Water and Salts

[Jensen]

Being a distilled water brewer, I will always have to adjust my brewing water to achieve the proper taste\mouth-feel profile, and provide the other proper yeast nutrients that my mash does not provide. Recipe formulations always requires lots of thumbing through books to find the starting point for these additions.

Does anyone know of an on-line source that possibly has a chart or database of salt additions in ppm to emulate a city\ region or style profile?

[Baron Ken]

Is this what you are looking for? How to Brew by John Palmer
See Table 15 - Water Profiles From Notable Brewing Cities

EDIT: also found this: Brewing Water Reference

[Jensen]

These are certainly good starting points for a city's style, they will be bookmarked for sure, thanks Baron Ken!

I guess what I'd really like to find is profile-specific tables as well, like the ones you would find in the Brewing Classic Styles series of books. In those books they will tell you what concentrations are 'right in the ball park' for that particular style, to bring out that style's particular qualities.

Thanks for the post and keep any others coming!

[meisel]

Powers Brewery has great calculators and tables for a variety of brewing applications. Also a great source for electric brewing info. Check it out. http://powersbrewery.home.comcast.net/~ ... ables.html

[Jensen]

Man o'man, the magic beer label on that site is messing me up, Whether on shrooms or not-- IT MUST BE EVIL!


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[klickcue]

By the way, Ken Powers is a really nice person with an excellent web page. We have conversed several time through e-mail.

Back to the subject:
A few of you have had a few months of using salts to modify your water to a style. Have you come to any conclusions about modifying Lawrence water to regions of the world?

I have created water profiles for Cologne, Germany; Dublin, Ireland and Burton on the Trent. I have yet to remember to modify Lawrence water so I do not have an example yet.

Depending how my Kölsch turns out, I may try the Cologne salts on the next one.

Any thoughts?

[Jensen]

I used to try to modify the Lawrence water to whatever water profile I wanted (usually out of Designing Great Beers-- THE book of books) but found that each quarterly water report was a new ball of wax. Then there was the filtering the chlorine out of the water and sometimes having to add r/o to dilute some ions for some styles that require more softer water... I could never get any consistency/repeatability to my liking. So in 1996, after giving a seminar to the club on how to tinker with you tap water, I said screw it and went to distilled water. I have absolutely never looked back, nor have I ever regretted it. I have my base-- always the same always repeatable. Then I can add my salts to exactly what I am looking for-- not quite right? I just tweak it a bit from the already known base that I started from and test the results. I have changed the results. Not nature or some runoff upstream of Lawrence. If your are really interested in using different water profiles in your brewing practice (not many people are, cause you can brew many styles pretty well with your existing water) I think this is really the only way to go. Is it a bit more expensive? Sure. I spend an extraordinary amount of time and effort putting out a batch of beer. I didn't get into this hobby to save money on beer, I got into it to make the best damn beer I can.





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[cog_nate]

*cough*

Water and salts,
they go together
like schnitzel and alts.
Sunny California
is to faults
as water is to salts.

Salts and water,
closer to each than
mother and daughter.
Like those rascal Warthogs
and Kotter
are salts and water.

Whatever may be your wort's flavor profile,
a quite reliable way to match the style
and make it taste like it's from heaven above
is the proper application oooooooooooooof...

Water and salts,
as basic to your brew
as hops or any malts.
To make a beer that every man
and gal exalts
use water and salts.

Doop! Doop! Doop!♪

[cyburai]

Slow day Nate? Or did you already have this?

[klickcue]

Nate, That was funny but you appear to have too much time on your hands and should be over a brew kettle

Jeff, Thanks for all the information. I may give it a go with distilled water one of these days, may be a summer time thing. I will stop by the shop one of these days and drop off a sampler since my taste buds are so bad. Of course, I wear blinders for my beer but at the moment I seem to be hitting my target. I also need to rattle your shelves for some more things for the house. See you soon!

[Jensen]

Nate, you scare me.

[Blktre]

Lawrence water is pretty darn good on its own for most styles. I tried working up RO water to specific regions. I was a gigantic failure at it. I went back to filtering Lawrence water and making sure my mash PH was correct. I think my results are alot better doing this.

Jeff, the only thing i know that might come close to what your looking for are those salt paks that B3 sells that is supposed to emulate certain regions water profile. Pricey in the long term in sure. Good luck finding something that will allow you to build yourself using your own salts.

[klickcue]

Andy,

What kind of problems did you have with modifying your water to a different part of the world? I don't have a problem with Lawrence water but then again, I don't know what I am doing.

I think that I have read/heard (maybe Jamil), that if modifying for Burton on the Trent not to exactly mimic the Burton salts. That was open ended and I don't remember why.

I am going to give it a go with the salts before too long with the next Kolsch-style and see what I get. At least, I will gain a better understanding of the water composition.

All I am after is the learning experience and something to consume while I type this message. A very interesting hobby to work within.

[Blktre]

Andy,

What kind of problems did you have with modifying your water to a different part of the world?

I was working w/a few different water profile calc's. Started weighing salts out and using them. The beer was far from what i was used to brewing

I don't have a problem with Lawrence water but then again, I don't know what I am doing.

I don't either. And neither did I. Experimenting with this was giving me mediocre batch after mediocre batch and I wasn't improving anything. So I stopped.

[klickcue]

Thanks Andy. I appreciate your insight to the salts.

Thanks Jeff. I also appreciate your insight, though I am not ready to move to distilled water yet.

My taste buds are so bad that I have twist other people's arms to try my beer, but I am having fun. But, at least my beer tastes good to me and I consume most of it.

So, I will follow both of your paths and see. I am already drinking the Lawrence water so the worst that can happen with the salts is the beer feeds the worms.

Thanks to All!