Water

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Water (also called brewing liquor) is a beer ingredient that is frequently underestimated. Besides H2O, water normally contains dissolved salts and dissolved oxygen gas, both of which influence every part of beer production and ultimately affect beer flavor and quality.[1][2] Therefore, attention to the brewing water is necessary for making excellent beer, and small steps can lead to large improvements. Learning about "water chemistry" may seem complicated, but brewers should not be intimidated. Calculations are easily handled by modern brewing software, so just a little knowledge can go a long way.

All-grain brewers have a few goals with regard to water adjustment: The first is to establish a proper mash pH. The second is to manipulate the salt levels to optimize flavor. We are a long way off from fully understanding the impact of water flavor ions on the palate of beer, so the guidelines for this second goal are a little nebulous.[3] A possible third goal (for low oxygen brewing) is to remove dissolved oxygen. Last but not least, brewers using municipal tap water must be remove the chlorine in order to avoid off-flavors. Besides these adjustments, brewers need to measure the correct volume(s) of water and heat it to the correct temperature in order to prepare it for mashing.

Water for extract brewing will be discussed separately. (?)

Sources of brewing water

RO or tap water are the best sources of water for brewing. RO water is the most flexible, and it's easy to produce. Tap water is usually fine. Get a water report and monitor for changes.

Read the full guide: Water sources

Remove chlorine from municipal tap water

Municipal tap water is treated with chlorine compounds for the purpose of disinfection. These chlorine compounds will react with phenolic compounds in the wort, causing the formation of harsh, Band-Aid®-like off-flavors, which can be detectable in beer even in very small amounts. Therefore, the water needs to be dechlorinated before mashing. The easiest way to remove the chlorine is to add a small amount of sulfite, which will neutralize chlorine and chloramines into harmless byproducts.

Read the full guide: Remove chlorine from tap water

Remove dissolved oxygen (deaeration)

Water naturally contains dissolved oxygen gas (abbreviated DO), which is a major source of oxygen that can be introduced into the wort during mashing. The oxygen then "activates" and reacts with the malt components, a process called oxidation. Oxidation has a wide variety of negative effects on the brewing process and beer quality. To avoid these problems, the DO should be removed (through a process called deaeration) prior to mashing. This is part of a holistic low oxygen brewing method. For scall-scale brewers, water dearation is simple to accomplish with the help of the brewer's best friend: yeast!

Read the full guide: Remove dissolved oxygen from water

Adjusting water minerals and alkalinity

Some ions have a direct effect on flavor: sodium, potassium, magnesium, hydrogen (pH), chloride, and sulfate. Ions can also affect other as aspects of beer quality, including fermentation, mash enzyme action, haze, and pH control.

The principal ions are the cations – calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium – and the anions – sulfate, nitrate, phosphate, chlorides, and silicate. The minor ions are iron, copper, zinc, and manganese. The level of toxic metals is limited by law. Cereals, water, hops, and adjuncts are the main sources of the minerals present in beer, while yeast, industrial processing and the containers contribute to a lesser extent.[2]

The water profiles of different European cities has influences the development of beer styles suited to achieving the proper mash pH, long before brewers knew of such concepts.[2]

Important ions in brewing water
Ion  Desired level  Characteristics
Calcium (Ca2+) 50 to 150 mg/L Calcium improves mashing enzyme activity, beneficially lowers pH, improves protein coagulation, lowers oxalate, and improves yeast flocculation. Calcium does not provide flavor.
Magnesium (Mg2+) 5 to 40 mg/L Magnesium beneficially lowers pH, improves fermentation performance, increases hop utilization, and imparts a sour and bitter astringency to beer.
Sodium (Na+) 0 to 120 mg/L Sodium improves mouthfeel and fullness, rounds out flavors, and accentuates the sweetness of malt.
Potassium (K+) 0 to 200 mg/L Potassium is required for fermentation, but the malt provides more than enough to support the yeast. Potassium does not provide flavor unless the level is excessive.
Chloride (Cl−) 0 to 250 mg/L Chloride provides a roundness, fullness, and a sweet quality to the malt character.
Sulfate (SO42−) 10 to 500 mg/L Sulfate accentuates hop bitterness, and adds dryness and astringency, lending a more crisp finish.
Bicarbonate (HCO3−) Variable, based on pH Bicarbonate is ion responsible for alkalinity — it raises pH during mashing, etc. Bicarbonate does not provide flavor.
Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn) None These transition metals catalyze oxidation and therefore their levels should be as low as possible.

