It should be no surprise that because it is at least 92% water, beer brewing requires proper water treatment. Brewers need a particular setup, let’s explore what brewers need for their best beer.
At bare minimum chlorine must be removed because of its impact on the brewing process as well as potential taste issues. Additionally, attention must be given to the probable presence of chloramines which are present in most municipal supplies and are mostly not removed by traditional activated carbon filtration. Special highly reactive carbons often referred to as surface enhanced or catalytic carbons are essential for brewers to properly remove the common disinfectants and their byproducts from the water.
The above is a good beginning for the brew master but with the increasing market for specialty beers it’s only a beginning. As businesses in the West tried and failed in preparing New York pizza soon learned “it’s in the water stupid” so have brewing purists learned the same lesson. The answer is to remove most of the elements dissolved in the water with reverse osmosis and then either by blending or mineral feed or a combination of the two reconstitute the water to precisely what’s needed for that special, consistent brew. Because the effort is often made to replicate an old-world product we refer to the treated water as being indigenous.
Special care must be taken when utilizing sources from surface sources– rivers, lakes, reservoirs, etc. Unusual strains of bacteria and pH issues appear and can be problematic. The first step of treatment is an ultraviolet system to inactivate the microorganisms in the water without adding chemicals. This has the benefit of being safer for brewery workers, but it’s important for workers to still wear PPE when coming into contact with the water. Gloves from a site like unigloves.co.uk/ are essential to avoid cross-contamination and bacterial transmission. Hands often carry large amounts of bacteria picked up from dirty surfaces, but staying gloved up helps to keep the water clean.
Although instances of contamination are rare, it’s vital that rogue microorganisms are eliminated to protect the brewing process. To do this without using chemicals, an UltraViolet system must be utilized. The photon energy from the lamp disrupts the organism’s DNA effectively killing it. If the pH is too low either carefully selected buffering sacrificial minerals or a mineral feed system will need to be employed.
Tombstone Brewing Company
Tombstone Brewing Company needed the right water purification system for their brewing needs. After exploring a variety of water purification systems, they decided to use Dimewater. Find out how we helped them with our case study.
Not sure what kind of system you need? Let’s discuss your specific needs to find the right solution for you.
