Even clean water has trace minerals and other substances dissolved in it.
Water is one of the four basic ingredients of beer brewing, along with malt, hops and yeast. Because of this, as home brewers get more advanced into the craft of brewing, they often start to look at exactly what is in their water, and how it can be adjusted for a better end product. Hard, alkaline water is a common problem for brewers, but is generally simple to deal with. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Obtain a water analysis report from your local municipal water works. These reports vary by location, but will usually contain information about your water's exact hardness, pH, and the levels of some minerals, in addition to safety data. This is the easiest way to get reliable information about your water's exact makeup. Look in particular for information on carbonate (anything ending in CO3) content, which both raises water pH and hardens it.
2. Enter your water report's mineral data into a brewing water calculator (see Resources) for an estimation of how much you will need to adjust your water.
3. Boil the water you will be using for a few minutes. This will cause some of the bicarbonates in the water to drop out of solution, turning into small white flakes at the bottom of the pot. Pour the water off these flakes and discard them.
4. Test the pH of the water with litmus paper once it has cooled and compare that to the estimated pH from the water calculator. If it is close to your target, you are ready to brew.
5. Add a teaspoon of calcium chloride per five gallons of brewing water and boil it again if the pH of the water is still far from your target. This will help precipitate out more of the bicarbonate. All but the absolute hardest waters should be suitable for brewing after this.
6. Test the pH again.
7. Dilute your brewing water with distilled water until it gets close to your target pH if it still has not reached this point.
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