[Kaiser]

A number of people have asked me to publish some of the water recipes I'm using. I guess b/c I talk so much about water.

So I decided to do that here: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Various_water_recipes

But don't get the idea that these are highly optimized and elaborate recipes. I generally only care about residual alkalinity and hardness. When it comes to hardness I prerfer softer water but have yet to make a side-by-side with waters that have large diferences in their hardness.

See them as starting points.

Kai

[denny]

Cool!  Thanks as always!  I tend not to mess with my water and do as is traditionally done...brew styles that fit my water, rather than try to make water to fit the style I'm brewing.  But your guidelines will be really valuable for those times I'm gonna make water.

[Kaiser]

Building water from scratch is really a home brewer only thing. I think only few commercial brewers would want to go that route given the capital investment and the amount of waste water produced by an RO system.

But building water adds so many more knobs that a homebrewer can turn and this can be rather daunting for beginners. When I moved to the new house and started using RO water I didn’t know want to aim for either. So many choices. In the end I actually started emulating the water I had in North Carolina b/c it had worked so well for me. Later I gained a better understanding of water chemistry and figured out what is important and what not.

But having a collection of basic water recipes for a handful of different styles should help many who want to or have to build water from scratch but don’t know where to start.

[lonnie mac]

Thanks Kai! This is some GREAT stuff...

I do all my water myself also. RO... Indeed at first it can be a scary thing to figure all this out.

[blatz]

I don't know about that assertion, Kai.  Maybe at the big level, but not so much on micros.
 
My pro friend has recommended for a year now to get an RO system.  Nothing like peer pressure.  I still might cave one day - I might get a quote just for kicks.

He says that most craft breweries use RO (he's friendly with a lot of the Cali and Denver micros), and frankly, every brewpub I've been to and brewer that I have talked to uses RO water and adds some back.  

We just had a discussion on the NB board - Stone uses RO according to a recent Jamil podcast.  

I think building from RO gives a level of consistency that is necessary for quality control.

Anyhow - thanks for taking the time to make that list - I am going to pm/email you later a profile that I used for my Baltic Porter - I think I overdid it a bit   but there's so much complexity in there, who'll notice!

[denny]

and frankly, every brewpub I've been to and brewer that I have talked to uses RO water and adds some back.  

Interesting....my experience with brewpubs/micros around here is just the opposite!

[hamiltont]

Brew pub here uses RO water. Has a huge tank in the back room.  He's very picky about his water.

[Kaiser]

He says that most craft breweries use RO (he's friendly with a lot of the Cali and Denver micros), and frankly, every brewpub I've been to and brewer that I have talked to uses RO water and adds some back. 

really. I didn't know that. On the other hand I tend to be less in touch with what US craft breweries do than what a German brewery might be doing. For the latter I think that if the RA of the tap water matches what is needed for their beer, the water from the tap will be used w/o modifications. Which is why emulating the local water from a paricular German brewery is oftentimes a good start. But there are exceptions as well.

If Stone is using RO water, I'll have to check with them how they handle chalk in their very dark beers.

Kai

[blatz]

and frankly, every brewpub I've been to and brewer that I have talked to uses RO water and adds some back.  

Interesting....my experience with brewpubs/micros around here is just the opposite!

I think you guys have very good water is the reason, least based on the tap water I had when there last week.  I'd kill to have water that good without filtering.

I was in a brewpub in Reno and had an amber that tasted like pennies - I sent it back, so they had the brewer come talk to me - first thing he said was "you're a brewer aren't you?" then he immediately apologized b/c the day they made that batch the RO system was on the fritz and he just went on without it, course, I'm the only one to have complained, but oh well.

I know the five I've been to here also use RO.

[blatz]

kai - I don't know if i'll get in trouble posting a link to another forum, but here's the discussion we were having:

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=81869

I have no doubt you're correct about the big german breweries, and I would surmise the same for some of the big Americans, although being that the three majors all brew in multiple locations, they might use RO to keep the product consistent - pure speculation, but a good guess I think.

[lonnie mac]

I know St Arnold here also uses RO... The system is just mind blowing. One of the reasons I went to RO was because at a brew-in there one day, we all had free use of the 2" RO hose...

In my case here at home, chemically my water really ain't that bad. But you remember the old adage, if it taste good brew with it... Well, mine taste like crap!

[Kaiser]

kai - I don't know if i'll get in trouble posting a link to another forum, but here's the discussion we were having:
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=81869

I don't think you should get in trouble. I'm a big fan of cross linking. I'll check it out.

Kai

[blatz]

I know St Arnold here also uses RO... The system is just mind blowing. One of the reasons I went to RO was because at a brew-in there one day, we all had free use of the 2" RO hose...

lonnie - so if I read you correctly, you're saying that since you were able to do it that day, the results were so great that you made the switch?

[denny]

and frankly, every brewpub I've been to and brewer that I have talked to uses RO water and adds some back.  

Interesting....my experience with brewpubs/micros around here is just the opposite!

I think you guys have very good water is the reason, least based on the tap water I had when there last week.  I'd kill to have water that good without filtering.

That's my guess, too.  Generally, the water is fairly soft and not noxious!

I'm lucky in that my well water is fantastic for both brewing and drinking.

[denny]

kai - I don't know if i'll get in trouble posting a link to another forum, but here's the discussion we were having:

Not unless it's a porn forum!