[quote=“Brew On”]I don’t really have anything to add other than to wonder if you got an answer to your question.[/quote]LOL - yeah, this thread did go off here and there. Hopefully the OP learned that as with most things in brewing, you can ask questions and get lots of (sometimes contradictory) answers, but you’ll have to figure out what works for your specific situation or application. There is only one absolute in homebrewing - pants off with a blue cooler!
Not really. Brewers don’t make shit. :mrgreen:
I don’t doubt that at all. Water chemistry is something that takes a beer from “good” to “great”, not from “bad” to “good”.
Learning about water and its role in the brewing process is a natural evolution into homebrewing. I agree that if you drink your water it should be fine to brew with unless you are brewing from grain. Brewing from grain requires that you provide some accuracy to the brewing process in order to convert starch to sugar.
There’s some misconception about AG brewing with RO water. Using RO water does not exclude the brewer from paying attention to brew pH, it just simplifies the process and makes treatment predictable.
So you’re a successful AG brewer that wants to perfect your pint? Welcome to the fray! That is the art of brewing. Plenty of resources out there to help you on your way. I prefer Noonan’s and Kai’s work.
[quote=“zwiller”]Learning about water and its role in the brewing process is a natural evolution into homebrewing. I agree that if you drink your water it should be fine to brew with unless you are brewing from grain. Brewing from grain requires that you provide some accuracy to the brewing process in order to convert starch to sugar.
[/quote]
I am an AG brewer, I have not changed my chemistry, and never had a problem reaching my OG, and never had a problem with off flavors.
[quote=“brans041”]
I am an AG brewer, I have not changed my chemistry, and never had a problem reaching my OG, and never had a problem with off flavors.[/quote]
[quote=“a10t2”]
I don’t doubt that at all. Water chemistry is something that takes a beer from “good” to “great”, not from “bad” to “good”.[/quote]
Everyone keeps saying you don’t need to worry about it unless you brew all grain. I am trying to say, you don’t need to worry about it. Period.
Well you don’t need to “worry” about it unless you are unhappy with your beer. That being said even if you are happy with your beer, it’s quite possible(and even likely) that getting your water chemistry right will improve your beer. That’s why for most people it’s something that is not tackled right away. There are certainly a lot of other details to get right that play a bigger role in the finished product. But once a brewer feels comfortable with those many choose to take the next step and tackle their water. No big deal if you choose not to but I wouldn’t try to downplay its importance based on that, especially if you don’t have any first hand experience.
That’s been my personal experience. For maybe the forst 8-10 years I brewed I didn’t really do anything but add some gypsum for hoppy beers. I won some awards for beers made that way, but something just wasn’t right with my very light or very dark beers. Once I started paying attention to water chemistry those beers improved immensely.
That’s simply not true. It’s possible that a brewer would have a tap water composition that lends itself to the styles he likes to brew, but it isn’t guaranteed. If I tried to brew a stout without treating my tap water, my mash pH would be so far out of line that I wouldn’t even get conversion.
My water is apparently perfectly suited to beers of around 10 SRM. It is very soft, about as soft as Pilsen’s water, and has fairly low alkalinity (33 ppm/19 ppm residual). Still, the alkalinity is high enough that I probably couldn’t make a good Pilsner without acidifying my water, so I’m pushed up to around 10 SRM. On the other hand, even with the lack of calcium, alkalinity is probably sufficiently low as to push good stouts and porters even more out of reach (without adding salts) than Pilsners.
I suspect I could make a decent version of my preferred beer style (brown ale) without any water additions, but for better or worse, I’ve jumped in to all grain with both feet 
. My first, which went into primary on Sunday, was predicted to come out at 14 SRM, and will probably be closer to 20. I added just about 1.5 grams of chalk to the mash and seemed to be in range. We’ll see!
[quote=“brans041”]Everyone keeps saying you don’t need to worry about it unless you brew all grain. I am trying to say, you don’t need to worry about it. Period.[/quote]My well water is so bad for brewing, that if I didn’t worry about it, I would have quit brewing. I sent a sample to Ward Labs for testing & found out that I have very alkaline, high iron water. Ajdelange over at homebrewtalk.com recommended that it be cut with RO water & add CaCl & Lactic Acid. The beers are now something I am proud of.
You’re entitled to your opinion. My opinion is that this is bad advice.
^ could not have said it better myself
water is obviously important. otherwise major breweries wouldn’t waste time and money to alter it. to say that those breweries are doing that for nothing is pretty dumb IMO
Water that’s suited for a higher SRM imperial IPA obviously wont be good for a pilsner. try for yourself and let us know. there’s a reason styles were created regionally, because their water was suited for the particular style. to say otherwise is doubting the history of beer styles
not to mention all the very talented homebrewers on this forum who say that it WILL improve your beer. experience speaks for itself
