Water

My water program, like all aspects of my brewing, has evolved over time.

When I first started brewing extract batches in 2001, the only thought I gave to water was how much I would need for the beer I was making.  The water came straight from the tap, with an unknown mineral profile, organic content, and that hint of chlorine aroma so characteristic of municipal water supplies.  It didn't matter.  The beer I was making in those days was no better or worse for the water that went into it.

As time went on and I began to slowly improve my understanding of the craft, I switched to bottled spring water.  I imagine this is the next logical step for many homebrewers.  Once a brewer has worked out the most glaring defects (kettle caramelization, diacetyl, fusel alcohols and oxidation come to mind when reflecting back on my earliest batches), the off-flavors contributed by tap water become more obvious.  Bottled spring water, or even carbon filtered tap water, can be a viable solution to the problem.  In fact, this solution can probably serve a homebrewer well for many years.

However, there is more to consider about water than simply whether it tastes good.  Most brewers at some point discover than the mineral profile of their water effects the finished beer on many levels.  Mash pH is critical.  Residual alkalinity influences mash pH.  Water hardness can drive residual alkalinity down.  A high enough percentage of roasted malts in the grain bill can act against RA.  The right amount of sodium can accentuate flavors in beer.  Sulfite to chloride ratio influences how the hops are presented--the right ratio, and hop aroma and flavor will really pop; the wrong ratio and they will be dull and muddled.

When I first started treating my water about two years ago, I kept it very simple.  With absolutely no understanding of water chemistry, I found the nudge I needed in a "Water Chemistry Primer" thread on Homebrewtalk.  Never feeling the need to go past the first post, I followed the "baseline" recipe for building up distilled water.  For  several batches, I started with distilled water, adding (for every 5 gallons) one teaspoon of calcium chloride and subbing 3% of the base malt with acid malt.  For hoppier beers I also added 1 tsp of gypsum, and for darker malt bills, I skipped the acid malt.  I did this without really knowing why.  I did this because that's what it said to do.  It's a clumsy and rudimentary water treatment, but it was at least enough to keep mash pH in check, and I felt a sense of control knowing what was in my water.

I have since begun using the bru'n water spreadsheet for planning my mineral additions.  Bru'n water did a really nice job for me of clearly and succinctly explaining the key aspects of brewing water chemistry on the page titled "Water Knowledge."  In a few paragraphs, it tackles the topics of water source, mash pH, water hardness, alkalinity, residual alkalinity, and mineral content, and explains how these factors affect one another.  

This is a great tool for designing a water profile, and even has a number of pre-programmed profiles that a brewer can choose.  Profiles included range from generalized beer profiles (yellow malty, yellow balanced, yellow hoppy and their amber, brown and black counterparts) to significant geographies (Burton-on-Trent, Pilsen, and West Flanders as examples).

At this point, I am still using distilled water (nothing in this water but water); its kind of like starting with a blank canvas and building an exact profile from there.  It's not completely necessary.  My tap water is probably just fine- if I ran it through a carbon filter, and if I knew its mineral content, I could enter its profile into the spreadsheet and adjust from there. Not much standing in my way.  I could buy a filter, and I could send my filtered water off to be analyzed.  Depending on the mineral content of my tap water, this would make life easier as I would not have to lug gallons of distilled water from the store to the house.  My plan is to take this next step once my new brew rig is built.

My water kit:  bru'n water, a 0.1g scale, and minerals.
Not pictured:  acidulated malt, used to adjust mash pH.

My water treatment kit includes a small digital scale which displays weights in tenths of a gram, and several minerals:  Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate), Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate), non-iodized table salt (Sodium Chloride), Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate), Calcium Chloride, Chalk (Calcium Bicarbonate), and Magnesium Chloride.  Gypsum and Calcium Chloride are used most heavily- they are used in virtually every water profile, and usually in the highest amounts.  The Bicarbonates (Chalk and Baking Soda) are used the least often, and in very slight amounts.

I am still at the beginner level in regard to my knowledge and understanding of water chemistry.  I know that I have only just scratched the surface.  As in so many other aspects in brewing, reps will be the key to truly discovering and understanding what yields the best results.  There are of course also other resources available to help me understand why.  I'm fairly happy with the results I'm currently getting, so I do have time on my side.