Zinc and your brewing water

Zinc plays a vital role in yeast health and fermentation. It’s an essential nutrient that supports yeast metabolism—but when present in excess, it can become toxic and lead to undesirable metallic off-flavors in your beer.

How does Zinc affect your beer?

Zinc helps promote healthy yeast activity by accelerating fermentation and preventing stuck fermentations. It supports the yeast cell cycle, making it crucial to a successful brew. Fortunately, malt naturally contains zinc, and some of it is extracted during the mash—especially when the mash pH is on the lower end.

However, excessive zinc levels can harm yeast and disrupt fermentation. Too much zinc can also introduce harsh, metallic notes that negatively impact flavor.

Zinc Amounts in Brewing Water

While Zinc is beneficial to fermentation and yeast health, it should be in very small concentrations. The ideal range for Zinc in brewing water is 0.1 to 0.2 ppm for improved fermentation.

If zinc has levels below 0.1 ppm like with reverse osmosis water, then a zinc supplement will need to be added to assist the fermentation.

At zinc levels above 0.5 ppm, the beer will have negative taste.

Testing your Water’s Zinc Levels

To determine the zinc concentration in your water, you should use the CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit.

The CraftPro In-Lab test kit will let you send in a sample to our laboratory to have it tested for zinc and 14 other parameters that are critical to brewing such as magnesium, chloride, and sulfate. As well as two brewing specific calculations that affect your water profile.

The CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit makes it easy to get your results. After you order your test kit you’ll get everything you need to collect a sample and send it to our lab. Once we analyze your sample, we’ll send you an easy-to-read, electronic report with exact concentrations and calculations done for your sample.

How to reduce Zinc concentrations in brewing water

Reverse Osmosis Filtration has become extremely popular in the brewing community. This is because it will take your water profile to a blank slate. This is an effective way to remove everything you do not want in your water, but it will also remove everything beneficial.

If you are using a reverse osmosis filtration system, you will need to build your own water profile by adding the minerals back in. If you do not know where to start, you can look at our brewing profiles page to see what many popular brewing cities have as their default water.

Buying Distilled Water

If you do not want to install a filter or have access to one, but your zinc levels are too high to brew with, you can always buy RO or distilled water instead of filtering it yourself. This will be the same process as building back your own water profile with an RO system.

What to do if Zinc levels are too low

If you are using reverse osmosis or another water source with less than 0.1 ppm, then zinc supplements will be needed. This can be done using a zinc salt like zinc chloride.

Typically a very small amount of this will be necessary, there are many online brewing calculators you can use that will help you find the correct amount you need to add to get to your desired concentration.

Conclusion:

Zinc plays a critical role in the fermentation process and can help prevent stuck fermentations when in the proper concentrations. But too much can be toxic to yeast and create off, metallic flavors. Filtration or zinc salts can be used to control the concentration of zinc in your water profile.

TDS and your Brewing Water

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) is a measurement of all inorganic and organic substances dissolved in water, such as minerals, salts, metals, and organic matter. In brewing, it can be used as a general indicator of mineral content in the water.

What is the role of TDS in your brewing water?

TDS does not directly impact your brewing water, but it can tell you if the water is high in mineral content or not. The way this is typically used is to tell you if your filtration system is effective or not. If you are using a filter like an RO system, your water’s TDS concentration should be very low.

If filtered water has a high TDS, then it’s a sign that your filter needs replaced or repaired. Just because TDS is high doesn’t mean that the water is good or bad to brew with. Just that there is high mineral concentration. What matters more is what those minerals are and if they align with the style of beer you are brewing.

TDS is also useful when buying filtered water to ensure that is has been properly filtered.

TDS amounts in your brewing water

When using TDS to judge the effectiveness of a filtration system, it should be lower than 50 ppm. If it is higher than 50 ppm then you likely need to replace the filter.

Most RO filtered water will be around 20 ppm or less. This shows that it is working properly and gives you a nearly blank slate to build your water profile for brewing beer.

