our city is supposed to have really good water, they have won statewide awards for best tasting water back to back.
it makes great tasting beers but lately i have been noticing the hop character doesnt really jump out as much as i would like in our hoppy beers. Ive never been an expert on water... maybe time to start learning more.
i called our water treatment plant and they gave me a short water report with some parameters i was asking about.
145.5 ppm sulfate
112 ppm total hardness
84 ppm calcium
28 ppm magnesium
p alkalinity- 0
mp alkalinity- 228
pH- 9.2
after our carbon and sediment filter we usually read a pH of 8.3, which still seems high.. the lady told me they adjust the pH high so that it doesnt leech/corrode metals in the city plumbing.
Anyways, right now we adjust with phosphoric acid even for our IPA, (which is a copper/amber IPA) down to about 5.4 pH. Im going to start using some acidulated malt for our lighter beers across the board for the mash and adjust the sparge water with phosphoric acid.
Should i add some calcium sulfate for our hoppy beers to negate some of that alkalinity? What can i expect out of this water?
it makes great tasting beers but lately i have been noticing the hop character doesnt really jump out as much as i would like in our hoppy beers. Ive never been an expert on water... maybe time to start learning more.
i called our water treatment plant and they gave me a short water report with some parameters i was asking about.
145.5 ppm sulfate
112 ppm total hardness
84 ppm calcium
28 ppm magnesium
p alkalinity- 0
mp alkalinity- 228
pH- 9.2
after our carbon and sediment filter we usually read a pH of 8.3, which still seems high.. the lady told me they adjust the pH high so that it doesnt leech/corrode metals in the city plumbing.
Anyways, right now we adjust with phosphoric acid even for our IPA, (which is a copper/amber IPA) down to about 5.4 pH. Im going to start using some acidulated malt for our lighter beers across the board for the mash and adjust the sparge water with phosphoric acid.
Should i add some calcium sulfate for our hoppy beers to negate some of that alkalinity? What can i expect out of this water?
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