Hello everyone,
I have been having problems brewing lighter beers since moving. The water here in Zürich is very hard, and I have some problems converting the information gathered from the utility to something I can input into the calculator. Specifically the HCO3 value. Here is my local water profile:
Ca 110 mg/L
Mg 6.7 mg/L
SO4 6 mg/L
Cl 0.02 mg/L
Na 4.4 mg/L
Gesamthärte (total hardness) 2.95 mmol/L
Säureverbrauch (alkalinity) 5.62 mmol/L
So I have checked total hardness based on the Ca and Mg, and come close the the given value. This translates to 17 dH, 30 fH, or 300 ppm CaCO3.
The calculator asks for HCO3, which I do not explicitly have. Can someone assist with figuring this out?
All of my light ales and lagers are much darker than expected, and there is typically a harshness to the bitter taste. I have tried diluting with distilled water between 0.25 and 0.75% and then compensating the minerals with Gypsum and Salts. The homebrew shop here as well as the latest book I've read from a German author suggest using lactic acid and/or sour malt to correct for hard water. I will try this next time. In the meantime I would still like to know what my HCO3 actually is.
Thanks for the input.
Darrell
I have been having problems brewing lighter beers since moving. The water here in Zürich is very hard, and I have some problems converting the information gathered from the utility to something I can input into the calculator. Specifically the HCO3 value. Here is my local water profile:
Ca 110 mg/L
Mg 6.7 mg/L
SO4 6 mg/L
Cl 0.02 mg/L
Na 4.4 mg/L
Gesamthärte (total hardness) 2.95 mmol/L
Säureverbrauch (alkalinity) 5.62 mmol/L
So I have checked total hardness based on the Ca and Mg, and come close the the given value. This translates to 17 dH, 30 fH, or 300 ppm CaCO3.
The calculator asks for HCO3, which I do not explicitly have. Can someone assist with figuring this out?
All of my light ales and lagers are much darker than expected, and there is typically a harshness to the bitter taste. I have tried diluting with distilled water between 0.25 and 0.75% and then compensating the minerals with Gypsum and Salts. The homebrew shop here as well as the latest book I've read from a German author suggest using lactic acid and/or sour malt to correct for hard water. I will try this next time. In the meantime I would still like to know what my HCO3 actually is.
Thanks for the input.
Darrell