July 2017 Meeting

Homebrew-Only between 4:30pm and meeting adjournment. Thank you! REMINDER! Homebrew-Only between 4:30pm and meeting adjournment. Thank you!

July 2017 Meeting Agenda New Members/Visitors Competition Updates Upcoming/Ongoing Events Barrel Projects HomebrewCon Debrief Water Chemistry & Adjustments Adjournment

New Members/Visitors-

Competition News Chris Detrick – Bronze Medal – Double IPA Andrew Ayers – Silver Medal – Saison

Upcoming Activities Beehive Brewoff 2017 Entry: 8/13 – 8/20 Judging: 8/26 – 8/27 Awards: 8/27 @ The Bayou $5/entry September 17th – Annual Summer Picnic We will have a sign-up for potluck items

Ongoing Activities LDB Hoppy Hour Next Event – 7/19, at Squatter’s Westside Tavern, 600pm - 730pm. 1763 300 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84115

Barrel Projects Cabernet Barrel #1 Gin Barrel #1 Gin Barrel #2 Current – Oud Bruin (plan to pull in early July) Projected – Solera Dark Sour Location – Andrew’s House Gin Barrel #1 Current –Fisher Brewing Beer Gin Barrel #2 Current – Just emptied Projected – Solera Golden Sour

Barrel Projects New Clean Barrel(s) Breckenridge Bourbon Barrel (proposed)

HomebrewCon 2017

Water Chemistry & Adjustments

Why Does Water Matter? General Rule: If it tastes and smells good, you can use it for brewing Is it that simple? Yes & No Water is made up of H2O and minute amounts of other dissolves minerals Presence of these minerals can vastly affect beer quality and presentation.

Why Does Water Matter? Primary Reasons: Mash pH (for good enzymatic activity & finished beer pH) Yeast Health (for healthy fermentation) Palate Expression (dryness vs. fullness)

What’s in Your Water? Sources of Information Water Reports Water Testing

What’s in Your Water? What do we generally have in Utah? Hard water What can we do about it? Distilled Water Reverse Osmosis (RO) water

What’s in Your Water? Chlorine Chlorine can be removed by: Will bind with yeast-produced phenols to form chlorophenols. Chlorophenols have a very low taste threshold and taste like band-aids. Chlorine can be removed by: Boiling Aeration Standing Carbon filtration Sodium/Potassium Metabisulfate (Campden tablets)

What’s in Your Water? Calcium Aids in mash pH Protects mash enzymes for heat degradation Improves run-off through protein coagulation Aids in hot break Improves yeast flocculation Aids in clarity

What’s in Your Water? Magnesium Important for yeast health Use less than 40ppm to avoid bitter, sour character Above 125ppm, it’s a laxative and diuretic

What’s in Your Water? Chloride Sulfate Gives the perception of softness/roundness and fuller palate Sulfate Gives the perception of dryness and bitterness and clean finish

What’s in Your Water? Hardness Alkalinty A measure of the dissolved calcium and magnesium in your water. Alkalinty A measure of the buffering capacity of your water. Buffering capacity is the ability of water to resist change in pH.

What’s in Your Water? Residual Alkalinity The measure of remaining alkalinity after the water/mash chemical reaction has taken place. This is important because, unmodified, it gives you a picture of what style (color) of beer would suit your water to mash at the correct pH

Mash pH Why does it matter? Improved enzyme activity during the mash, leading to better conversion of starches to sugars Lower pH in the finished wort which improves yeast health during fermentation, and also inhibits bacteria growth Improved hop extraction rates in the boil Better protein and polyphenol precipitation both during the cold break and post fermentation Improved clarity in the finished beer with reduced chill haze Improved flavor and clarity stability as the beer ages

Mash pH How do I determine and modify it? Malt Bill Acid Additions Darker malts tend to be more acidic Darker beers will generally require less adjustment Acid Additions Lactic and Phosphoric Acid can be used to adjust pH Commercial products like 5.2 Stabilizer (use with caution)

Adjusting Water What’s Available? Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) Calcium Sulfate (CaSO4) Chalk (CaCO3) Epsom Salt (MgSO4) Lactic Acid (88%) Phosphoric Acid (10%)

Common Rules of Adding Water Salts to Beer Buy a pH Meter Take cold pH readings (consistent) Don’t be afraid to make water adjustments Less is more (avoid making your beer minerally tasting)Don’t go overboard Isolate the Water variable on your recipe, use a recipe you use often (3-5 batches) Keep your final mash runnings below 5.8 pH and 1.020 How to add salts to your water Add to your strike water at 100 degrees for max solubility of gypsum Many options of additions include 2/3 salts in the strike 1/3 in the sparge 100% in the strike and 0% in sparge 2/3 salts in the strike and 1/3 during First Wort Lautering

Adjusting Water Sulfate/Chloride Ratio Used to affect finish beer. Typically a modifier for hoppy beers, but can be used as reference for all beers 0-0.4: Too Malty 0.4-0.6: Very Malty 0.6-0.8: Malty 0.8-1.5: Balanced 1.5-2.0: Slightly Bitter 2-4: Bitter 4-9: Very bitter 9+: Too bitter!

Examples of Proven Water Profiles per Style

Brewing Water Questions? Comments? Examples?

Time for BEER!!!