Most of the salts in beer originate from the barley. A 12°P beer will contribute about 1200mg/L of minerals.[4] However, minerals in the water still have a significant impact on flavor.

Water pH, in and of itself, does not mean anything to brewers.[5] The pH values that matter in wort production are mash pH (pH 5.2–5.4 is the ideal range), wort pH flowing from the mash tun (anything from pH 5.2–5.8 is great, and pH 6.0 for the last runnings is tolerable), and wort pH before the boil (I like pH 5.2–5.4, and nothing greater than pH 5.6). If you find that you need to acidify mash or wort, lactic acid or phosphoric acids are easy to use. You can also add calcium since it reacts with malt phosphates and amino acids to decrease mash and wort pH. And if you need to bump the pH up, baking soda is really the easiest thing to add. Don’t worry about the sodium since you are really not adding much at all.

Ion contents in 10°P wort and beer with distilled water[6]
Ion Wort (mg/L) Beer (mg/L)
Na+ 10 12
K+ 380 355
Ca2+ 35 33
Mg2+ 70 65
Zn2+ 0.17 0
Cu2+ 0.15 0.12
Fe3+ 0.11 0.07
Cl- 125 130
SO42- 5 15
PO43- (free) 550 389
PO43- (total) 830 604

Also see Brewing Science and Practice page 164 for another example of ionic content in beer.

Depending on the malts used, a standard 12°P gravity wort has levels of around 100-270 μg/L iron, 20-400 μg/L copper and 80-150 μg/L manganese with 100-5000 μg/L of the beneficial zinc. Calcium and magnesium - two other beneficial brewing metals found in wort - were not screened in our trials. Neither appear to substantially chelate out of solution (19) and they are also present in wort at concentrations two orders of magnitude higher than the detrimental iron, copper and manganese ions (namely, 50-90 mg/L for Mg and 15-35 mg/L for Ca) (31).[7]

Requirements for brew water[8] Parameter Limits Fe (ppm) <0.1 Mn (ppm) <0.05 Turbidity (NTU) 0.0–0.5 Ca2+ (ppm) 80/70–90 Mg2+ (ppm) 0–10 Na+ (ppm) 0–20 m-Alkalinity (ppm CaCO3) 25/10–50 Residual alkalinity according to Kolbach (ppm CaCO3) <0 Cl- (ppm) 0–50 SO4 2- (ppm) 30–150 NO3- (ppm) 0–25 NO2- (ppm) <0.1 KMnO4 (ppm O2 per L) <5 pH 5.0–9.5 SiO2 (ppm) 0–25 THMs (ppb) <10 Total H2S (ppb) <5


In beer most of the minerals originate from the barley. About 75% derives from the malt, while the remaining 25% originates from the water. The minerals include about 35% phosphates, about 25% silicates, and about 20% potassium salts.[2]

Heavy metals, such as lead (Pb2+) and tin (Sn2+), can be inhibitory to certain yeast enzymes and can induce haze formation.2[9]

Sulfate-to-Cloride ratio
The ratio of sulfate to chloride is said to greatly influence the hoppy-to-malty or dryness-to-fullness balance of the beer. However, the actually amounts of each ion clearly also still play a role. The useful range of the ratio is 9 to 0.5, mainly for ales. Lagers tend to benefit from low levels of sulfate regardless of the ratio.[6]

Comrie[10] (1967) suggests sulfate to chloride of 2:1 for pale ales and 2:3 for mild ales.

Many authors (e.g., see references 1, 19, 22, 23) refer to the importance of the chloride to sulfate balance. From the previous discussion regarding chloride and sulfate, it can be seen that the relative flavor effects of these ions are somewhat antagonistic. In an attempt to quantify this point, it has been shown16 that increasing the Cl− : SO4 2− ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 (on a mg/L basis) achieved increased taste panel scores for body and sweetness, with a commensurate reduction in drying, bitter, and metallic flavors. In contrast, when the Cl− : SO4 2− ratio was changed from 1:1 to 1:2, the increased sulfate content achieved reduced body and sweetness but increased bitterness and drying flavors. These effects are repeatable at different absolute concentrations of chloride and sulfate. It appears that, in many cases, it is the relative ratio of the two ions that has the major flavor influence, often irrespective of the accompanying cations.[9]

The key influence of chloride on beer flavor is somewhat antagonistic to sulfate, producing smoothness and body effects.[9]

The ratio of chloride to sulfate helps to regulate the saline/bitter character of beer.[11]

The ratio between chloride and sulfate is thought to be important with regard to regulating the palatability of the beer.[3]

