I thought folks might be interested in seeing what lime treatment does in terms of reducing alkalinity. I've been doing this for a number of years now (after reading AJ's paper) and finally got around to having the results properly analyzed. I had been brewing too many beers where the bitterness was a bit harsh and took a long time to mellow. Treating my water fixed that problem and my beers have been much better since then.
My normal routine is to add ~3 gms of pickling lime to 10 gal of water. I also add a pinch of sodium metabisulfite for chloramine removal. I then let the precipitate settle out overnight. The next day I transfer the water to my mash tun and HLT. I then adjust the pH of these down to ~5.5 with phosphoric acid.
I don't measure my mash pH, just the water beforehand, figuring I was reducing alkalinity enough for the grains to set the proper pH (for dark beers I wait until the end of the mash to add the dark grains).
This is the water I use for just about everything. I brew a lot of lagers (kolsch too) and a variety of pale ales, saisons, IPAs and the occasional dark beer.
I occasionally add some CaCl2, thinking it might help reduce the carbonates even more. It looks like it isn't needed for that.
All in all I would same I'm pleased with the results. I find it cheap, easy and convenient to do. I probably would recommend the purchase of a pH meter, so I guess that does jack up the cost.
Now I need to think a bit more about tailoring my Cl and S04 levels
_______________PRE___POST
pH.....................7.2.......5.8
TDS Est..............272......318
EC................... 0.45......0.53
Cations...............4.4......5.8
Anions................4.5......3.3
Sodium..................6......29
Calcium................49......58
Magnesium ..........20......19
Potassium..............2......1
Total Hardness.....206......224
Nitrate..................3......3
Sulfur ..................5......34
CO3 ................< 1......< 1
HCO3................221......32
Chloride...............14......14
Total Alkalinity........181......27
I just sampled a Czech pils I kegged last night that I brewed with the POST water as is. Normally I would cut this by almost 50% with distilled water. The sample, arguably young and not lagered, didn't seem as smooth - compared to other hydrometer samples of the same recipe at kegging time. We'll see how it is in a month after it has been properly lagered
My normal routine is to add ~3 gms of pickling lime to 10 gal of water. I also add a pinch of sodium metabisulfite for chloramine removal. I then let the precipitate settle out overnight. The next day I transfer the water to my mash tun and HLT. I then adjust the pH of these down to ~5.5 with phosphoric acid.
I don't measure my mash pH, just the water beforehand, figuring I was reducing alkalinity enough for the grains to set the proper pH (for dark beers I wait until the end of the mash to add the dark grains).
This is the water I use for just about everything. I brew a lot of lagers (kolsch too) and a variety of pale ales, saisons, IPAs and the occasional dark beer.
I occasionally add some CaCl2, thinking it might help reduce the carbonates even more. It looks like it isn't needed for that.
All in all I would same I'm pleased with the results. I find it cheap, easy and convenient to do. I probably would recommend the purchase of a pH meter, so I guess that does jack up the cost.
Now I need to think a bit more about tailoring my Cl and S04 levels
_______________PRE___POST
pH.....................7.2.......5.8
TDS Est..............272......318
EC................... 0.45......0.53
Cations...............4.4......5.8
Anions................4.5......3.3
Sodium..................6......29
Calcium................49......58
Magnesium ..........20......19
Potassium..............2......1
Total Hardness.....206......224
Nitrate..................3......3
Sulfur ..................5......34
CO3 ................< 1......< 1
HCO3................221......32
Chloride...............14......14
Total Alkalinity........181......27
I just sampled a Czech pils I kegged last night that I brewed with the POST water as is. Normally I would cut this by almost 50% with distilled water. The sample, arguably young and not lagered, didn't seem as smooth - compared to other hydrometer samples of the same recipe at kegging time. We'll see how it is in a month after it has been properly lagered