We've been chatting more and more about water treatment at meetings as of late, and I thought it would be fun to do an experiment to see what kind of difference it really makes with Bristol water. The idea is that we would do two brews of a typical APA (Sierra Nevada clone would be a good start). Both brews would have their water treated with campden tablets, since we don't want water chlorination to interfere with our results. One brew would receive no additional water treatment, and the other would get enough CRS (an acid treatment) to reduce the mash pH to 5.3. Then ferment, drink, and argue about the results.
Here's the kit we would need, apart from the usual all-grain kit:
- Alkalinity test kit (I have one, yay)
- pH meter (I only have the shitty strips, so an electronic meter would be really nice if anyone can contribute)
- An electric HLT or mash tun would allow us to mash and boil at the same time, shortening the brew day. Not required, but sure would be nice.
- Kegging gear would allow us to drink sooner. Again, not required, but would be nice.
Gimme a shout if you want to get in on the fun, or if you just have any tips. Perhaps we can arrange something as soon as this weekend, but otherwise anytime in the next couple of weeks.
If all goes according to plan, we can present our Water Treatment Findings (WTFs) at the next meeting, and then some smart dude like Phil can tell us the science behind what we did.