficult to say . . at least it shows it was between 120 and 150 as I assumed :D

Hobgoblin as a clone would be good . . . it would have a good level of dark and crystal malts which would offset some of the alkalinity, so aiming for a level of 50 rather than lower for a paler beer, so a 2:1 Ashbeck to Tap would help a lot.[/quote]


Sounds like a plan, as I'm going to start of with 10l batches buying some water in is no big deal.

No need for the calcium sulphate as per the previous post with the darker beer?
Last edited by mbrew on Fri May 20, 2016 5:06 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by mbrew » Fri May 20, 2016 4:57 pm

Sadfield wrote:
Mr. Dripping wrote:I'm sorry to have to disagree here with the 'concentrate on process' comments.
Someone is about to invest 6-8 hours of their time brewing an AG batch and I think it is important that new brewers actually get something good to drink at the end of it.
It is very easy for any brewer, particularly those new to the hobby to become very frustrated very quickly and ultimately give up the hobby if they can't produce something decent at the end of it. I've been there.....wore that t-shirt for about 18 months until the penny dropped.
So, hats off to the OP for having an initial understanding that water is important and for asking advice on what to brew without having to faff around too much.....hope you have a great brew day :D
Theoretically agree with this. However, with the practicality of getting everything in order on a first brew day, I still think it's an unnecessary distraction. Can't say I've had a beer, either my own or anyone else's, that has be rendered undrinkable by lack of water treatment.

Certainly an issue to address sooner rather than later.

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Mr. Dripping, this is bang on what I was thinking, I don't want any unnecessary distraction so making a beer that suits the water in my area takes away another variable, as far as I can see it makes perfect sense.

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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by Aleman » Fri May 20, 2016 6:55 pm

No the gypsum addition stays. That is why dilution is not as good as acid treatment or slaked lime as it dilutes what you want in there as well as the bad stuff . . . Then you have to add it back. . . It's the same issue with boiling, it does work but I've never been able to get the alkalinity low enough for pale beers doing so.

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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by Dave S » Sat May 21, 2016 9:42 am

I agree that with the water you've got, a porter or stout is your best bet without treatment and it will likely turn out good, (all other things being equal, which of course they're not :( ). But if you brew a pale ale with that water you will likely be disappointed as the alkalinity is way too high.
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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by Clibit » Sat May 21, 2016 10:12 am

I can make good beer without treating my water, which is Mancunian very soft water from Thirlmere. I add gypsum to pales, but usually nothing to dark beers, though I steep the roast grains separately. I'm sure not all municipal water is so forgiving.

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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by mbrew » Sat May 21, 2016 6:08 pm

Aleman wrote:No the gypsum addition stays. That is why dilution is not as good as acid treatment or slaked lime as it dilutes what you want in there as well as the bad stuff . . . Then you have to add it back. . . It's the same issue with boiling, it does work but I've never been able to get the alkalinity low enough for pale beers doing so.
Thanks for explaining, I have a lot to learn!

One other question, can anyone tell me if I would need to add a campden to my water?

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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by orlando » Sun May 22, 2016 8:04 am

mbrew wrote:
Aleman wrote:No the gypsum addition stays. That is why dilution is not as good as acid treatment or slaked lime as it dilutes what you want in there as well as the bad stuff . . . Then you have to add it back. . . It's the same issue with boiling, it does work but I've never been able to get the alkalinity low enough for pale beers doing so.
Thanks for explaining, I have a lot to learn!

One other question, can anyone tell me if I would need to add a campden to my water?
If your water smells really badly of chlorine it will do no harm but if you prepare your water the day before and leave it uncovered my bet is you wouldn't be able to tell in the final beer, just make sure to use only 1/2 a tablet. Another one of those things people do without often knowing whether it really matters.
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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by rpt » Mon May 23, 2016 1:11 pm

But leaving the water won't get rid of chloramine.

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Re: 1st timer advise

Post by orlando » Mon May 23, 2016 3:30 pm

rpt wrote:But leaving the water won't get rid of chloramine.
No, but if you can smell/taste it you're a better than me.
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