Water & You

Drew Beechum, Grand Hydrometer - Maltose Falcons 

Please mute your mic if you're not talking!

A Brief Interlude on Sanitation

(How we came to realize that water is some deadly shit)

He Knew Something

Dr. John Snow, a London based physician who theorized in the 1840's that disease was caused by something other than "miasmas".

proved it by stopping an 1854 Cholera outbreak by closing down a single well. 

What We Use Today

Chlorine

• original modern sanitation agent
• kills microbes.
• very unstable in solution
• easy to Remove 
  • boil
  • let sit overnight
• but miles of pipes lead to...

Chloramine

• modern sanitation agent
• combination of Ammonia (NH3) and Chlorine (Cl)
• very stable, hard to remove
• LA uses Chloramine

Sanitation Good

But Chlorophenols are Bad

Remove the Chlor(ine/amine)!

• Chlorine is Easy
• Chloramine requires more work
  • Carbon Filters Work, but
  • Campden is easier

Chloramine Demo

• ordinary glasses of LA water - treated with Chloramine
• a little Potassium/Sodium MBS, stir and... voila
  • 1 Campden Tablet treats ~20gallons
• Carbon/RO Filters require patience
  • Chlorine - 1.0 gallon per minute/max
  • Chloramine - 0.1 gpm (10 minutes for a gallon!)
  • Reference - Garden hose flow: ~5 gpm
    • Also don't use a green hose
• Using LaMotte 3027-G Total Chlorine Test Strips

Water Reports

• don't trust a recipe that blindly adds water salts
• you need to understand where you're starting - roughly
• the easiest: your water district report (federally mandated)
  • free, but what's at your spigot?
  • https://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/wcnav_externalId/a-w-wqreport
• better: get a home water kit
  • you can test a lot! (but you're depending on your eyes)
  • https://www.lamotte.com/en/food-beverage/brewlab
• best: get your water tested -
  • the gold standard, but not instant or cheap
  • https://www.wardlab.com/services/water-analysis/ (W-501 Brewers Test)

MWD Report

from LA DWP

varies over the year and area in the city

Valley: Aqueduct, Ground, MWD

Drew's H20

Ward Labs Brewer's Report for Pasadena in December

overall, a pretty nominal water. Sodium is a bit high

not making a pilsner out of it without dilution, though

By the way this varies - Ogopogo Example

Owens Valley

from John Aitchison

charcoal filtered

major source for the Valley

Our Cast of Minerals

These are the players we're most concerned about

Calcium

• creates Hardness
• important for yeast health, flocculation and mash efficiency
• lowers the pH (use acid)
• minimum level: 40ppm
• ideal range: 40-100ppm

Magnesium

• contributes to Hardness
• important for yeast health
• a little goes a long way with small amounts boosting flavor
• too much creates astringent harsh flavors
• ideal range: 10-30 ppm
  • ​usually won't need to adjust this

Sodium

• flavor enhancer
• a little goes a long way to sharpen the beer
• too much makes the final beer harsh.
• ideal range: 0-150 ppm
  • use less the more sulfate heavy your water will be
  • my preference: <70 ppm

Sulfate

• America's favorite?
• increase apparent dryness of the beer
• allows the hops to shine brighter
• ideal range: 0-350 ppm
  • use less unless you're trying to pop the hops

Chloride

• negative ion of Chlorine
• increases apparent fullness
• suppresses the hops and promotes the malt
• ideal range: 0-100 ppm

Bicarbonate

• strongly alkaline buffer
  • resists acidification
• dark acid malts overcome the buffering
  • London water worked for porter because it's heavily buffered
• ideal range: 0-50 ppm (for pale); 150+ ppm (for dark)

What We're Changing

when we add salts and acids

pH

• measure of Hydrogen ions in solution on a 0-14 scale
• 0-7: Acidic | 7: Neutral | 7-14: Basic 
• we do not care about water pH
  • we care about MASH pH
  • except sparge water - we want that to be acidified
• starch conversion maximal at a pH of 5.2-5.5
• measure your pH at room temp
• NOTE: pH is not a good measure of how sour something tastes. (that's TA) 

Hardness

• measure concentration of calcium and magnesium
• temporary hardness can be precipitated via boil
• permanent hardness is what is bound up with other salts.
• you can brew with hard water!

