[raydan@AMERITECH.NET: Re: Chicago Water]

An interesting discussion on brewing water chemistry from the CBS list. Last I knew, Mpls and St. Paul water came from the river/lakes, is relatively soft at about 80 ppm hardness. Suburban water typically comes from wells and so is moderately hard at 300 to 400 ppm of hardness. Looks like Windy City Water is somewhere in between. Another advancte of CaCl and Gypsum is that they are buffering agents. So, if you don't have a pH meter, you can't really muck it up too bad like you can using acid. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from Ray Daniels <raydan(a)AMERITECH.NET> ----- Importance: Normal Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:08:47 -0500 Reply-To: Ray Daniels <raydan(a)AMERITECH.NET> From: Ray Daniels <raydan(a)AMERITECH.NET> Subject: Re: Chicago Water To: CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Nils and all, Water chemistry can get plenty complicated but let's see if I can make some simple statements that will generally hold true for our water. 1) You can make good beer in many styles without treating Chicago water, espeically if you are doing extract or partial-mash brewing. Pale bitter beers are the biggest exception, see #3 below. 2) If you are mashing, you will want to add some calcium as it aids in bringing mash pH down to the proper level and is a necessary cofactor for mash amylases. So, in practice I'd do the following: a) For pale, hoppy beers this is definitely recommended and I would use gypsum. b) For malt-balanced beers I use calcium chloride (aids perception of roundness, fullness of malt flavor). c) With dark beers, pH adjustment is aided by the dark grains and the natural calcium in the water will supply some of the cofactor needs, so you can get away with no Ca addition in these cases, but personally, I still add some calcium chloride. 3) Chicago water has more calcium carbonate (temporary hardness) than is generally desireable for pale, bitter beers like Pilsner, IPA, even Kolsch. Some mitigation of that is desireable to prevent a harsh, sometimes soapy bitterness. As Chicago carbonate content levels are about 105-120 ppm and acceptable levels for brewing are between 50 & 75 ppm, you can accomplish these levels by diluting Chicago tap with distilled or RO water (which contain no minerals). (And no, you don't want to use all distilled or RO, you need the trace elements found in tap water--a 50/50 mix is good.) Some will argue for acidification to control pH, but I have found that calcium additions and dark grains work very well. Furthermore, I've had a good number of over acidified beers that are so dry you need a glass of water between pints. All for me. R Ray Daniels Director, Craft Beer Marketing Brewers Association ray(a)brewersassociation.org 773-769-1300 Chicago Office or 312-203-8383 cell For the latest beer news, visit our Media Room ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *