Episode 5 – Water Chemistry

The Hop Addition
The Hop Addition
Episode 5 - Water Chemistry
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Strap in folks this is a long one! This episode we try and break down water chemistry to its key elements. We also review our first beermail from a listener and take another commercial break! P.s we have given up on trying to censor the pods as it basically takes to much time in editing, so please be aware the odd expletive might be present.

7 Comments on “Episode 5 – Water Chemistry

  1. Hey Guys, as always a great podcast and you covered all the elements…no pun intended, well maybe! We can tell you guys are having good fun recording the pods and that comes through nicely for us listeners.

    Like you say we all have our own methods and to be honest I got frustrated with the Bru N Water spreadsheet, just because I get lazy and like to streamline my hobby. What I got frustrated with was the need to enter the Grist for each brew, especially as I would already have entered into software. I think for folks coming at this for the first time then the spreadsheet can be a little daunting.
    I do use Brewfather and find it really easy to enter my adjustments per recipe. The reason being is that it stores my current profile, which I can adjust outside of recipes, and of course as you are making adjustments per recipe then no need to enter the grist again. Also in terms of PH adjustment the calculations are pretty spot on and it takes into consideration my other salt additions. Also you can pull in suggested profiles if you wish.

    I would also suggest that anyone starting for the first time with water adjustments does it one step at a time and I would suggest in this order as I think it is great for brewers getting a little feedback from their adjustments. After each of the adjustments brew a beer you have brewed before without any adjustments and see if you can detect a difference.

    Campden Tablet: Probably the cheapest adjustment you can make 1/4 or 1/2 a tablet in you liquor.

    Brew a beer

    PH Adjustment: Spend about £35 on a decent quality PH meter and buy some Phosphoric acid and a 1ml syringe. Use a calculator (brewfather :-)) to adjust the Mash PH and then…

    Brew a beer

    Sulphate to Chloride Ratio: Important to know what is the ratio of your current water and adjust as per style. When you are at this level then I would really suggest you do some research on the style that you are brewing to see what has worked for others. The Scott Janish website has really helped me understand this stage. This is again a low cost stage but after you have done your research then…

    Brew a beer

    Cheers fellas

    Dan

  2. By the way, it took me mowing the front and back lawns, cleaning the downstairs windows and a 5000 step dog walk to get through this one, lol

    • Dan, I’ll be honest, I was 6 beers in by the end… It was an epic recording session but having listened back to it, all the information is relevant and comes across at the level we were hoping. Good to see you think like us with keeping it simple and logical.

  3. For various reasons it’s taken until now to finish listening to this episode.
    Good work, comprehensive and John Palmer would be impressed.

    My ‘stages’ went:
    1: Bung half a campden tablet in.
    2: Teaspoon of Gypsum.
    3: Sod that, get RO
    4: Use Bru’n Water

    The most common issue and most confusing is how much to add to what volume of water. I’m lazy and always start with a 50L HLT and have basic additions that I stick with for the likes of Burton.
    My dog loves you by the way…

  4. Excellent episode guys!
    I’m a couple of allgrain brews in now, and my process is pretty nailed down. Im starting to wonder what water chemistry will add to my brews and keen to give it a go.
    Like you Chris I’m Wakefield based, Yorkshire water are saying im ‘Wakefield City North’ would you be able to share your insider info on roughly when the water source changes and the couple of missing figures from the water report?
    Appreciate any help you can give!
    Cheers, keep safe guys and looking forward to more episodes!

    • Where abouts are you Mike? From what I can gather, the source has changed permanently now, mainly cos of the new build houses near Pinders. Might be best investing in a new RO system fella. I’m not happy about this as it means RO for every single brew…

      • Ah that sucks, I’m on the Dewsbury road between the M1 j40 and Wakefield Centre. I was hoping not to have to go down the RO route just yet.
        I Might look at sending a sample off for a report, but didn’t want to do this if my supply was going to change suddenly every year. I know water changes abit between brews anyway but may try and figure out a ball park profile.

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