How to measure TDS in brewing water

There are a variety of reliable, inexpensive TDS meters on the market that can be used for brewing water. But TDS only tells you if your water filter is working, not what is in your water. TDS doesn’t tell you what minerals or other matter is in your water.

The Craft Pro Master Brewers Test Kit will let you send a water sample into our EPA Certified Lab and receive TDS concentrations as well as 16 other essential parameters for brewing water such as Chloride, Sulfate, and Calcium.

If you currently use a TDS meter, you can still use it spot check your water quality between In-Lab Testing. If you get In-Lab testing and see that you have a low mineral count and a low TDS, your current TDS meter can be used to compare TDS levels to know there aren’t drastic changes in water quality.

For example, if your Craft Pro In-Lab Test shows you have a TDS of 30 ppm, and then it remains 30 ppm for the following months you know it hasn’t drastically changed. But if your TDS meter now shows 70 ppm, then you have had a major change and need to change your filter and likely get another in-lab test.

Our Craft Pro Test Strips do not measure TDS, but measure several key minerals that can used to tell you if you have had significant changes in water quality like hardness, sulfate, iron, and 6 others.

Sulfate to Chloride Ratio

The Sulfate to Chloride Ratio of your brewing water can help you determine how the combination of these ions will be perceived in the taste of your beer. These ratios will determine if your brewing water chemistry is more fitting for a beer that is more malt forward or more focused on bitterness.

This difference in taste can be perceived as either fullness compared to dryness. Or maltiness compared to Bitterness. If brewing a beer that is high fullness or malt focused, then the ratio of sulfate to chloride should be low. Since Chloride increases perceived fullness.

Levels of Sulfate to Chloride Ratios

If you are brewing a beer that emphasizes bitterness or dryness, then it should have a higher sulfate to chloride ratio.

Very Dry Beers: Ratio over 2.0
Dry Beers: Around 2.0
Balanced Beers: Around 1.3
Full-Bodied Beers: Around 0.75
Very Full or Malty Beers: Around 0.5

Reference Chart for Sulfate to Chloride Ratio when Beer Brewing

Limits for the Sulfate/Chloride Ratio

If chloride levels are below 25 ppm, the ratio becomes unreliable due to minimal flavor impact.
If chloride levels exceed 100 ppm, the high concentration can overwhelm the flavor balance, making the ratio less meaningful.

How to Measure your Sulfate to Chloride Ratio

To calculate your ratio:
Sulfate (ppm) ÷ Chloride (ppm) = Sulfate/Chloride Ratio

The Craft Pro In-Lab Master Brewer’s Test Kit will measure your Sulfate and Chloride concentrations as well as calculate your Sulfate/Chloride Ratio for you.

Once you order your test kit, we will ship you everything you need to collect your sample and ship it back to our EPA-Certified laboratory.

We will then test your brewing liquid for fifteen essential brewing parameters and calculate your sulfate/chloride ratio and your residual alkalinity. It also includes 10 Free DIY Test Strips to monitor your water quality between lab tests.

Sodium and your brewing water

Many brewers worry that using softened water might ruin their beer. But how exactly does sodium interact with your brew—and what levels are considered appropriate?

How does Sodium affect your beer?

Unlike many other water parameters, sodium doesn’t typically impact the fermentation process directly. However, when used in the right proportions, sodium can enhance the flavor, fullness, and mouthfeel of your beer—much like salt in food.

That said, too much sodium can lead to a salty or even harsh, bitter flavor that’s off-putting.

Sodium Amounts in Brewing Water

Brewers typically target 0 to 150 ppm of sodium in their brewing water, but it’s important to consider how sodium interacts with other minerals—particularly sulfate. When both sodium and sulfate levels are high, the perceived bitterness can intensify to unpleasant levels.

Due to this complexity, many brewers cap sodium at 100 ppm to avoid any unwanted harshness or saltiness.

Most commercial beers include some sodium—usually around 50 ppm—to subtly enhance flavor.

Even in beers designed with elevated sodium in mind, brewers rarely exceed 250 ppm, especially when sulfate levels are low. This is generally considered the upper limit for sodium in brewing water.

