Meath Water

[auralabuse]

I have brewed loads of stouts and darker style ales which all come out great but when I go for a lighter ale,  IPA etc they just don't turn out right.  I'm wondering at this stage if the tap water in Meath is too hard for these styles.  Any other royal County brewers having this problem,  do you boil the bejeebis out of the water or use mineral water?,  don't wanna miss out on these beers as I love a good ipa

[Beerbuddha]

I'm not in Meath but i was having same issues as i have a well and water is hard as nails but since i got the reverse osmosis system in i can make any water profile by adding minerals required, kinda like having  a blank canvas to work on. Quality water to drink and most important quality water to brew with.

I'm sure others from your area will have some taughts. Thats my 2 cents.

[auralabuse]

Thanks bb,  turns out I'm looking at one of them systems at the mo,  food for thought

[johnrm]

My experience of RO is that there is quite an amount of 'waste' water. Keep this in mind when researching. Hold the sales people to their claims - they are all liars!

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I read that it can take 4 litres of raw water to make 1 litre of RO water, is it really this high?

[auralabuse]

The system I looked at,  and to be honest it was a passing glance in a hardware store seemed to have a 3 stage filter.  All in line with no provision for waste water so it's probably not a ro system,  more filtration

[Beerbuddha]

4 filters on my RO system. I have young children so we wanted best water we could get so ro was no brainer.
Watched good movie called tapped a while back......it's not the issue with water quality it's the chemicals from the plastic packaging that's an issue. I won't be paying for my water to be metred so water usage won't be an issue..... not sure how much is wasted to produce ro water

[johnrm]

I have young children so we wanted best water we could get so ro was no brainer.

RO strips out all the minerals too.
You add minerals into water to balance pH and minerals for a healthy fermentation and a better flavour profile.

Have a look...
http://www.uwhealth.org/news/dr-jacqueline-gerhart-theres-good-and-bad-to-using-reverse-osmosis-water-systems/36710

[Beerbuddha]

Good stuff .......it will cause loss of hair next week and probably make you live longer the week after.

It's a balance. My well water had way too much mineral content for drinking. Some treated water has too much chlorine....... Some has to be boiled.... RO seems the best balance but it's super for brewing with 

[auralabuse]

So bb how do you know what minerals to add?,  and what qtys.  Also where do ya pick them up?,  sorry for all the questions

[Beerbuddha]

Lol million dollar questions
It's a whole new kettle of fish.

Quick answer. Google water calculators some other forums have them.
I use brun water free to download but at first look you will probably give up as it's complicated at first.

You can buy some minerals in homebrew shops but not all. Cheaper to get them on eBay. you also need a scales like jewelry scale to measure precise like 1.356 gramm gypsum

So what I do is collect ro water let's say 35 litres.
Choose water profile for that beer style.
Apply that profile into calculator and it gives me minerals I require for perfect water and it also adjust for perfect mash ph.

I'd concentrate on getting ur process,equipment ect perfect before concentrating on water.
It will give you that last piece of the brewing puzzle.

[RichC]

I use RO and treat it also. I follow the guidelines on HBTs brewing water chemistry primer with a few tweaks from experience
Its a very simple approach and an excellent starting point

[DEMPSEY]

I fitted an RO system in my kitchen and am very happy with it. Separate tap for main water so only use for drinking water and tea/coffee making and general food cooking. Kettle has no gunk any more and coffee tastes better. No good minerals yes but then I do what my mammy told me and I's eats me vegetables   

[johnrm]

Have you a meter?
Home much waste do you have D?