[Frankenbrew]

Hi folks,

I got me some Wyeast 3725 seasonal biere de garde yeast. I look forward every year to it, though this is the first year I will be treating my water for the brew. It has always come out nice, so I'm looking forward to improving it the way I've been improving all my beers lately.

So, my question is: what would be the best water profile to shoot for? Amber balanced? A specific regional profile?

Thanks!

[69franx]

Martin always recommends a color profile, as you can't know what brewers in a region do to treat their water.  That's all i have for you as I know very little about this style

[HoosierBrew]

Martin always recommends a color profile, as you can't know what brewers in a region do to treat their water.  That's all i have for you as I know very little about this style

+1.  Amber Balanced sounds like a plan.

[mabrungard]

I suggest you review the various Belgian city profiles in Bru'n Water and figure out where each of those cities are on the map. Look at the levels of the flavor ions (Na, SO4, and Cl) in those profiles and gain an understanding of the magnitude of each. Figure out the region that your favorite Biere de Garde is from and you might bias your target flavor ion content toward a city or two in that region.

If that is too much work, one of those Amber profiles will probably work well. An important thing to remember is that the calcium and bicarbonate levels in those city profiles are not your targets. They are likely to be lower.

Martin "Brun de Garde"

[Frankenbrew]

Great advice, all! You are right, Martin; the best approach is not necessarily the easiest, and complex problems often cannot be solved with a snap decision. So, I'll sniff around a bit and see what I can learn.

Thanks, All.