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Water Water is a very substantial ingredient of beer, composing of 90-95 percent of beer by mass. Water is utilized in almost every step of the brewing process. The chemistry of the water can influence not just the taste but also the brewing efficiency. Therefore, it is essential that the water supply used is adequate for the job. Chlorine is present in most municipal water supplies. It is added to water to eliminate bacteria or other contaminants. However, excessive chlorine can greatly affect other beer ingredients, resulting in a harsh aroma and flavor. Chlorine can easily be removed by boiling or filtration. Another unwanted aspect of public water is its lack of hardness. Municipal water is generally soft due to the lack of minerals from filtration. Beers brewed from soft water tend to exhibit a milder flavor than those made from hard water. As a result, some beer recipes call for the addition of water hardeners such as table salt (NaCL) and gypsum (CaSO4). Looking at the other end of the spectrum of water being too clean, it can also be contaminated. Bacteria is a major concern in water quality. The presence of bacteria can spoil the wort and cause a souring of the beer. Boiling is again effective in the removal of contaminants Beer contains approximately 90% water, and the importance of the liquor to final beer quality cannot be over-estimated. Historically a correlation was observed between the liquor composition of an area and the type of beer that the region could best brew. The Pale Ales of Burton-on-Trent and Edinburgh, Porters of London, Stouts of Dublin and Lagers of Pilsen are classic examples. Water falling as rain, hail, sleet or snow is pure, but dissolves gasses such as oxygen and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On reaching the ground the water runs off into rivers, streams and lakes and on in some cases to reservoirs. The composition of the water in the reservoirs is dependent upon the nature of the catchment area. In areas where the rocks are hard, the water will not penetrate deeply, and will be 'soft' - that is low in dissolved salts. In areas where the rocks are more permeable - gypsum or limestone for example - water will penetrate readily and dissolve many minerals on its way to the reservoirs to become 'hard'.
The water supplied by local Water Authorities is required to be potable - that is fit to drink and free from pathogenic organisms. In order to reduce microbiological counts chlorine will usually be added, but the water is not sterile. Fortunately however the micro organisms found in water are not beer spoilage organisms, being unable to survive the conditions of high ethanol and hop resin levels and low pH found in beers. So the objective of liquor treatment
is to convert the water sent to us by the Water Authorities into acceptable
brewing liquor. This we achieve by the removal of unwanted ions and addition of
required levels of desirable ions.
Calcium Wort contains large amounts of phosphates derived from the malt, and these have a buffering effect - that is they tend to mop up hydrogen ions and keep the pH higher than desired. Calcium ions precipitate phosphates as insoluble calcium phosphate and release hydrogen ions into the wort. It is worth mentioning at this point that whilst the pH of the wort is critical, that of the water in the HLT is not. The pH of water may vary from about pH 5 to pH 8 dependent upon the levels of dissolved carbon dioxide - even de-ionised water can have pH levels as low as 5 after exposure to the air. However the carbon dioxide is driven off by heat in the HLT and the pH of the water will rise. A combination of the presence of
calcium ions and the decrease in pH has a number of effects on the brewing
process: * The lower pH improves
ß-amylase activity and thus wort fermentability and extract. The optimum pH for ß-amylase
activity is about 4·7. Wort produced from liquor containing no calcium has a pH
in the order of 5·8 - 6·0, compared to values in the range of 5·3 - 5·5 for
worts produced from treated brewing liquor. The activity of the ß-amylase then
is greatly enhanced by the addition of calcium, this enzyme increasing the
