Re: Evansville Water
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:11 pm
I'm studying water chemistry right now for the BJCP exam and thought this was relevant to this post.
Famous Brewing Waters
The ions described above are found in different concentrations depending on the source of the water, as shown in the table below for several major brewing centers (data from Greg Noonan's water workshop at the 1991 AHA Conference and are in ppm):
Mineral Calcium Magnesium Sodium Sulfate Bicarbonate Chloride
Plzen 7 2 2 5 15 5
Dortmund 225 40 60 120 180 60
Munich 75 18 2 10 150 2
Vienna 200 60 8 125 120 12
Burton 275 40 25 450 260 35
Dublin 120 5 12 55 125 20
Edinburgh 120 25 55 140 225 65
London 90 5 15 40 125 20
These water compositions have played an important role in the development of world beer styles. In London, Dublin and Munich, the high bicarbonate content is needed to balance the acidifying properties of the dark and roasted malts used in porters, stouts and bocks. When brewing pale beers with this type of water, the mash pH generally needs to be reduced through an acid rest, the use of acid malt or directly adding lactic or phosphoric acid to the brewing liquor to reduce its alkalinity. The water at Burton is extremely hard, and the high concentrations of sulfate and magnesium ions lend a dryness that accents the hoppiness of English bitters and pale ales from this region. On the other end of the spectrum is Pilsen, which has very low concentrations of dissolved ions (which is not the same as being very soft). [Note: “Soft” water simply has low concentration of Calcium and Magnesium cations. It can have higher concentrations of other dissolved minerals. “Soft” water is the opposite of “hard” water, which makes it “hard” for soap to lather due to high concentrations of Calcium and Magnesium. A home water softener operates on the principal of ion exchange, substituting sodium for calcium (not a desirable outcome for brewing). “Soft” and “hard” water are thus not very useful brewing terms.] The adoption of decoction mashing may have been in part due to the lack of minerals in the water, along with the use of undermodified malts. The elaborate series of temperature steps in a decoction mash helps the various enzymatic reactions proceed at a reasonable rate, even though the enzymes are working slowly due to the lack of calcium.
Famous Brewing Waters
The ions described above are found in different concentrations depending on the source of the water, as shown in the table below for several major brewing centers (data from Greg Noonan's water workshop at the 1991 AHA Conference and are in ppm):
Mineral Calcium Magnesium Sodium Sulfate Bicarbonate Chloride
Plzen 7 2 2 5 15 5
Dortmund 225 40 60 120 180 60
Munich 75 18 2 10 150 2
Vienna 200 60 8 125 120 12
Burton 275 40 25 450 260 35
Dublin 120 5 12 55 125 20
Edinburgh 120 25 55 140 225 65
London 90 5 15 40 125 20
These water compositions have played an important role in the development of world beer styles. In London, Dublin and Munich, the high bicarbonate content is needed to balance the acidifying properties of the dark and roasted malts used in porters, stouts and bocks. When brewing pale beers with this type of water, the mash pH generally needs to be reduced through an acid rest, the use of acid malt or directly adding lactic or phosphoric acid to the brewing liquor to reduce its alkalinity. The water at Burton is extremely hard, and the high concentrations of sulfate and magnesium ions lend a dryness that accents the hoppiness of English bitters and pale ales from this region. On the other end of the spectrum is Pilsen, which has very low concentrations of dissolved ions (which is not the same as being very soft). [Note: “Soft” water simply has low concentration of Calcium and Magnesium cations. It can have higher concentrations of other dissolved minerals. “Soft” water is the opposite of “hard” water, which makes it “hard” for soap to lather due to high concentrations of Calcium and Magnesium. A home water softener operates on the principal of ion exchange, substituting sodium for calcium (not a desirable outcome for brewing). “Soft” and “hard” water are thus not very useful brewing terms.] The adoption of decoction mashing may have been in part due to the lack of minerals in the water, along with the use of undermodified malts. The elaborate series of temperature steps in a decoction mash helps the various enzymatic reactions proceed at a reasonable rate, even though the enzymes are working slowly due to the lack of calcium.