Water profiles from famous/historical brewing regions are useless because brewers have been modifying their brewing water for centuries.[6][12]

Inorganic ions are required in enzymic and structural roles. Enzymic functions include the following:[9]

  • As the catalytic center of an enzyme (e.g., Zn2+, Mn2+, Cu2+, Co2+)
  • As activators of enzyme activity (e.g., Mg2+)
  • As metal co-enzymes (e.g., K+)
  • As cofactors in redox pigments (e.g., Fe3+, Cu2+)

Structural roles involve neutralization of electrostatic forces present in various cellular anionic molecules. These include:[9]

  • K+ and Mg2+ ions bound to DNA, RNA, proteins, and polyphosphates
  • Ca2+ and Mg2+ combined with the negatively charged structural membrane

phospholipids

  • Ca2+ complexed with cell wall phosphate ions

Arguably, control of wort and beer pH is the single most important feature of the influence of inorganic ions on beer quality and flavor.[9]

Buy a pH meter. Test strips are for amateurs. If you are serious about brewing good beer, then you need to be serious about measuring your results and reaching your goals.

Bench trials for learning flavor effects?

An all-malt pale lager wort (12° P) should contain about 550 mg/1. potassium, 30 mg/1. sodium, 35 mg/1. calcium, 100 mg/1. magnesium, 0.10 mg/1. copper, 0.10 mg/1. iron, 0.15 mg/1. manganese, and 0.15 mg/1. zinc.[13]


Water volume

For small-scale all-grain brewing, it's a good idea to use recipe software to calculate the amount of water required for mashing (in order to obtain the desired quantity of beer at the end). Liquid is lost throughout the brewing process, which affects how much water is needed at the beginning. The volume of water required depends on the desired beer volume (batch size), the recipe, the brewing system, and the brewing methods. Because of this, it's beneficial to understand how each part of the brewing process affects the volume of beer. Taking volume measurements can help to accurately and consistently brew the desired amount of beer with minimal waste. When measuring volume while brewing, be aware that water expands when it is heated and contracts when it cools.

[Volume of packaged beer] = [Volume added] – [Volume lost]

Volume added:

  • Mash water - Water used during mashing includes the strike water and any water that is added by additional infusions (i.e. step mashing). Approximately 0.42–0.48 US gallons of water is needed for each pound of malt (3.5–4 L/kg).[4]
  • Sparge water - If sparging, the total required water should be evenly split between the mash and sparge.[4][12]
  • Water for dilution or dissolution - Water can be used to dilute the wort or beer to achieve a lower s.g. or alcohol level. Water used to dissolve additives also counts toward volume.
  • Sauergut - Sour wort can be added during mashing or boiling to help control brewing pH and add flavor.
  • Yeast starter - The wort used for yeast starters adds to the total amount of wort.
  • Fruit juice - In fruit beer, the juice adds volume (the solids do not).
  • Priming sugar solution - Sugar for bottle (or keg) priming for natural carbonation is often first dissolved in water.

Volume lost:

  • Water left in the HLT - Water in the Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) may not fully drain into the the MLT. This should be fairly simple to measure.
  • Grain absorption - The spent grains are still wet after lautering, meaning some wort is lost. In order to find your grain absorption rate, you can weigh the spent grain after lautering to see how much the weight increased.
  • Wort left in the MLT - Wort in the Mash Lauter Tun (MLT) may not fully drain into the boil kettle.
  • Evaporation during heating, mashing, chilling - Evaporation from hot water or wort lowers volume.
  • Vaporization during boiling - Water is vaporized (turned to steam) during wort boiling (or pre-boiling for water deaeration).
  • Wort and trub left in the kettle (including hop absorption) - Trub is typically left behind in the boil kettle, whirlpool, or removed from the fermenter after settling.
  • Water or wort left in tubing, pumps, chiller, and any other equipment - Loss or water, wort, or beer can occur due to a variety of brewing equipment.
  • Sediment and beer left in the fermenter (and bottling bucket) - Not all of the beer is drained from the fermentation vessel.

Keep in mind that the volume of water used for mashing needs to physically fit within the mashing vessel, along with the grist plus thermal expansion of the water. Each pound of grain adds roughly 0.34 US qt of volume (700 mL per kg).[4]

Water temperature

The strike water must be heated to where it will reach the target mash temperature when combined with the grist in the mashing vessel. Both the grist and the mashing vessel will cool the water, so the strike water temperature must be somewhat higher than the target mash temperature. This calculation can be easily handled by software. However, some guesswork is involved with how much the mashing vessel will decrease the temperature. When first brewing on a new system, it's helpful to use a calibrated thermometer to see whether adjustments to strike water temperature are needed for subsequent batches. Generally, the target mash-in temperature should be that of the first rest.[4]

Boiling point

The boiling point of water changes based on the atmospheric pressure, and therefore it is different at different elevations. Higher elevations have lower boiling point due to the decrease in atmospheric pressure.

