Beer Forum

"It is not possible to create an APA with distilled/RO water that conforms to the following desirable constraints, often touted by brewing gurus".

a residual alkalinity between -60 & +60
an acceptable chloride to sulphate ratio that highlights bitterness
a mash pH at room temp of 5.2 to 5.4
salt additions that are within recommended ranges.

Why would you? Just use tasty's pale water

Willys wrote:Why would you? Just use tasty's pale water

Well I was trying to use my initiative. Actually I didn't know the recipe existed .

I'm a little surprised that that there is so little interest here from the brewing community re RO & salt additions: few maniacs like me it seems!, but it pretty much mirrors the lack of interest here in Oz.

I found Tasty's recipe & his salt additions, as below, and I must ask is 118ppm correct for Mg or is it a typo? If it is what is it achieving in the mix? In general brewing it's recommended between 10-30ppm. I want to be sure on this before I dive in!
"The water was R/O to which was added gypsum, epsom salt, and table salt to bring it to Ca-110ppm, Mg-118ppm, Na-17ppm, SO4-350ppm, Cl-50ppm".

I can't speak for everyone else, but my experiences with homebrewing and water adjustments have led me to believe that we can go a bit overboard when it comes to water adjustments. All the water needs is calcium for yeast health and a bit of sulfates and chloride. I've used things like epsom salts and table salt in the water, but I didn't like the taste of my water so I didn't use it in my beer. I find that if I start with soft water and add a teaspoon of gypsum and a quarter teaspoon of calcium chloride, that'll work for most beers.

My tap water is very, very low in mineral content. I only add a little gypsum for most beers and I'm good to go. No reason to screw with something that doesn't need to be screwed with.

BDawg wrote:My tap water is very, very low in mineral content. I only add a little gypsum for most beers and I'm good to go. No reason to screw with something that doesn't need to be screwed with.

Amen

butterman wrote:I'm a little surprised that that there is so little interest here from the brewing community

I just wasn't sure what the hell you were saying. What was it you were quoting? The lack of complete sentences and statements made me lose interest half way though.

spiderwrangler wrote:

butterman wrote:I'm a little surprised that that there is so little interest here from the brewing community

I just wasn't sure what the hell you were saying. What was it you were quoting? The lack of complete sentences and statements made me lose interest half way though.

Not enough to not post........