What about salty styles of beer?

Some beer styles intentionally aim for a touch of saltiness. In these cases, brewers may use 50–150 ppm of sodium in their brewing water, then add additional sodium after fermentation to fine-tune the final taste. This post-fermentation addition allows for precise control without impacting the mash or fermentation process.

Testing your water’s sodium levels

To determine the sodium concentration in your water, you should use the CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit.

The CraftPro In-Lab test kit will let you send in a sample to our laboratory to have it tested for sodium and 14 other parameters that are critical to brewing such as magnesium, chloride, and sulfate. As well as two brewing specific calculations that affect your water profile.

Is softened water suitable for brewing beer?

Many brewers avoid using softened water when brewing because of the low calcium and magnesium levels and the high concentration of sodium. But this isn’t always the case.

Water Softeners will remove different levels of minerals based on several factors, so some will be more aggressive than others. Water softeners also add sodium based on the starting hardness of the water, if the starting water is already soft then it may not be too high in sodium after softening.

Testing your water is the only way to know exactly what is being removed and added by a softener to ensure it’s suitable to brew with. But a good initial test for homebrewers is if the water has any saltiness to it after softening, it won’t be able to be brewed with at the current setting.

How to remove sodium from brewing water

Buying Distilled Water

If you do not want to install a filter or have access to one, but your sodium levels are too high to brew with, you can always buy RO or distilled water instead of filtering it yourself. This will be the same process as building back your own water profile with an RO system.

How to add sodium to your brewing water

To add sodium to your brewing water profile, standard table salt can be used. It is important to use non-iodized salt because iodine can harm your fermentation.

A rough rule to use is that 1 gram per gallon will increase the sodium concentration by approximately 100 ppm.

Conclusion:

Sodium levels in your brewing water profile can help highlight the flavor and mouthfeel of your beer. But in high concentrations it can become overly bitter and harsh, especially when paired with higher concentrations of sulfate.

Potassium and your brewing water

Potassium— found naturally in malt—is a key ion in wort and has subtle effects on both enzyme activity and flavor perception. While it’s present in nearly all brewing malts, understanding its thresholds and interactions helps you manage mash performance and final beer character.

How does Potassium affect your beer?

Potassium is required for yeast growth and supports fermentation. It is largely going to be found in the malt and has minimal impact on the flavor of beer.

At higher levels, it may add a saltiness to the beer. It is commonly used in winemaking because of how it interacts with compounds in wine, but in beer brewing these compounds are not present so there is no need to add extra potassium.

Potassium amount in brewing water

Potassium typically does not need to be added to brewing water because it comes from the malt. In most tap water it will be found in very low concentrations, typically around 2 ppm.

Potassium in water above 10 ppm can harm your fermentation.

Malt will typically add 300 to 500 ppm to the wort. This range is almost common for potassium concentrations in beer.

Testing your Water’s Potassium Levels

To determine the potassium concentration in your water, you should use the CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit.

The CraftPro In-Lab test kit will let you send in a sample to our laboratory to have it tested for potassium and 14 other parameters that are critical to brewing such as magnesium, chloride, and sulfate. As well as two brewing specific calculations that affect your water profile.

How to reduce potassium concentrations in brewing water

When to add potassium to brewing water

Many brewers will use potassium metabisulfite to cancel out disinfectant in their water. While sodium metabisulfite does the same task. Potassium has less flavor impact that sodium does.

Potassium is often combined with other compounds to add to brewing water because it has minimal impact on flavor and fermentation and low concentrations.

Residual Alkalinity

Residual Alkalinity is the Alkalinity that is not neutralized by the water’s hardness. Residual Alkalinity is a brewing specific metric that helps identify if water is suitable for brewing. This is because Alkalinity is reduced by the water’s hardness at higher temperatures.

It uses Alkalinity and Water Hardness (calculated with Calcium and Magnesium) to determine how alkalinity and hardness will be affected by the mash.