Water Boiling Point vs. Altitude
Altitude Boiling Point
(ft) (m) (°F) (°C)
-1000 -305 213.9 101.1
-500 -152 213.0 100.5
0 0 212.0 100.0
500 152 211.0 99.5
1000 305 210.1 98.9
1500 457 209.1 98.4
2000 610 208.1 97.8
2500 762 207.2 97.3
3000 914 206.2 96.8
3500 1067 205.3 96.3
4000 1219 204.3 95.7
4500 1372 203.4 95.2
5000 1524 202.4 94.7
5500 1676 201.5 94.2
6000 1829 200.6 93.6
6500 1981 199.6 93.1
7000 2134 198.7 92.6
7500 2286 197.8 92.1
8000 2438 196.9 91.6
8500 2591 196.0 91.1
9000 2743 195.0 90.6
9500 2896 194.1 90.1
10000 3048 193.2 89.6
10500 3200 192.3 89.1
11000 3353 191.4 88.6
11500 3505 190.5 88.1
12000 3658 189.7 87.6
12500 3810 188.8 87.1
13000 3962 187.9 86.6
13500 4115 187.0 86.1
14000 4267 186.1 85.6
14500 4420 185.3 85.1
15000 4572 184.4 84.7
15500 4724 183.5 84.2
16000 4877 182.7 83.7
16500 5029 181.8 83.2
17000 5182 180.9 82.7
17500 5334 180.1 82.3
18000 5486 179.2 81.8
18500 5639 178.4 81.3
19000 5791 177.6 80.9
19500 5944 176.7 80.4
20000 6096 175.9 79.9
20500 6248 175.1 79.5
21000 6401 174.2 79.0
21500 6553 173.4 78.6
22000 6706 172.6 78.1
22500 6858 171.8 77.7
23000 7010 171.0 77.2
23500 7163 170.2 76.8
24000 7315 169.4 76.3
24500 7468 168.6 75.9
25000 7620 167.8 75.4
25500 7772 167.0 75.0
26000 7925 166.2 74.5
26500 8077 165.4 74.1
27000 8230 164.6 73.7
27500 8382 163.8 73.2
28000 8534 163.1 72.8
28500 8687 162.3 72.4
29000 8839 161.5 72.0

See also


Potential sources

References

  1. ↑ Narziss L, Back W, Gastl M, Zarnkow M. Abriss der Bierbrauerei. 8th ed. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c d Montanari L, Mayer H, Marconi O, Fantozzi P. Chapter 34: Minerals in beer. In: Preedy VR, ed. Beer in Health and Disease Prevention. Academic Press; 2009:359–365.
  3. ↑ a b Howe S. Raw materials. In: Smart C, ed. The Craft Brewing Handbook. Woodhead Publishing; 2019.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Kunze W. Hendel O, ed. Technology Brewing & Malting. 6th ed. VBL Berlin; 2019.
  5. ↑ Lewis A. The low down on water softeners for brewing. Brew Your Own website. 2020. Accessed online 2024.
  6. ↑ a b c Palmer J, Kaminski C. Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers. Brewers Publications; 2013.
  7. ↑ Mertens T, Kunz T, Wietstock PC, Methner FJ. Complexation of transition metals by chelators added during mashing and impact on beer stability. J Inst Brew. 2021;127(4):345–357.
  8. ↑ Eumann M, Schildbach S. 125th Anniversary review: Water sources and treatment in brewing. J Inst Brew. 2012;118:12–21.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f Taylor DG. Water. In: Stewart GG, Russell I, Anstruther A, eds. Handbook of Brewing. 3rd ed. CRC Press; 2017.
  10. ↑ Comrie AA. Brewing liquor—a review. J Inst Brew. 1967;73(4):335–346.
  11. ↑ Briggs DE, Boulton CA, Brookes PA, Stevens R. Brewing Science and Practice. Woodhead Publishing Limited and CRC Press LLC; 2004.
  12. ↑ a b Fix G. Principles of Brewing Science. 2nd ed. Brewers Publications; 1999.
  13. ↑ Holzmann A, Piendl A. Malt modification and mashing conditions as factors influencing the minerals of wort. J Am Soc Brew Chem. 1977;35(1):1–8.
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