Water Treatment for lager

[MARMITE]

My water analysis in comparison with Brupaks recomendations is as follows

Min Actual Recommended
Calcium 60 50
Mag 13 2
sulphate 76 10
Chloride 37 10
Alkalinity 116 25

I obviously need to get the alkalinity down which I could do by boiling ( long winded and expensive), or CRS but that would increase sulphate and chloride levels which are already too high. I have heard of reverse osmosis but know nothing about it and distilling is also going to be long winded and expensive to get the quanities required. Any ideas please?

[steve_flack]

You could use some acid malt in the grist which adds lactic acid so reducing the pH. This would not increase your sulfate/chloride ion concentration but would reduce alkalinity. Weyermann suggests that 1% of acid malt in the grist would reduce mash pH by 0.1 units.

Sulfate isn't necessarily a bad thing in water for lager brewing. Dortmund has quite high sulfate (quite high everything actually) and they still make perfectly fine lagers there.

[Aleman]

It is a momily that you need soft water to brew lager! AS Steve has said Dortmund (and Munich) have hard water with High Alkalinity and make perfectly acceptable lagers. . . . Of course if you are trying to clone a Czech pilsner then it certainly helps to have water with a low DI.

Tesco Ashbeck spring water is pretty good value and can be used to dilute your water, tot he point where using CRS is no longer a problem (as long as you have a suitable test kit for Alkalinity . . . . . cue Daab). TBH The degree by which CRS raises Sulphate and chloride is fairly low.

With your water I would have no hesitation in using CRS to reduce the alkalinity . . . . I would be careful about the hopping rates used, or indeed up the calcium and chloride to balance it using Calcium Chloride.

I'd also be careful about using brupaks recomendations for beer types.

[Talisman]

PM'ed ya fella