minerals in mash water

[Hudson bay distillers]

hello all im looking for information and opinions on the pros and cons of the different minerals in well water , im talking for mashing not proofing .  are there any minerals that would carry over into final product , any info would be great thanks . 

Tim 

[Silk City Distillers]

You might want to pick up a copy of John Palmer's Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, but keep in mind a good portion of what a brewer would be concerned with, a distiller would not be.

In general, you want hard water with low iron, with little or no chlorine or chloramine (generally this impacts surface water and not wells), and low volatile organics (generally this impacts wells vs surface water).

 

 

 

 

[Hudson bay distillers]

thanks silk city i ll def look up that book and see if i can find any information . i personally cant see how any minerals would carry thru the distillation process but maybe im out to lunch . 

tim  

[Silk City Distillers]

Minerals don’t, but they can influence fermentation.

[MGL]

You need some minerals in your mash water. mainly calcium.

Minerals will not make it into your final product unless you distill to such a high heat that you distill iron, calcium, copper, magnesium.  If you distill those minerals you are doing it wrong.

[Hudson bay distillers]

good stuff mgl

[Glenlyon]

You should get a water report or already have one (presumably a part of your health certificate) - which, will provide a profile of what you have. That way you know where to start when making modification decisions.

[Hudson bay distillers]

for sure , were jus waiting for our water test to come back from our new well , hopefully that will give us a better idea if we need to filter our water . 

tim 

[Glenlyon]

Check out CraftBrewWater.com for affordable RO systems. Ours works great.

[Hudson bay distillers]

glenlyon do u use RO water for mashing or jus for proofing . 

tim 

[Hudson bay distillers]

thanks for that link looks like a great option . 

[Glenlyon]

Both. Unfortunately for me I'm dealing with arsenic, so to get the health stuff cleared, I had to agree to the RO throughout the process. But the CBW RO system I have allows for some slight adjustment to help dial in the profile you want.  

[Hudson bay distillers]

hope our water doesnt come back with arsenic in it we have been drinking ever since we moved here lol . 

[Glenlyon]

Here in BC - you have to get a water license to be able to use private well water for commercial purposes. So they had a great deal of information about the rocks and stuff around our area. Between provincial Government and the local health department, I've been warned about the arsenic many times, so if you have a problem, you would probably already know The RO system completely cleans it up to everyone's satisfaction.

[jeffw]

What are people using to bump up their calcium?  People bumping up this number or fermenting as is?  Local water is 35 ppm calcium.  I run a sediment/carbon filter before mash cooker.  I have bumped up with calcium chloride and not and can't say I see any difference one way or the other.

[Silk City Distillers]

What's the total water volume and what target are you shooting for ppm calcium?  How much added?

If you are mashing with an abundance of enzyme, coming from either malt % or external enzyme, you might not notice.

[jeffw]

Mash Bill: 1400 pounds corn, 300 pound wheat, 200 pounds rye, 150 pounds malt; 800 gallons of water and 350 g of calcium chloride, 500ml sebHTL, 200ml sebFlo, 300ml sebGL.  At 35 ppm, it seems like the calcium in the grain would bump you up to around 80, which should be fine.  I guess I have been doing it because I would when home brewing to balance chlorides to sulfates.  In brewing, however, the boil would dissipate most of the chlorides (I think).  In distillation I suppose it might come over as a medicinal taste (though I haven't noticed this).  I don't think bumping up the calcium would be necessary (maybe even harmful), just checking with smarter people...