Intro to reverse osmosis and brewing better beer
Serves 1
Directions
- 1Consider purchasing your own reverse osmosis machine if your tap water is full of chlorine, alkaline, has an odor, or you don’t know what is in it.
- 2Understand that reverse osmosis removes dissolved solids and sediment from water, resulting in water very low in minerals and alkalinity.
- 3For most beer styles, add brewing salts to RO water to enhance flavor.
- 4For an "easy button" with RO water, use 4 grams of calcium chloride for each 5 gallons of brewing water; for hoppy beers, add 7 grams of gypsum to your brewing water with the calcium chloride.
- 5Acquire gypsum, calcium chloride, and baking soda as adequate starting additions for RO water.
- 6Familiarize yourself with common brewing salts and their contributions: Gypsum (calcium, sulfate), Calcium chloride (calcium, chloride), Epsom salt (magnesium, sulfate), Table salt (sodium, chloride), Chalk (calcium carbonate, generally avoided), Baking soda (raises mash pH in rare cases).
- 7Understand the role of various ions in brewing: Calcium helps with pH, protein precipitation, yeast flocculation, and preventing beerstone; Magnesium provides hardness and can add sour/bitter flavors in excess; Sulfate accentuates hop bitterness and dryness; Chloride accentuates fullness and malt sweetness; Sodium rounds out malt flavors but can make beer salty in high concentrations; Bicarbonate raises mash pH and should be kept low for pale beers.
- 8Utilize brewing spreadsheets or books to determine ideal concentrations of ions for your specific beer style.
- 9Start with lower ends of recommended ranges for water additions, as too much can make beer harsh.
- 10Use a scale that weighs to grams and/or tenths of a gram for accurate measurement of brewing salts.
- 11Experiment with small additions (e.g., a dash of table salt, a pinch of gypsum) to a glass of your beer to understand their effects on flavor.
Ingredients
- 4 grams calcium chloride
- 5 gallons brewing water
- 7 grams gypsum
- calcium chloride
- baking soda
- Epsom salt
- Gypsum (CaSO4 or calcium sulfate)
- Calcium chloride (Pickle crisp or CaCl2)
- Epsom salt (MgSO4 or magnesium sulfate)
- Table salt (NaCl2 or sodium chloride)
- Chalk (CaC03 or calcium carbonate)
- Baking soda (NaHCO3)
- table salt
- gypsum
- calcium chloride
Equipment
reverse osmosis machinescale that weighs to grams and/or tenths of a gram
Tips
- For an "easy button" with RO water, use 4 grams of calcium chloride for each 5 gallons of brewing water. For hoppy beers, add 7 grams of gypsum to your brewing water with the calcium chloride.
- If you are just starting out with RO water and water additions, having gypsum, calcium chloride and baking soda on hand is adequate.
- Adding too much of a brewing salt can make a beer harsh and unappealing; "less is more" applies with water additions.
- A small inexpensive scale is a good tool to have for measuring brewing salts.
- For a basic "all purpose" water profile, aim for: Calcium: 75 ppm, Magnesium: 0-10 ppm (under 25 ppm), Sodium: 0-50 ppm, Sulfate: 50-70 ppm, Chloride: 50-70 ppm.