Why use Residual Alkalinity and not Total Alkalinity?

Total Alkalinity is a great starting point to determine if your water is suitable for brewing. Since Alkalinity is water’s ability to resist changes in pH, many brewers try to keep alkalinity low. Typically, between 30-100 ppm.

But Total Alkalinity isn’t the whole story, it is affected by your water hardness during the brewing process. If your water has high total alkalinity but is also hard water, then you may still be able to use it when brewing. But if it has low total hardness, then it may not be suitable.

Residual Alkalinity simply gives you a more complete look at your water profile than just using alkalinity or water hardness by themselves.

What levels of Residual Alkalinity are suitable for brewing?

When brewing, the target Mash pH is always 5.2–5.4. The goal is to balance the water’s Residual Alkalinity so that the Mash pH will end up at the point, after factoring in how the mash will affect pH.

Darker and lighter beers will affect Mash pH differently, so a different level of Residual Alkalinity is needed. Light beers will aim for a lower level of residual alkalinity to reach the target mash pH. While Darker beers will need high residual alkalinity. This is because darker beers on average will have a larger impact on pH. So more alkalinity is required to stay within the target range. While lighter beers on average will have less impact on Mash pH, higher alkalinity would interfere with the mash’s ability to reach the target pH.

A good rule of thumb is darker beers will aim for Residual Alkalinity between 100 to 150. And lighter beers will aim for zero to -50. With 0 to 100 being good for many styles of beer that are medium color.

Color is not a perfect predictor of how mashing will affect pH, but it is a good starting point when determining your water profile.

How to Calculate Residual Alkalinity

There is a simple equation to calculate Residual Alkalinity, all you need to know is Total Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium concentrations of your water profile.

Residual Alkalinity = Alkalinity – ((Calcium/3.5) + (Magnesium/7))

Calcium is twice as effective as Magnesium at reducing Alkalinity in your mash, though both are effective.

To get your Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium concentrations you will need to have your water laboratory tested to get exact concentrations.

The CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit will let you get these numbers from our laboratory but will also already have the Residual Alkalinity calculated for you.

Simply order the kit, send in your sample, and we will send you a digital report with all the water parameters you need for brewing.

How to adjust Residual Alkalinity for brewing

Residual Alkalinity can be reduced by hardening the water. Typically, this will be done by adding magnesium and calcium to your water profile. Calcium Sulfate, aka Gypsum, is commonly used as well as Calcium Chloride. Based on your target Sulfate/Chloride ratio.

Another common brewing salt is Epsom Salt, which is Magnesium Sulfate. Magnesium Chloride may also be used if you want to increase Chloride levels.

Another method to reduce Residual Alkalinity is by reducing Alkalinity. This may be done by adding acids like lactic acid or phosphoric acid.

To raise Residual Alkalinity to brew darker beers, bicarbonate can be added. This will typically be with sodium bicarbonate or by adding Sodium Bicarbonate aka baking soda.

Conclusion

Residual Alkalinity plays a crucial role in achieving the perfect mash pH for your beer. By testing and adjusting your water profile, you can fine-tune your brewing process and create better-tasting beer.

For a complete brewing water analysis, order the CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit today!

Copper and your brewing water

Copper is a common metal used in brewing equipment, but does it leech into your brewing water and what effect does it have on your beer?

How does Copper affect your beer?

Copper can be a beneficial chelating agent in your brewing water. Meaning that it will bind to other particles and prevent haze. But this only happens in very low concentrations, at higher concentrations it can create a metallic flavor and can be harmful to yeast. It can also cause oxidation which can lower the shelf life of the beer.

Does Copper Equipment affect Copper concentrations?

There’s ongoing debate about whether copper leaches from brewing equipment into water or wort during the brewing process. Most brewers agree that if your water doesn’t already contain high levels of copper, any copper introduced from brewing equipment is likely at a low enough concentration that it won’t cause negative effects.

In fact, some brewers intentionally expose their wort to a small amount of copper—such as copper tubing—to achieve a trace level of copper that can be beneficial to yeast health. Copper kettles and tubing have been used in brewing for centuries and, when used properly, shouldn’t negatively impact your brew.

