Water treatment technique

[mabrungard]

Thank you for the welcome. I do apologize for my recent appearance on the forum and the perceived disparagement of the fine Aleman. However, in reading Aleman’s numerous posts, I have the feeling that he may agree with some of those comments I present.

I have no dispute that the often mineralized water in the UK helps create some very fine beers. Those waters are similar to the highly mineralized water here in the US Midwest. My contention was that brewers might not want to add to that already high ionic content in a quest for better beer. An important aspect to note for those breweries that Eric strives to emulate is that those breweries probably used their local water as-is without adding a lot more minerals. In many cases, that water has plenty of character for their beers. In locales that don’t have a lot of sulfate, I would not be surprised to see sulfate-containing minerals added, but probably not much more.

It’s interesting that Eric mentions Guinness and Burton as arguments for high mineralization. In the case of Guinness, they obtain their water from the Wicklow Mountains south of the City. That water is relatively low in mineralization and alkalinity. This is in stark contrast to the highly mineralized and alkaline water that supplies Dublin from the western counties. Stout was probably originated from those more alkaline Dublin waters, but Guinness learned how to brew it with their less mineralized source. Dealing with low alkalinity water is probably the genesis of the Guinness Flavor Extract (GFE), which is the soured and highly colored addition that they use to create their stout. As many probably know, Guinness’ main mash is with only pale malts. That makes sense since the low alkalinity water would not produce an ideal mash pH with a bunch of roasted malts in there. Therefore, Guinness separately mashes their roast additions with their water to create that dark and flavorful component. That low alkalinity water undoubtedly has something to do with the acidic nature of GFE, but I’ve heard that it’s also soured with lactic (I don’t know that for sure). Therefore, Guinness is a case where high mineralization is certainly not a recipe for fine beer.

In the case of Burton, the shallow aquifer has varying water quality that depends on proximity to the Trent River and to the local rainfall. The upwelling from the Mercia Mudstone (a gypsum formation) below the shallow aquifer supplies the high sulfate content to that water. In my conversations with Environment Agency - Midlands Region - Central Area, they indicate that the sulfate content in wells at Coors and Marston Breweries are around 200 and 800 ppm, respectively. You could expect that those levels vary with the rainfall and river influences. However, another aspect to the Burton water is that most ion concentrations are modest (other than the calcium and sulfate). These Burton brewers never added any minerals to their water since it was fine as-is. Again, this is another confirmation that modest mineralization can be the path to better beer.

From the numerous posts I’ve seen from UK brewers, I see that there are plenty of cases where the local tap water is already highly mineralized. Adding to that mineralization may not be the path to good beer. Where some ions are excessive in the tap water, dilution with RO or distilled water is likely to produce better flavor than adding other ions to produce a certain sulfate/chloride ratio.

High mineral content water can create fine beer…excessive mineral content water cannot.

[Eric]

High mineral content water can create fine beer…excessive mineral content water cannot.

I don't think we are far apart on the technical aspect of this matter, more the history. We can certainly agree on the above, in 1736 The London and Country Brewer covered that in chapter 5, however, we may just have a difference of opinion for what quantity is excessive and why.

You note that many UK brewers tend to use very high ion levels in their liquor and many of us do. Some early brewers in this country had no option, they could but use their local water. Beer here has a different history to that of immigrant Germans and the evolution of Coors. There are also UK brewers who use low ion levels, one such beer is currently on at my local made using surface water from mica schist and some added salts, but it somehow doesn't hit the spot for me.

My tap water is hard and alkaline, pumped from bore holes in magnesium limestone, widely introduced in this area after a cholera epidemic 180 years since. In the last 50 years large reservoirs were constructed to feed our steel and other industries that have since mostly gone. Now water from coalmines, closed and unpumped, contaminates groundwater and tap water supplies have changed. One time, 3 miles north of here was a brewery that used ground water, but when I tested their current supply, it showed calcium levels to be one tenth of what they would have been. It would be practical to brew an acceptable beer with modest calcium additions to that water but it wouldn't likely replicate any beer that James Deuchar produced before it was swallowed and closed by Newcastle Breweries. Might that possibly taste more like a Coors product?