About to do my first batch and I have been reading up on mash ph levels and I have some confusion. What type of water do you guys use and how do you test/know when the ph is at the correct level. I don't know how much of an issue this is but whenever I get into something I always make sure I'm doing it to the highest standard I can hold myself to. Should I use store bought water like spring or distilled or should I just use tap water run through a filter/no filter? Any help is much appreciated!
Type of water
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Warthaug
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If its your first batch, don't worry about that stuff. Its far more important you concentrate on hitting your volumes and temperatures accurately to start - once you've got the basics down you can worry about conditioning your water.
A good "water rule" for beginners is that if your water is clean, doesn't have any odd aromas, and is nice to drink, it should make for good beers.
Now, that said...
If your water is cholorinated its not a bad idea to let it sit for ~24 hours. The chlorine will evaporate, reducing your risk of off flavours. Some cities using chloramines in place of chlorine - if you live in such a place you cannot simply evaporate this stuff off. Instead, you need to filter with an active charcoal or precipitate it out with metabisulfate. But unless your water smells quite strongly of chloramine this is an unnecessary complexity until you're a little more experienced at brewing.
If you have really horrendous water you may need to get a really good filter system, or even buy spring or distilled water rather than using tap.
Bryan
EDIT: I'm not trying to say that treating and worrying about your water is a waste of time or won't improve your beers. All I'm saying is that in the grand scheme of learning to brew, water quality is far less likely to be an issue that brewing processes, so the best use of your time/effort is to concentrate on your brewing method, and then to add-in water adjustments, etc, once you are comfortable with your brewing setup and process.
A good "water rule" for beginners is that if your water is clean, doesn't have any odd aromas, and is nice to drink, it should make for good beers.
Now, that said...
If your water is cholorinated its not a bad idea to let it sit for ~24 hours. The chlorine will evaporate, reducing your risk of off flavours. Some cities using chloramines in place of chlorine - if you live in such a place you cannot simply evaporate this stuff off. Instead, you need to filter with an active charcoal or precipitate it out with metabisulfate. But unless your water smells quite strongly of chloramine this is an unnecessary complexity until you're a little more experienced at brewing.
If you have really horrendous water you may need to get a really good filter system, or even buy spring or distilled water rather than using tap.
Bryan
EDIT: I'm not trying to say that treating and worrying about your water is a waste of time or won't improve your beers. All I'm saying is that in the grand scheme of learning to brew, water quality is far less likely to be an issue that brewing processes, so the best use of your time/effort is to concentrate on your brewing method, and then to add-in water adjustments, etc, once you are comfortable with your brewing setup and process.
I like local spring water myself. either in jugs from Giant Eagle, or from White House Artisian Springs @ 25c per gallon. I think it gives a bit better flavor than tap water. But ours is soft from Lake Erie to start with. Ohio spring water is quite good & I think makes better beer. Even RO water would be great in your case as well.
mrgrimm101
Well-Known Member
The city water where I live isn't the best, so I always buy gallons of RO water from my local Meijer grocery store. I can get them for about $0.60/gallon. It's the empty jugs that you fill yourself at the water fill station.
I've also used locally sourced spring water and distilled water with good results as well.
Currently I don't bother with measuring pH levels or anything. I bought a bottle of gypsum powder a while ago but never used it.
I've also used locally sourced spring water and distilled water with good results as well.
Currently I don't bother with measuring pH levels or anything. I bought a bottle of gypsum powder a while ago but never used it.
I've never messed with PH too much myself. I found that the lil yeasties like the tiny bit of minerals in the spring water, making for better fermentations & aroma/flavor.
Are you brewing extract or all-grain? I did not see it in there anywhere, and if it is your first batch.... I am wondering if you are doing an extract beer.
If so, I would just use RO water from one of those refill stations in walmart or grocery store.....
If so, I would just use RO water from one of those refill stations in walmart or grocery store.....
BrewerBrad82
Well-Known Member
I completely agree. When first starting to brew, your time and effort is much better spent getting the process down and becoming proficient with your techniques. Mastery of sanitation, fermentation temp control, yeast pitching rates, and oxygenation (to name a few) is the most important thing at this stage in the game. Once you have those down to a science, then it makes sense to delve into the more finicky aspects of homebrewing. Have fun with it!
Thanks for the input guys, the first batch will be extract but I don't see myself doing that diet long. I already have the equipment fit all grain ready to go! Now the tough part... figuring out what I want my first brew to be!
For extract, use Reverse Osmosis water..... When the extract is made, it already has a dose of whatever minerals were in that water to begin with - which means it does not need another dose of minerals from your tap water. That is the best way, easiest way, and relatively cheap way (.39 cents a gallon) to approach things when doing extract.
When you do all grain, water and pH becomes more important...... although it is not as complicated as it can seem. The brew science subforum has lots of good info and there is a real basic water primer that can get you started - it is a "sticky" in that sub forum.
When you do all grain, water and pH becomes more important...... although it is not as complicated as it can seem. The brew science subforum has lots of good info and there is a real basic water primer that can get you started - it is a "sticky" in that sub forum.
