I do really want to fall down the water chem rabbit hole, but I just don't have the time/patience at this point. Thankfully, More Beer recently put out these Instant Water packets that you add to RO or distilled and voila, Instant Water! The only issue is they have been out of stock for weeks.
Here is what I am looking for. Just a simple guide on what salts to add for certain profiles in grams/gallon. I have all the salts, but I have not been able to figure out how to use any of the water calculators to get what I want.
I just want to be able to reference a list of styles that say something like "Pilsner you want x grams per gallon of gypsum, x grans per gallon of Sodium Bicarbonate" etc etc etc. On more beer they have packs for pale, Burton-on-trent, lager, red, pilsner, stout & porter, hazy, malty, and west coast (ipa).
I brew full volume on a single vessel system, so no need to figure out mash vs sparge water.
Anyone willing to help a guy out?
P.S. ChatGPT will obviously do this for you, but I trust that like I trust a stray cat with a tuna steak.
Brew’n water is a solid calculator. Salts aren’t expensive,really. So if you buy in “bulk” it will last
Tried it as well as others. I do have the salts in bulk, my idea is to have these basic sal recipes for different styles so I can pre-pack little packets for brew day and be ready to go.
Have you tried the Bru'n water spreadsheet? You can plug in your grain bill and mash volume and then use the presets to give you targets for each mineral addition. The you just play around until you hit your targets as well as target mash pH. There isn't really a one size fits all for additions since it depends on your mash volume and grain bill (since the grain bill, water alkalinity and calcium additions affect your mash pH).
Tried them all and only met with frustration.
I found brewers friend's water calculator to be a bit easier to understand when I was starting out. It links to your recipe. Distilled and ro really shouldn't be used interchangeably, as ro still has minerals in it, just considerably less than the source water. Buy distilled if you really want to go down this route. Your mash pH is grain bill dependant. I can't really help you there. If you really want numbers in spite of that though, here's something: "Balanced" water profile 1 gallon volume 0.7g gypsum 0.5g calcium chloride (dihydrate) 0.25g salt (NaCl) regular salt but no iodine You could probably half those amounts for a lager. Double the calcium chloride for a beer you want malty, double the gypsum for a beer you want hoppy. Potentially add some amount of baking soda for a stout, dropping the salt, but you really should be looking at your mash pH for that.
This. IMHO the Brewer’s Friend https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/ is the best, most straightforward user interface. Just input what PPM you have, input what minerals you want, boom outcome, the PPM as you would have. Completely custom without being confusing.
Have you read the water chemistry chapter from _How to Brew_? That was the source that made it click for me, as it was fairly concrete in its process, though I think the suggestion to target residual alkalinity is no longer in vogue. To apply it to Bru'nwater, the idea is essentially to enter your grain bill and pick your target water profile, then manually fiddle with the Gypsum and Calcium Chloride g/L values until you get the sulphate and chloride values you want, respectively, then increase the lactic acid g/L value until the mash pH field turns green. Alternatively, at least the Brewferm website tells you how many ppm of each ion you get for the amount of salt in 10L. So you can use this to do the same thing by hand for the salts, but you probably still need to use a calculator for the pH adjustment.
I just use tap water and it's never an issue. I'd suggest trying that along side the chem's and see if it's anything noticable (probably won't be).
This worked for me for a while then eventually I brewed a beer outside of my waters happy place and it was disgusting.
Bru'n Water looks like a NASA spreadsheet at first, but it's totally worth the learning curve. Just make sure to buy your gypsum and calcium chloride in bulk—you'll save a ton over those little 1oz packets at the homebrew shop.
There is a good YouTube video on how to use Brew n Water done by the Malt Miller. Simplified it for me and you don't need to get an absolutely spot on profile - just het as much to balance as possible and no numbers way off and you will end up with water that suits the style of beer you are making. After getting temperature control throughout the process sorted, water chemistry made the biggest difference. In the UK, Spotless sell RO water at about 6p per Lt from outlets all over the country (used by window and car valet people). I also record the slats I use for each style so don't need to keep using the Brew n Water spreadsheet when I am repeating the style
I’ve used distilled water and the instant water packets and other than the cost, I’ve been pleased with the result. I do have a ph meter and could teach myself to use it, but I haven’t gotten down that rabbit hole yet.
Use the second link on our wiki’s water page: https://old.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/wiki/ingredients/water Also, the same approach is covered by Gordon Strong in his *Modern Homebrewing* book.
Thanks! Gonna check both out tonight.
I'm an analytical chemist. I use ultrapure water to brew along with my own spreadsheet for calculating salts, it's very easy to use. Happy to share if you want a copy, dm me.
I just the water building feature on brewfather. You select water source, beer style, and target pH with whatever acid you got and it does the rest. It's pretty damn easy once you figure it out. I had to adjust it some for the brewing salts I have but it's worth the money for the app.