Jim's Beer Kit

Um, it sounds like you need to take a page out of the Guinness playbook. I'm hoping that all realize that their dry stout is actually a lite beer with a alcohol content of less than 4 percent. They achieve their huge mouthfeel with a good dose of beta-glucans from the raw barley. You can do the same...

I do like this pump. I also upgraded the impeller to the 815 unit with good result. I prefer the plastic pump housing in my system since there is less heat loss than with a metal head. To avoid breaking the fittings off the head, my pump is mounted in a frame that supports the fittings and prevents ...

Epsom salt is the heptahydrate (x7H2O) form of magnesium sulfate. It is fairly stable at that level of hydration at typical atmospheric moisture conditions. Although I see that this site says that the salt can LOSE one of those water molecules when the humidity is very low. http://www.lycaeum.org/mv...

Hi. I've just tried boiling to lower the alkalinity of our water. The salifert kit says 228 to start. I boiled two 20 litre swan boilers for about ten minutes with stirring and got a slightly cloudy water. I then turned them off, covered and left overnight. There's some residue at the bottom if you...

Woah, careful there, with the low level of calcium in the water (36) then he is going to have some issues if he doesn't add at least some. . . . according to various sources the minimum level you should be looking at for any beer is 60mg/l (some say 50). Not really. Calcium is not required in brewi...

The Bru'n Water Facebook page has a summary of what alkalinity is and how it differs from pH. See "What is the difference between Alkalinity and pH" on the page below. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brun-Water/464551136933908 In essence, the primary component of alkalinity in typical potable water i...

Oh Aleman! There are plenty of places in the US with rock hard water. We have to deal with tough conditions too. But back to the task at hand. Mark's water does not really look that bad. The information that he does have suggests a fairly good candidate for brewing. It would be great to have the sod...

Burton water was a tricky subject. Its availability was limited to a very small stretch in Burton and there were several factors in obtaining a useful supply. There are stories of breweries opening up and drilling a well, only to find that they didn't have the proper water on their site. Another fac...

I love 5 Star and almost all of their products. Unfortunately, you have been taken in by an apparent fraud when you purchased that 5.2 Stabilizer. It has repeatedly been proven to NOT do what it states that it does. What has typically been found is that it 'locks your mash pH at about 5.8'. Anyone t...

How is the control on the RIMS element handled and where is the temperature sensor? Unless you are controlling the RIMS element with a PID and the temperature sensor is located immediately downstream on the element, you may be overheating the wort. That overheating denatures the enzymes and eventual...

That water report does not balance its cations and anions very well. It appears that one or more of the ion concentrations is a little off. I notice that some of the ions show the results and the Maximum Allowable level for that ion. For instance, sulfate shows a result of 14 mg/l and the maximum al...

I was at the American Homebrewers Conference this week and was talking with the Lamotte representative. Lamotte is probably the #2 supplier of laboratory and testing supplies in the water and wastewater industries behind Hach. They are working with John Palmer in creating test kits focused on the br...

Adding all the minerals and acids for the mashing water to the water prior to adding the grain is the best way to ensure that all the mineral and acid additions are fully incorporated and distributed in the water and mash. That is most likely to produce an even pH condition through the mash. I do re...

Assuming that the 10 gm addition only boosts the sodium content less than a 100 ppm, there is no problem with adding salt to the fermenter or keg. It is not toxic to yeast at that level. Salt is totally soluble, so there will be no problem incorporating its flavor contributions.

It should not adversely affect beer quality or taste to have high calcium content. Calcium doesn't really affect flavor. It's primary benefit in an ale is that it helps the beer to clear. The Calcium generally precipitates from the beer with a variety of yeast and hop components leaving it much clea...