However, if you’re concerned about copper contamination from your equipment, the only way to be certain is to have your water and wort tested at different stages of the brewing process through laboratory analysis.

Copper Amounts in Brewing Water

Copper can become detrimental to your beer at low concentrations. To avoid these negative effects, it needs to be kept at below 1 ppm.

To receive the beneficial effects of copper it needs to be at approximately 0.1 ppm.

Testing your water’s Copper levels

To determine the Copper concentration in your water, you should use the CraftPro Master Brewer’s Test Kit.

The Craft Pro In-Lab test kit will let you send in a sample to our laboratory to have it tested for copper and 14 other parameters that are critical to brewing such as magnesium, chloride, and sulfate. As well as two brewing specific calculations that affect your water profile.

How to remove Copper from brewing water

If your water is near the limit for copper, then using stainless steel equipment instead of copper is a way to minimize any additional copper from being introduced during the brewing process.

If you are already using Copper equipment, switching to stainless steel is likely too expensive of a change and filtration can be used instead.

If you are using a reverse osmosis filtration system, you will need to build your own water profile by adding the minerals back in.

How to Increase Copper Concentrations.

If you want to increase copper concentrations, simply adding a few inches of copper tubing into the wort can give you a beneficial level of copper. This copper tubing can be repeatedly used between brews.

Water Hardness in Beer Brewing

Many brewers rely on softened water, often provided by household water softeners, to adjust the water hardness. While these systems are designed to reduce hardness, they can add sodium to the water, which may affect your beer’s taste and quality. Understanding how water hardness impacts brewing and how to manage it is crucial for achieving the perfect brew.

What is the role of Water Hardness in brewing?

Water Hardness is the amount of dissolved Calcium and Magnesium in your water. Both of these minerals are important in the brewing process and have different effects. Calcium affects the finish of your beer; helps control the Mash pH and helps clarify your beer. Magnesium also controls the Mash pH and is an essential nutrient for yeast growth.

The most important aspect of Total Hardness will be its effect on reducing your Mash pH. When looking at Residual Alkalinity (A brewing specific term, so not one you’ll learn in Chemistry Class), you can reduce it by either reducing Alkalinity or increasing Water Hardness. When brewing lighter beers, you’ll want to aim for a lower Residual Alkalinity.

Water Hardness Levels in your brewing water

Water Hardness can be measured as Temporary Hardness, Permanent Hardness, or Total Hardness. For brewing purposes, temporary hardness is easier to remove than permanent hardness. Total Hardness is just the combination of the two.

For Total Hardness, the minimum recommended levels are around 150 ppm. While this level isn’t necessarily crucial on its own, it helps balance alkalinity, which in turn reduces mash pH and ensures enough calcium is available for brewing.

How to Measure your Total Hardness levels

There are two ways to measure Total Hardness, the Craft Pro Test Strips and the Craft Pro In-Lab Test Kit.

DIY Test Strips

The Craft Pro DIY Test Strips will give you an easy, affordable way to measure Total Hardness with each batch. Because many factors can affect Total Hardness, it should be spot checked every time you brew beer.

The test strips will give you results in a range, meaning you will know if your Total Hardness is 0-50 ppm, 50- 120 ppm, etc.

Craft Pro In-Lab

The Craft Pro Master Brewers Test Kit will allow you to send a water sample to our EPA-Certified lab and get exact concentrations for your brewing water or any brewing liquid.
You will know exactly what your Total Hardness is, as well as exact concentrations for other parameters and several brewing specific calculations such as Residual Alkalinity.

How to adjust your water’s Total Hardness level for brewing

Increasing your waters Total Hardness can be done with brewing salts. “Gypsum (calcium sulfate), Calcium Chloride, Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate), Magnesium Chloride, Chalk (calcium carbonate), or Pickling Lime (calcium hydroxide) additions can be used to increase the hardness.” (Brun Water)

These salts can be used based on what levels of other minerals you want to optimize for such as Magnesium, Calcium, Sulfate, etc.

