Hi,
I've been brewing previously with super soft middle Netherlands water, but I'm about to try my first with the much harder London Thames water. This will be an AG English Bitter (about SRM 12). What do other brewers in the area add in the way of chemicals to the mash, or is the water fine for just brewing?
Cheers, Barry.
First London brew
Re: First London brew
Assuming you are within an eight to ten mile radius of Charing Cross your alkalinity will be of the order 200 - 220mg/L as CaCO3 and your calcium will be of the order 95 - 105 mg/L
You have two choices, treat with acid or boil.
If you choose to go the acid route and use CRS then you will need to add at least 0.9mL for every litre of liquor you use. Since using acid will not deplete the calcium there is no need to make any additions to the mash.
If you choose to boil (all the liquor) then you will significantly deplete the calcium due to precipitation of calcium carbonate. In this case addition of 1 to 1.5g of gypsum per kilogram of grist should be made. Addition to the grist is the easiest method of addition.
You may wish to, and it is advisable, check the total alkalinity of your water in which case read this
If you want to make any other salt additions then make them to the copper.
You have two choices, treat with acid or boil.
If you choose to go the acid route and use CRS then you will need to add at least 0.9mL for every litre of liquor you use. Since using acid will not deplete the calcium there is no need to make any additions to the mash.
If you choose to boil (all the liquor) then you will significantly deplete the calcium due to precipitation of calcium carbonate. In this case addition of 1 to 1.5g of gypsum per kilogram of grist should be made. Addition to the grist is the easiest method of addition.
You may wish to, and it is advisable, check the total alkalinity of your water in which case read this
If you want to make any other salt additions then make them to the copper.
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BarryNL
Re: First London brew
Thanks for the details - you are about right on the CaCO3 - the water report I found puts it at 250mg/L!
One follow-up question - how long to boil for if using that method? Is it just a case of bringing the water to the boil before adding it to the mash, or does it need to spend some time there?
One follow-up question - how long to boil for if using that method? Is it just a case of bringing the water to the boil before adding it to the mash, or does it need to spend some time there?
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norstar
Re: First London brew
30 minutes seems to be the norm as eventually, you can't go any lower anyway with the reduction in alkalinity. On another thread, someone suggested boiling as little as 5 minutes for a porter etc, but for a normal brew, 30 mins.
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fisherman
Re: First London brew
Hi,
Boiling takes time and trouble. If your alkalinity is 250ppm just add CRS ( carbonate reducing solution ) at the dose of 1.2 ml per litre of brewing water to bring your alkalinity down to 30 for bitters and pale ales. So if you are using 32 litres foer a 23 litre brew 32 X 1.2mls = 38 mls of CRS just stir it in and wait 30 mins. Look at the Brupacks site " information water treatment" .
. Good luck
Boiling takes time and trouble. If your alkalinity is 250ppm just add CRS ( carbonate reducing solution ) at the dose of 1.2 ml per litre of brewing water to bring your alkalinity down to 30 for bitters and pale ales. So if you are using 32 litres foer a 23 litre brew 32 X 1.2mls = 38 mls of CRS just stir it in and wait 30 mins. Look at the Brupacks site " information water treatment" .
. Good luck