Ozarka Natural Spring Water

[JD-]

Anyone use the Ozarka Natural Spring Water to brew with? If so, do you treat it in any way or just use it straight?

[Dave Warner]

Are you topping off a fermenter or brewing with it?

I've done the former once and didn't have problems, but I got nervous and switched to RO drinking water with minerals added to take away the worry.

There are those out there who will have a better opinion on the mineral content of Ozarka spring, but it should be great for all but the more specific styles to brew with, I would think.

Here's a site for content:
http://www.myspringwater.com/SpringWate ... ntent.aspx

[Bill Lawrence]

Just looking at the mineral content I would say just use it. Also just give it the taste test, if it passes I say go for it. Notice also that the water is relatively acidic, at least according to the analysis, so you should be sucessful using it for the lighter beers as well. Now for the disclaimer, I use water right out of the tap when I brew and just run it through a charcol filter. I find that Lake Lavone water gives my beer that something extra which you just can not duplicate (especially late in the summer when the alge blooms, great stuff).

[JD-]

Mmmmm algae beer..... doesn't get better than that!

I've been using the ozarka water for about a year now and the beer's decent, if a little bitter. I'm wondering if it's the water. What would I do to knock the acidity down a bit?

[Bill Lawrence]

Well, you want your mash Ph at around 5.2 or so. What I do (because I am lazy and I know my water is alkaline) is use that 5.2 buffer stuff (I know Homebrew Headquarters sells it and I bet so does The Winemakers Toy Store). I put it in the mash and when I sparge (I always batch sparge and can go into a rather lenghty discussion of that topic if you like) I make sure there is some in the mash tun. Also, I do a fair number of decoctions so I also put a little in there just to make sure the Ph doesn't rise on me. What can happen in a basic environment is that you will extract tannins from the grain and that will surely mess up the taste of your beer.

The thing about hard water is that it will accentuate hop bitterness and can also add a somewhat harsh aspect which of course we want to avoid in most situations. In my opinion (and I know several folks in the club will surely flame me for saying this) most of the more famous brewing water around the world (like Munich, the UK etc) is not the softest stuff. Accordinly, you can make many styles with the stuff right out of Lavone ( sans alge of course and employing a charcol filter). What you really need to do is keep good notes and adjust your hopping to complement the water that you are using. I know we get into some rather heated debates concerning brewing water but to me, that argument is right up there with the question of "how many angles can dance on the head of a pin". I try to concentrate on running good fermenations, with all that implies (note also that the Great Jamil also harps on this aspect of brewing).

Anyway, take that for what it's worth, there are some out there that think I'm crazy, and they may be right.

[donniestyle]

I wouldn't suspect the Ozarka Natural Spring Water as the source of any extra bitterness. Their water analysis is wonderful. If I had tap water like that I'd use it all the time. I use RO water to brew, because it's less expensive. I top up the fermenters with Ozarka Natural Spring Water also. Their water analysis shows Magnesium, Sulfate, and Sodium levels are very low. Compare to Pilzn.

Mineral, Plzen, Ozarka
Calcium, 7, 1.6-4.2
Magnesium, 2, ND-1.2
Sodium, 3, 2.6-12
Sulfate, 5, ND-4.7
Bicarbonate, 15,ND-14
Chloride, 5, 0.61-18

[JD-]

I might try that 5.2 alchemy. Even my latest hefe came out tasting a bit 'harsh'. I'll redo the same recipe this coming weekend with the 5.2 stuff added and see what the difference is.

[Bill Lawrence]

My quess is that you are pulling tanins out of the grain during the sparge. The 5.2 stuff will keep that from happening, also, make sure your sparge water is below 170F. Good luck, heffe is great beer.