Water Chemistry - Is there any point?

[banjobrew]

Well!

Now that I've gotten to grips with the fundamentals of water ion manipulation and sourced my local water profile, I want to experiment in my next brewday.

All of the information I've read and the calculators used all discuss all-grain brewing but I'd like to apply this to my extract process.

I know it's mostly about mash pH but I'd simply like to simulate well known brewing water and use it in my steep, boil and top-up water.

The next brew I've planned is an ESB and I'd like to round out and accentuate the malt by adding sodium and chloride.

Is there much point in doing this with extract? If so, what's the best way to go about it?

Thanks in advance!

[molc]

For all grain, we're trying firstly to get the pH in range, which won't apply for you. The next part is adding sulphates etc to accentuate certain flavours, which would work for extract as well. Brunwater is a good excel sheet that will lead you through setting up a water profile or Beersmith has fairly good settings in the recent update.

[Leann ull]

I've used Beersmith last 5 brews with new update and it's totally designed for idiots like me spitting out ph and water additions, the other online calculators can be very complicated.
All need input from your current supply which vary widely, only real way around that is RO

[BrewDorg]

I've read that for extract, unless you know the water profile the manufacturer used in making the extract, you could potentially be overloading certain minerals in your brew by adding more. No expert, but it's worth reading into.

[banjobrew]

I want the ESB to be on the slightly malty side so I've opted for 1g Epsom Salt and 3g Calcium Chloride.



I fancy brewing the same recipe after with the ratio in favour of bitterness.

I've read that for extract, unless you know the water profile the manufacturer used in making the extract, you could potentially be overloading certain minerals in your brew by adding more. No expert, but it's worth reading into.

This sounds like it makes sense.

[DEMPSEY]

What I have done with Beersmith is set my own water profile as RO so that as I add malts and hops to build my recipe I also add one of the waters of the world. When I do this beersmith simply adds the salts list to me recipe. To make things even easier I take the water profile I like and copy and paste it and rename it to my beer style. E.G. Dublin dry stout is now Wolstan dry stout and Edinburgh Scotland is Wolstan Brown ale. 

[DEMPSEY]

How do you take a screen shot of Beersmith so I can show you a recipe

[Pheeel]

How to fix your water chemistry 

[BrewDorg]

No Tesco in Kilkenny county means my shopping trips back home look like this

[banjobrew]

So am I doing the right thing?

How do you take a screen shot of Beersmith so I can show you a recipe

Hit the screendump button on your keyboard. Usually prt sc or something, on the top right.

[Will_D]

The OP was all about extract brewing and what water is used by the manufacturer.

Extract brewers need to know what the extract contains already in terms of Carbonate/Sulphates/Chlorides.

This may be a question the HB shops could ask of their suppliers.

The thread veered OT by talking about AG brewing and RO water!

[DEMPSEY]

Thanks for spotting that Will_D. Did not notice, will you sorry me

[DEMPSEY]

How do you take a screen shot of Beersmith so I can show you a recipe

Hit the screendump button on your keyboard. Usually prt sc or something, on the top right.

Cheers for that. I was always trying to figure out how people did this . Ye are never finished larning

[Ciaran]

http://beersmith.com/blog/2016/04/29/why-you-should-use-neutral-water-for-extract-brewing-beer-brewing-quick-tip/

might be worth a listen.