Water Salts and Chemicals

For most home brewers, brewing with city water or well water works fine. But, if you want to take your brewing to a new level, it is possible to modify your water by adding water salts or using a pack of water emulating salts that duplicates the water found in many famous brewing cities (e.g. Dortmund, Dublin, Burton-on-Trent).

Gypsum, calcium chloride and calcium carbonate are the most common water salts used in brewing beer.  Many city water suppliers will share the mineral content (Calcium, Carbonate, Sulphate, Chloride) of the city water with home brewers. If you have a well water supply, you can send a sample of your water to a lab to have it tested. We have used Ward Labs for this service.

Once you know the mineral content of your water supply, you can feel comfortable making adjustments in your water to duplicate a particular water source or duplicate a famous brewing city's water.  When brewing most styles of beer, it is best to have at least 50 ppm of Calcium and less than 100 ppm of carbonate. You many find that if your water source is low in Calcium, you would benefit your brew by increasing the Calcium level by adding Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) or Calcium Chloride. Most all-grain brewing kits should have a mash pH of about 5.0 to 5.5.

Not sure exactly how to adjust your ph levels or adjust your water? Contact us with any questions.