How to Brew - By John Palmer - Water for Extract Brewing

Site Map
Introduction
Section 1 Brewing Your First Beer With Malt Extract
1	A Crash Course in Brewing
2	Brewing Preparations
3	Malt Extract and Beer Kits
4	Water for Extract Brewing
5	Hops
6	Yeast
7	Boiling and Cooling
8	Fermentation
9	Fermenting Your First Beer
10	What is Different for Brewing Lager Beer?
11	Priming and Bottling
Section 2 Brewing Your First Extract and Specialty Grain Beer
Section 3 Brewing Your First All-Grain Beer
Section 4 Formulating Recipes and Solutions

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Chapter 4 - Water for Extract Brewing

The Taste of Water

Water is very important to beer. After all, beer is mostly water. Some waters are famous for brewing: the soft water of Pilsen, the hard water of Burton, Midlands, and pure Rocky Mtn. spring water. Each of these waters contributed to the production of a unique tasting beer. But what about your water? Can it make a good beer? When using malt extract, the answer is almost always "Yes". If you are brewing with grain, the answer can vary from "Sometimes" to "Absolutely".

The reason for the difference between the brewing methods is that the minerals in the water can affect the starch conversion of the mash, but once the sugars have been produced, the affect of water chemistry on the flavor of the beer is greatly reduced. When brewing with malt extract, if the water tastes good to begin with, the beer should taste good.

Water for Extract Brewing
4.0	The Taste of Water
4.1	Home Water Treatment
4.2	Water Chemistry Adjustment for Extract Brewing

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Appendix A - Using Hydrometers
Appendix B - Brewing Metallurgy
Appendix C - Chillers
Appendix D - Building a Mash/Lauter Tun
Appendix E - Metric Conversions
Appendix F - Recommended Reading