Alkalinity

• a measure of how much buffering capacity your water has
• if pH is H+ concentration, alkalinity is HCO3- concentration
• how resistant your water is to acidification
• NOTE - This is different than having a basic pH

Residual Alkalinity

• brewing unique measurement
• measures the remaining buffering power of water after adding the malt.
  • phosphates in the malt react with calcium and magnesium in the water and reduces the effectiveness of the bicarbonate
  • e.g. this measures how much your malt and water interact and impact your mash pH

Mineral Content

• all of these salts we're going to add, adjust the mineral content of your water
• they all have flavor impacts - be mindful!
• treat them like salt in your cooking - you can never take it out!

How We Change

aka our Primary Levers

The Salts

all adjustment amounts are approximate

be aware that mineral salts come in different types. Make sure you've got the right stuff!

and if I catch you using 5.2, I will give you stern disapproving looks.

Calcium Sulfate

• aka Gypsum
• 1 gm/gallon = Ca: 61 ppm, Sulfate: 147 ppm
• used to adjust calcium levels and pop the hop bitterness by de-accentuating the malt

Calcium Chloride

• the yang to Gypsum's yin
• 1 gm/gallon = Ca: 95 ppm, Chloride: 169 ppm
• used to adjust calcium levels and make the beer feel fuller by accentuating the malt

Sodium Chloride

• aka Table Salt 
• 1 gm/gallon = Na: 104 ppm, Chloride: 160 ppm
• pops the flavors overall, but be careful - Sodium can add odd flavors at high levels.
• don't use iodized salt!

Magnesium Sulfate

• aka Epsom Salt 
• 1 gm/gallon = Mg: 26 ppm, Sulfate: 103 ppm
• adds magnesium and sulfate for crispness
• don't use this unless you need magnesium since that's a very low threshold mineral or you need sulfate without calcium

Calcium Carbonate

• aka Chalk
• 1 gm/gallon = Ca: 106 ppm, Bicarbonate: 322 ppm (ish)
• adds alkalinity (think of it as rounding off the acid character of roasted malts
• really hard to get chalk to dissolve without pressurizing with CO2 in a small amount of water.
• in general, my recommendation is to skip it in favor of...

Calcium Hydroxide

• aka Slaked Lime or Pickling Lime
• 1 gm/gallon = Ca: 142 ppm, Bicarbonate: 434 ppm
• adds alkalinity (think of it as rounding off the acid character of roasted malts
• a lot easier to dissolve straight into your water.
• very powerful stuff!

Sodium Bicarbonate

• aka Baking Soda
• 1 gm/gallon = Na: 72 ppm, Bicarbonate: 192 ppm
• adds alkalinity
• use sparingly because it adds a large dose of sodium to the water

The Acids

Lactic Acid

• we use 88% strength Lactic.
• very reliable, relatively safe 
• one of the weaker acids used in brewing chemistry
• at large doses, tasters can detect a tang
• to be Reinheitsgebot compliant, you can use Acidualted malt or perform an Acid Rest (95-110°F) in the mash instead

Phosphoric Acid

• we use 10% strength.
• powerful acid that requires very little to push through the buffering capacity of your water
• largely used to adjust the mash pH.
• can reduce calcium levels in water if used in large amounts, but unlikely in our usage

Other Acids

• homebrewers tend to not use Sulfuric/Hydrochloric due to safety.
• other food acids like Acetic, Citric, Malic, Tartaric are too weak or too flavor forward in our buffered environment.
  • you'll see C/M/T in wine, cider and mead making for acid and flavor adjustments.

Choosing What to Change

Strategies for Better Water

No Matter What

• clear your water of chlorine/chloramine
• get your mash pH (at room temp) in the 5.2-5.6 range
  • this means using acid and watching the RA number
• get your mash Calcium to ~40 ppm
• do the least you need to do!

Use Beer History

• many historical beer styles tied to brewing regions
  • e.g. using Munich water for Oktoberfest, London water for Porter or Burton-upon-Trent for IPA
• we have tables for "generic" city profiles
  • are the water tables right? Which?
  • did the brewers do water adjustments? Just what did they do?

• I don't recommend this approach

  • except as general guidance - e.g. more sulfate, more carbonate, etc.

By Numbers

• brewers like hard numbers to guide themselves by
• enter "Chloride:Sulfate Ratio"
  • more chloride = maltier;  more sulfate = more bitter
  • APA/IPA - 1:2-1:5
  • NEIPA - 2:1 (or not.. it actually runs the gamut)
  • don't just use the ratio - absolute numbers matter
    • 300 Chloride :150 Sulfate tastes different than 150:75
• don't try and dial 100% on the nose for your profile

By Flavor Intent

• picture what you want to taste
• adjust based on that
• many brewers have "default" profiles 
• very easy to do once you're dialed in.