How to soften your water

While higher Total Hardness is typically a positive for brewing, there are cases where you’d want to decrease this level. Some darker beers will want slightly higher Alkalinity, so if your water profile calls for it you may want to reduce your water’s hardness.

The other case is for cleaning your equipment. Like in most residential homes, there are negatives to having hard water. It can cause cloudy water, interfere with some cleaning agents, and cause scale to build up on your equipment. This scale not only makes your equipment look aged but can interfere with its use and decrease how long it will last. Costing you money for equipment replacement.

Diluting your water to reduce hardness

If your Hardness levels are high another option is to Dilute your water with RO or distilled water. This will just be a matter of doing the math to figure out the adjustments. If you want to aim for 150 ppm and you are currently at 300 ppm, you will need to use a 1:1 ratio if your RO water is at 0ppm.

Reducing Hardness by boiling

If your water is high in Temporary Hardness, boiling it for at least 15 minutes and then filtering out the precipitate can remove the calcium from the water, reducing Hardness. This process will only remove the calcium and not the magnesium. Plus, it will only remove temporary hardness, not permanent hardness.
This means that for a homebrewer who wants to try this method and then re-test their water, it can be worth testing out as an easy and cheap solution. But it’s not suitable for professional brewing where you need consistent results.

Home Water Softener

Approximately 25% of homes have a water softener system, but is this suitable for brewing?
Most household water softeners are Ion-Exchange Softeners. If you don’t know if your system is an Ion-Exchange, the easiest way to tell is if you must add salt to your system. If your system uses salt, it’s an Ion-Exchange.

Because every water softener will replace a different amount hardness with sodium, and all water is at a slightly different level of starting hardness, some softened water is suitable to brew with and some isn’t.

Besides testing your water after treatment, there are a few factors to look for. The first is the sodium level of your treated water. If it has a salty taste after treatment, that will carry over to the beer. While this may not affect fermentation, it could leave you with a salty beer.

The second is the starting hardness. Because Ion-Exchanges replace minerals with salt, if you start with overly hard water, you will end up with elevated levels of sodium. If you only had slightly hard water and your water softener doesn’t aggressively replace the minerals, it may still be suitable.

Conclusion:

In brewing, water hardness plays a critical role in achieving the desired beer quality. Both calcium and magnesium, the two main minerals that contribute to water hardness, serve essential purposes such as controlling mash pH and supporting yeast growth. While hardness benefits the brewing process by lowering mash pH and providing necessary minerals, there are instances, such as brewing darker beers or maintaining equipment, where reducing hardness may be preferable. Homebrewers can adjust water hardness through brewing salts or softening techniques like dilution or boiling, but consistent results require regular water testing to fine-tune the levels for each batch.

Sulfate and your Brewing Water

Sulfate in your brewing water can bring out the natural bitterness of the hops and elevate high hopped beers. But if too much is used, it can produce harsh flavors and even taste of Sulfur.

What is the role of Sulfate in brewing?

The main effect of Sulfate is that it will add dryness to the beer. This dryness will highlight the hops and the natural bitterness they provide. Beers that are more hops forward will aim for a higher level of Sulfate in their water profile, while many low bitterness beers like Helles and Lagers will want to minimize Sulfate.

Sulfate can also affect the finish of a beer, creating a crisper finish when it is present and a fuller finish when in low levels.

A negative of Sulfate is that at high levels it can result in a Sulfur taste. It is also important to make sure that the Sulfate levels align with the style of beer you are brewing. If levels are too low in something like a pale ale, the hops may not shine through. But in some other styles it may create too much bitterness and ruin the finish of the beer.

Sulfate amounts in your brewing water

Sulfate has one of the widest ranges of acceptable concentrations based on what style you are brewing and personal preferences.

A range of anywhere from 0 ppm to 400 ppm is common in brewing, even though most public drinking water in the United States will be below 250 ppm according to the EPA.

