First time treating water,, Help appreciated

[vipergreen]

Right
Brought a Salifert test kit and tested twice both times getting a reading of 0.10, now this equated to 5.14 which I multiplied by 50 giving me 257 mg/l cac03.

Tried out the water calculater on here but it seems to need more numbers ? but I thought I was doing well with the one I've managed to get.

Now I've got some CRS and Gypsum and tomorrow want to brew 30 litres of Pale ale. 95% pale 5% cara and chinook hops.

Would anyone please be kind enough to tell me what I add and when

[jubby]

The most important part of water treatment is to reduce the alkalinity, so you have done the right thing. The rest of the water treatments you can consider 'fine tweeking'. To work out how much CRS you need, decide on your residual or target alkalinity figure. Generally about 25 for bitter. Then: Total alkalinity minus residual alkalinity divided by 180, multiplied by the volume of water = the amount of CRS required. So in your case this would be (assuming 25ml/l CaCo3 residual) 257-25/180 = 1.3 x your liquor volume (or 1.3ml per litre)

Bizaar that your recipe is very close to my next planned brew.

[vipergreen]

Thanks for that Jubby

I assume you treat all the brewing water therefor as I'll use 40 litres its simply 40 X 1.3ml. Do I add at the same time as the Campden

How about the Gypsum I see people advocating a tea spoon in the mash and another in the boil, what do you think and what does it do.

[jubby]

Yes, you must treat all of your brewing water. Add your camden any time, it's done it's job within a few minutes. Give your liquor a good stir after adding the CRS and let it stand for 10 minutes before use to ensure the reduction of carbonates.

Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate) will enhance hop flavors and suppress harshness and astringent flavors. I would imagine your water is fairly hard, so you may have enough already, but you can get away with fairly high levels (Burton water has loads of it). However, if you do over-do it, it can impart a harsh taste. Used in the mash, it will help lower the ph. I tend to add a good teaspoon to the boil only, depending on the beer i am brewing.

[Glenn]

Sounds like alot of work to me. I go down to Asda and buy 11 2 litre bottles of still water for 13p each ( £1.43 ) and my beer has improved so much. no more off flavors or smells. Mind you I live in London and our tap water for brewing is c**p.