First AG batch and water dilemma !

[slippery]

Looking for a little advise in the water chemistry department ......am about to brew my first AG batch tomorrow after months of prep and researching ( am pretty geeked about it ) I felt pretty prepared , thanks to all of the awesome info. On these forums! That was until I read a little about water chemistry and now am totally freaked out. I've always used RO water in my previous extract and PM batches but now I've read that start RO is not the way to go in AG.....so, being the freak I am about brewing great beers I've read a lot about water but the more I read the more I get confused. Thanks to yooper with the primer , I've made some since of it and ordered a ph meter and also am sending my well water in to wards for a profile... My plan is to brew tomorrow with a 50/50 of RO and my well water with out knowing anything about my well , since my opportunities to brew seem to be getting farther and farther apart. Do you think this is a bad idea?? My reasoning for not following the primer is that I have no immediate access to any sauermalz.
Any thoughts on this would be great....maybe I just need to relax and have one.
Thanks


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[mabrungard]

RO water is fine for mashing. However, it might not have the flavor you desire or your ale yeast may not flocculate very well if you don't have enough calcium in the water. But you will make beer. If you are concerned about not having enough nutrients in the wort, you can always add a yeast nutrient product to the wort.

Yes, relax and have one. Don't fret about water at this early stage. There are a million other things that will vex you in your first AG. Good luck.

 

[slippery]

Thanks for the advise....your right , I won't concern myself to much with water at this stage. I have a lot of learning to do as it is! Are you suggesting that I just use 100% RO until I know my well water breakdown?
Thanks for the quick response btw.


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[ajdelange]

My reasoning for not following the primer is that I have no immediate access to any sauermalz.

Do you have any malt? If so you have access to sauermalz. It is quite easy to make. But before I get into that what kind of beer are you making? If it is dark, even darkish, you might get away without use of any acid. It is only the really pale beers that need sauermalz and even those can be brewed without it. I did it for years before I caught on.

To make sauermalz: Put a couple of cups of malt into a container and add enough water to just cover the grains. Cover the container closely (tight fitting lid, Saran wrap...) and put the container in a warm place - preferrably about 47 °C. Check periodically. If it smells at all putrid you got more than L. delbruckii and should toss the mess and start over. If it doesn't smell bad then let it go for a couple more days. After a few days you should have a sour mash. If you knew its acidity you could use it as is but as you don't dump it out on a cookie sheet and dry it in the oven at 200 F or so. When dry, taste it to make sure it is tart and then use it at the recommended rate.