• examples
  • hoppy beer
    • boost the sulfate
  • malty beer
    • boost the chloride
  • pale beers
    • dilute water with RO/distilled

By Color / Taste

• a bit of refinement on the previous approach
• instead of thinking style/flavor - think the color and what sort of "balance" you want
• Color: Yellow | Amber | Brown | Black
• Balance: Dry | Balanced | Full 

Calculating Changes

Math is Hard, Use Computers

A Word About Tools/Models

• every tool has a water model to predict changes to water chemistry.
• there is no one answer, but some answers are better than others
• make sure to choose one that is updated (sorry ProMash users)

Beersmith 

• updated water model with a "Water Profile Tool"
• relatively easy entry and has a "fit" function
• profile is independent of the grain bill, which makes it less accurate (but better than doing nothing!)
• DEMO

Palmer Brewing Water App

Palmers App for your cell phone (and he has a spread sheet)

• choose a style
• choose your water
• Choose your RA
• Salts
• Acids

Bru'n Water

• best water model on the market - constantly updated
  • Martin Brungard - Water Treatment Engineer
• intimidating to set up, but once done - you're golden
  • Listen here:  
    • https://www.experimentalbrew.com/podcast/brew-files-episode-45-water-water-everywhere
• very focused tool with free and paid ($10+) version
• DEMO

Making the Changes

a little goes a long way

Tools You Need

• gram accurate scale - 0.1 gm resolution
  • measuring by volume is easy, but inaccurate
  • bonus - better weighing of hops
• pH meter
  • this nice to have, but they require maintenance
  • far more reliable than testing papers
  • get the scale first

Salts

• 3 places to add salts
  • Mash Liquor 
  • Sparge Water
  • Boil Kettle

• add to liquid not the full mash.
• brewing salts easily dissolve (except chalk)
• non-drastic chemistry changes you can dump all the salts into the mash liquor.
• boil additions are primarily for flavor and mouthfeel.

Acids

• 2 places to add acids
  • Mash Liquor
  • Sparge Water

• add acids to the water, not the other way
• even if you're throwing all your salts in the mash liquor, acidify your sparge water to avoid tannin extraction

Water

• because sometimes you can't pull the excess out! (see my water for instance)

• dilute your sparge and strike waters to reduce excess minerality
  • use RO or distilled
• make sure you factor the dilution into your water chemistry!

Examples

Pilsner

• 50/50 blend
  • filtered Owens Valley Water
  • reverse osmosis

Other Beers

• filtered Owens Valley Water
• city profile based on Style
• adjusts according to BeerSmith
• favors carbonate (?) in lagers for fullness
• treats Trappists/Flemish beers like English ales based on Poperinge

John Aitchison

Izzy Arrieta

• 5 stage filtered (Azusa)
• Phosphoric Acid for Mash pH
• Lactic Acid for Sparge pH
• Gypsum to the boil for hoppy beers
• Calcium Carbonate for lower gravity malty beers

Bruce Brode

• like John, likes a blend of 50/50 to keep some salts
• keeps most lagers below 100 ppm Total Dissolved Solids
• Stouts, Porters gets all tap water for the Bicarbonate
• prefers Calcium Chloride over Gypsum for Ca ions

Martin Brungard

• get pH in the right range. 
• get sulfate and chloride into ranges helpful for the style being brewed. ratio is meaningless.  
• try to have at least 40 ppm calcium in the mash
• 'less is more' Keep the water in the background, unless it plays an assertive flavor role (See APA/NEIPA)

Denny Conn

• minerals in first for flavor impact
• measure pH
• adjust pH based on that reading

John Palmer

• get the mash pH right first
  • 5.2 - pale beers
  • 5.4 - ambers
  • 5.6 - dark beers
• min - 50 ppm Calcium
• tweak the Chloride and Sulfate for desired effect

Craig Shapland

For IPAs like Craig's Triple IPA

• pH adjustment with phosphoric acid
• 2 tsps (~8 gm) Gypsum to the Mash
• 2 tsps (~8 gm) Gypsum to the Boil

Me

• for many pale and amber beers of a non hoppy character, I remove chloramine and acidify and nothing else.
• for lagers I tend to run to the full profiles in Bru'n Water
• for hoppy ales, I tend to dry profile
• for most other things, I'll run balanced additions of gypsum and chloride
• don't add salts to the boil since I'm depending on mash chemistry.