Water quality for brewing

water.md

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Things to note:

• Calcium (Ca)
• Magnesium (Mg)
• Sodium (Na)
• Carbonate (CO3)
• Sulphate (SO4)
• Chloride (Cl)

Water report for my area

• Total Hardness: Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3): 17.4 mg/l
• Magnesium (Mg): Not monitored
• Sodium (Na): 3.9 mg/l
• Sulphate (SO04): 11.4 mg/l
• Chrloride (CI): 7.9 mg/l

Short form: Ca 7, Mg ?, Na 4, SO4 11, CI 8, HCO3 21, CaCO3 17.5

Additivies

• Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate): Increase Sulphates. Lowers PH.
• Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate): Like Gypsum, but less PH reduction
• Chalk (Calcium Carbonate): Raises pH. Use for making dark beers in areas of soft water
• Dihydrate (Calcium Chloride): Lowers pH

For Style:

• IPA: Add 5g Gypsum during mash

Jim recommends for 20 litres

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water/water.html

• Total Calcium Sulphate (CaSO4*2) (Gypsum): 9.29 grams
• Total Calcium Chloride (CaCl2*2) (Dihydrate): 4.84 grams
• Total Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4*7) (Epsom salts): 3.04 grams
• Total Sodium Chloride (NaCl) (common salt): 1.33 grams
• Total Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) (as chalk): 0.15 grams

Alternative: http://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/

John Palmer says: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-4.html

BYO says: http://byo.com/stories/item/1478-the-elements-of-brewing-water

Beersmith says: http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/10/05/beer-ph-hard-water-treatment-for-brewing/

Very sciency article: http://morebeer.com/articles/treating_homebrew_water

Treating to get IPA water: http://beerandwinejournal.com/two-water-guides/ (50 ppm calcium, 25 ppm chloride and 80 ppm sulfate (for a chloride to sulfate ratio of 1:3.2).)

awesome.