PEI Water

[Jonaconda]

Hi All!
What do all the Islanders on here use for water? I have just used Charlottetown tap water, sometimes with a campden tablet, sometimes not. I usually get a bit less attenuation than I'd expect, and am finally getting around to testing water. Most of my brews end up around 1.018-1.020 and I'd really like to get them lower. I have a new ph meter and will start using it. I plan on using Superstore water for my next brew, but anyone have any suggestions?

[EastCoastHoppers]

Hey Jon,

I use my tap water as well but live out in the country so there is no worry about chlorine. I find the water here is moderately hard so I use some lactic acid to bring down my pH for mashing light beers and actually need a bit of calcium carbonate to keep the pH from getting too low on my stouts. I also use calcium chloride for malty beers and calcium sulfate for hoppy beers. I use Brew n water (https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/) excel spread sheet to do all my calculations. Just need to enter your water profile (should be able to get that from the city) and make your adjustments.

Shoot me an email if you need any help!
Cheers,
Matt

[Jonaconda]

Thanks Matt.

I brewed my APA (with your grains) using Superstore water and I hit every number I measured, so for now I am going to go with that. I'll revisit water soon, when I learn how to use my ph Meter.

[EastCoastHoppers]

Great to hear you hit all your numbers! If you are using RO water, I would recommend adding 1 tsp each of calcium chloride and calcium sulfate. That will give you the proper amount of calcium to help enzyme activity in the mash and promote yeast health and flocculation. This will give you a balanced 1:1 ratio of chloride to sulfate and would be fine in any style of beer.

Hope that helps!
Matt