Low on CRS - Only enough for strike water

[floydmeddler]

Hey lads. I'm hoping to brew a very hoppy IPA on Saturday and have everything I need - well almost everything. I only have around 15ml of CRS left which is pretty much enough for mashing in. My question is - how vital is it that I treat my sparge water with CRS? What are the consequences of not doing it? Are there alternatives?

I suppose I could order some if it came down to it...

Cheers

[vacant]

Boil or buy some bottled water or buy some reverse osmosis water (£2.50 for 25 litres from aquarists shop)

[Spikesdad]

Hi floyd, I wouldnt worry too much, add all what you need for brew to mash liqour. its all I do anyway,( anything from 8-15 mls, depending on style of beer, but thats my water profile obviously!!), cant see point of putting any in sparge liquor to be honest. It will be fine.

Cheers

[gnutz2]

Whats your alkalinty before CRS?

[Eric]

I've been doing it that way for a while Floyd.
For a 23 ltr brew length, treat about 15 ltrs with CRS to 20-30 mg CaCO3/Ltr and use say 10 to 12 Ltrs for the mash. The HLT is then filled with hot water from the combi boiler and the sparge water is boiled for about 10 minutes, then left to cool. By the time the sparge gets going it doesn't seem to overheat the grain bed. The sides and bottom of the HLT feel gritty with calcium carbonate when it's empty but a lot must make its way into the grain.
The resultant beer is different to what would be produced using CRS treated sparge, not as soft or gentle, more a man's drink maybe?

[floydmeddler]

Cheers lads. I chickened out... my mate is bringing me some into work. I would have chanced it but it's a brew I've done a 4 times already and I want to be consistent for exact results.