While some brewers completely remove Sulfate from their water, a common recommendation is to go to a minimum of 40-50ppm for dark beers like Porters and Stouts. At this range you shouldn’t notice any increased bitterness from the Sulfate.

For beers that are trying to aim for a moderate level of bitterness, a range from 100ppm to 150ppm is common.

For bitter beers, a range of anywhere from 250 ppm to 400 ppm can be used. Some brewers recommend stopping around 300ppm, but this can be affected by several other factors in your water.

A note on the Sulfate/Chloride ratio

While the overall levels of Sulfate can affect your brew, so can the ratio of Sulfate to Chloride. Overall levels need to be balanced with the Sulfate/Chloride Ratio.

A low ratio (0.4-0.6) may make the beer very malty, while a high ratio (4-9) will be more bitter. The easiest way to add Chloride is Calcium Chloride, and the easiest way to lower levels will be to dilute your water or use RO water and build back up your water profile.

How to measure your Sulfate levels

There are two ways to measure Sulfate, the Craft Pro Test Strips and the Craft Pro In-Lab Test Kit.

DIY Test Strips

The Craft Pro DIY Test Strips will give you an easy, affordable way to measure Sulfate with each batch. These will measure Sulfate along with Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, and several other key factors for your brew.

The test strips will give you results in a range, meaning you will know if your Sulfate is 0-120 ppm, 120- 250 ppm, etc.

Craft Pro In-Lab

The In-Lab Craft Pro Test Kit will allow you to send a water sample to our EPA-Certified lab and get exact concentrations for your brewing water or any brewing liquid.
You will know exactly what your Sulfate is, as well as exact concentrations for other parameters and several brewing specific calculations such as Sulfate/Chloride ratio.

How to adjust your water’s Sulfate levels for brewing

If your Sulfate levels are not within the desired range, there are a few options to adjust it.

Reverse Osmosis Systems

The most common recommendation to remove Sulfate will be with a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system. This works by forcing your water through a semi-permeable membrane, which sets your water profile to zero. Removing all the minerals from it.

It is still important to test your water after it’s been RO filtered because it can affect the acidity and depending on the filter, it may not actually filter out everything. You still need to know exactly what you are starting with.

The way most brewers use RO water is by getting it as close to zero as possible, then building up their water profile to meet their needs.

Diluting

If you want to simply reduce your water’s Sulfate levels but not entirely remove it, one option is dilution. This involves using RO or distilled water to lower the concentration. For example, if your current water has a concentration of 200 ppm and you are wanting to lower it to 100 ppm, you’d cut it 1:1 assuming your other water source has 0 ppm.

This is a great method but every parameter in your water source will be changed, not just Sulfate. So, make sure you test all your parameters after diluting to make sure they are still within acceptable ranges.

A Warning against Water Softeners and Sulfate

If your water source has higher Sulfate and you plan to use it as is, or if you are making a bitter brew and plan to add Sulfate, you should avoid using softened water.

Softened water will have an elevated level of Sodium, and Sodium increases the perceived bitterness of Sulfate. This takes it beyond what is enjoyable in a beer and leads to harsh bitterness.

How to increase your water’s Sulfate levels

There are two main ways to increase Sulfate concentrations. Sulfate can’t be added by itself, so it’s typically seen as either Calcium Sulfate or Magnesium Sulfate in brewing.

Calcium Sulfate (Gypsum) is a fantastic way to add Sulfate if you are also wanting to increase your Calcium levels. Calcium can help with fermentation and lowering pH. If you are following a water recipe, you’ll see it paired with Calcium Chloride to adjust your Sulfate/Chloride ratio.

Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) will raise your Sulfate levels as well as your Magnesium levels. Magnesium is essential for yeast so some Epsom Salt will be beneficial when building your water profile.

Always make sure any additives you use in your brewing water are food grade.

