BeerBorg

I've been reading the posts on water, and never thought I would be too concerned, other than to make sure I use good tasting water. I've used my well water, which I think tastes better than any bottled water other than Dasani. Now, I've got 10 gals of pure mountain spring water from the NH/Canadian border. tastes like pure clean water, puts Dasani to shame. So, I'm brewing a Porter this week and decided to check the ph. Close to pure water at 7.2. My well water though, may be better suited for brewing at 6.2... LHBS is close now, and won't open until Tuesday, which is when I'll be brewing.
For those of you who are into the water chemistry, will the 1 point difference between the two make an impact that will be noticable? Should I use my well water to brew, and enjoy the mountain water as is?

It's impossible to say without knowing the buffering strength or range of your water. While pH measures the alkalinity of the water it doesn't say how resistant to change the 7.2 or 6.2 reading is. With distilled or reverse osmosis water, each having nearly zero buffering, adding the tiniest amount of potassium in the mash can swing the pH reading much higher. But when you add salts, minerals, acids or base to the water in the correct amounts the pH will 'lock in' at a specific pH and resist any changes the potassium in the mash tries to make. pH is an important indicator but it's really the buffering of the water that will lock in the pH during the mash and keep it from changing.

Thanks Screwy. Since I don't have access to make those calculations, or access to chemicals before brewing, my thought was to go with the 6.2 for the mash, and then the 7.2 (better tasting water) for the sparge. Without the buffering etc info, would that be a better guess? nd that's what I feel it would be at this point a guess...

mtsoxfan wrote:Thanks Screwy. Since I don't have access to make those calculations, or access to chemicals before brewing, my thought was to go with the 6.2 for the mash, and then the 7.2 (better tasting water) for the sparge. Without the buffering etc info, would that be a better guess? nd that's what I feel it would be at this point a guess...

Either way you'll want to take notes and then compare your results with similar beers for taste. The optimal range at 77F is pH 5.4-5.6 so using the 6.2 would seem logical not knowing what's in the pH 7.2 water that makes it taste better.

My local homebrew club, at the March meeting, had a guest speaker from our nearby micro brewery (just celebrated their 4th anniversary) talking about a couple of new beers they are releasing. He spoke about the challenges they have with the water consistency from the Soos Creek water district. After much fiddling around with test batches, they determined the exact water profile they wanted for their new beer (a lager).
I am in a different water district (Highline water district), even though I am just almost 1 mile west of the brewery, but it got me thinking: How consistent is my water supply? I then began using Five Star 5.2 Stabilizer on my batches of brew. My first result is encouraging, somehow, the hop flavor seems just a bit more distinct.
Anyone else have good results using this product?

I been using it for several years now. I use well water and it really does help. Have no idea how but it does.

I normally use my well water, until I got some purer tasting water. I tested after reading Screwy's post, and lo and behold, my well water had a lower ph than the better tasting water. It still wasn't idea for a mash, but I used the well water for mash, mountain water for sparge etc.
We'll see how it turns out...

braukasper wrote:I been using it for several years now. I use well water and it really does help. Have no idea how but it does.

From all I've read 5.2 stabilizer works best with alkaline water, water that has a lot of buffering in it already. It's not a magic bullet for all types of water but if you're getting better tasting beer using it and your source water properties are consistent consider yourself fortunate. For other types of water the sodium levels that stabilizer adds may not be as suitable nor will it benefit water with less alkalinity. While the recommended room temperature water pH range is 5.4 to 5.6 stabilizer tends to lock in most water in the 5.8 range. There's a great deal of information about this at the Brunwater site for anyone like me who loves reading about this stuff.

Thanks Screwy!! My water is coming from a deep well over 200 feet. I've have been resisting playing with the water profiles. It would most likely make a huge difference in my pilsners.