Conclusion:

Sulfate can help a beer bring out its natural bitterness and elevate the hops. But getting the balance of Sulfate is critical. Not enough can cause the beer to be too malty and affect the finish. But too much can cause unwanted bitterness.

pH and your Brewing Water

The pH of your brewing water plays a critical role in shaping the taste, clarity, and quality of your beer. From the initial water composition to the mash process, monitoring and adjusting pH levels can be the difference between a good brew and a great one. In this article, we’ll explore the impact of pH on the brewing process and how you can fine-tune it for the perfect batch.

The role of pH in brewing

In brewing, pH plays a significant role at various stages of the process. It affects the water before brewing and the mash itself. Mash pH, in particular, influences fermentability, color, clarity, and the taste of the wort and beer.

The brewing water pH has minor impact on the final beer. But it can affect the mash pH when you factor in Total Alkalinity, Bicarbonates, and Calcium. Alkalinity and the grain composition are the two biggest factors in making sure your mash pH falls in the target levels for your water profile.

Your mash pH will need to be slightly acidic, and most brewers will have to try to actively lower their pH.

pH levels in your brewing water and mash

For brewing water, the ideal pH range is typically between 6.5 and 8.5, assuming alkalinity and other minerals are within their target ranges. Alkalinity should generally fall between 30 and 120 ppm, depending on the style of beer you’re brewing. Alkalinity measures water’s ability to resist pH changes, so if it’s too high, your grains won’t be able to effectively lower the pH.

Tap water will be between a pH of 6.5 and 8.5, while a lot of filtered or bottled water will be closer to 7, which is neutral water meaning it’s not acidic or basic. When testing your brewing water’s pH, the important thing is that it’s not overly acidic or basic from whatever source you are using.

You can also measure your water’s pH during the mash which will have a larger impact on the final beer. When it comes to Mash pH, the target will always 5.2-5.4. This is regardless of what style of beer you are brewing.

Targeting the same end result of pH may sound odd if you’ve read some of our other resources. Because Alkalinity, Bicarbonate, and Calcium all affect pH, and we are adjusting those based on the style of beer. But not pH.

The reason is that different style of beer will use different grain composition and affect the pH in different ways. So, we must adjust these other factors to end up at the same mash pH.

How to Measure your pH

There are two ways to measure pH, the Craft Pro Test Strips and the Craft Pro In-Lab Test Kit.

DIY Test Strips

The Craft Pro DIY Test Strips will give you an easy, affordable way to measure pH with each batch. These will measure pH along with Hardness, Calcium, Alkalinity, and several other key factors for your brew.

The test strips will give you results in a range, meaning you will know if your pH is 5-6,6-7,7-8 etc.

Craft Pro In-Lab

The In-Lab Craft Pro Test Kit will allow you to send a water sample to our EPA-Certified lab and get exact pH levels for any brewing liquid.
Our test strips are primarily designed for water or lower ABV liquids. If you want to test at other phases, the In-Lab kit will be a better option. While you can use test strips to spot check each batch.

How to adjust your pH for brewing

Water Profile Adjustments

Calcium in your water can lower mash pH. For paler beers, it should stay below the 50-ppm range, while for darker beers, it can be increased to around 150 ppm to help control pH.
Magnesium also lowers mash pH, but to a lesser extent than calcium. Since magnesium’s ideal range is narrower than calcium’s, it has only a minor effect on mash pH.

You may need to lower bicarbonate levels to adjust mash pH. High bicarbonate raises alkalinity, making the water more resistant to pH changes, which can prevent the mash from reaching the target pH range.

Acids

To lower your Mash pH, most brewers will use either Phosphoric or Lactic acids. There are others but those are two of the most common. How much these will affect your beer is affected highly by the Alkalinity (remember, the ability to resist change in pH). This may involve some trial and error based on your specific water and grain combination.

An important note is that this acid will need to be added to the brewing water prior to mashing in most cases. This is why you can not just slowly adjust as you go but will need to experiment to get your levels correct if using acids.

Conclusion:

Getting a proper pH in your Mash can have a major impact on your beer, affecting fermentability, color, clarity, and taste. It can be impacted by not only your water profile but your grain composition as well. Getting it right is critical to making great beer.