production of maltose from Amylose, and thus making worts more fermentable. * Calcium has a beneficial effect on the precipitation of wort proteins, both during mashing and during the boil. The hydrogen ions released further reduce the pH which encourages further precipitation of proteins. Proteins are also degraded, that is converted to simpler substances by proteolytic enzymes called proteases. These are found in the malt, and have optimum activity at pH values of about 4·5 - 5·0. The reduction in pH then caused by the presence of calcium encourages proteolysis, further reducing protein levels and increasing wort Free Amino Nitrogen levels (FAN). FAN compounds are utilised by the yeast during fermentation for the manufacture of Amino acids, and an increase in FAN levels in the wort improves the health and vigour of the yeast. High protein levels in beers also have negative effects, making beer more difficult to fine and encouraging formation of hazes, in particular chill hazes. Product shelf life can also be adversely affected. * Calcium ions protect the enzyme a-amylase from inhibition by heat. a-amylase is an endo enzyme, cleaving the internal 1,4 glucosidic links of amylopectin resulting in a rapid reduction in wort viscosity. The optimum temperature range for a-amylase activity is 65°C - 68°C, but the enzyme is rapidly destroyed at these temperatures. Calcium stabilises a-amylase to 70 - 75°C. It can be seen then that the presence of calcium has positive effects on the activity of a-amylase, ß-amylase and Proteases, some of the most important enzymes in the brewing process. * The drop in pH encouraged by Calcium ions in the mash and copper helps afford the wort and subsequent beer produced a greater resistance to microbiological infection. * The reduced pH of the sparge
liquor reduces extraction of undesirable silicates, tannins and polyphenols from
the mash bed. The extraction of such materials is encouraged by alkaline sparge liquor. These materials are very undesirable, contributing to harsh flavors, hazes in the finished beer and decreased beer stability. * Calcium precipitates oxalates as insoluble calcium oxalate. This again occurs in both the mash tun and the copper. If oxalates are not removed they can cause hazes in finished beers and also contribute to the formation of beerstone in FV's, CT's and casks. Oxalates are also thought to promote gushing in certain beers, although this is not generally a problem to the micro brewer. * The presence of calcium reduces colorr formation in the copper. This is due to the reduction of extraction of colorr forming compounds such as anthocyanogens and pro-anthocyanidins during the sparge. The reaction is also inhibited. * Calcium ions improve beer fining performance. Calcium ions encourage yeast flocculation, each divalent positively charged calcium ion attracting negatively charged yeast cells to form small aggregations. With all the above advantages of the presence of calcium and reduction in pH there is one minor disadvantage. * The reduction in pH causes a decrease in hop utilisation, giving less bitter beers. This increases hopping costs, since more hops will be required to achieve a desired level of bitterness. However the optimum pH for hop isomerisation as used in the commercial production of isomerised hop extracts is about pH 10, so a reduction from pH 5·8 in a mash with untreated liquor to pH 5·1 out of copper for a treated brew is not too critical. You will see that much of the calcium added to the mash is lost - precipitated out as phosphate, proteinate or oxalate. Since calcium is specifically required in the copper for further precipitation of these materials it is common to add calcium to the grist or Hot Liquor Tank and to then make a second addition to the copper. Where this is not practical it is quite acceptable to make a larger addition to the grist or to the H.L.T.
The conversion of bicarbonate to
carbonic acid is reversible until heat is applied, which drives off the carbon
dioxide. This effectively removes the acidic hydrogen ion from the system by
using it to form a stable water molecule. The wort pH therefore remains high and
all the advantages derived from the presence of adequate calcium levels and
reduced pH are lost. We therefore see the following: * Harsh after-tastes in the finished
beer * Extract will be reduced due to
lower ß-amylase activity * Poorer fermentation due to reduced
FAN levels. * Reduced protein precipitation due
to high pH * Worts and beer more
prone to infection
* Increased extract of undesirable materials in the sparge, notably silicates, polyphenols and tannins The net result of this is then to decrease beer stability and shelf life and to increase the likelihood of troublesome hazes. Colorr will be darker, and flavor will be detrimentally affected. * Hop utilisation will be increased, giving more bitter beers It is then essential to ensure removal of excess bicarbonate. You will recall from Figure 1 that a hard water may contain 250 mgs/l of bicarbonate. The maximum level that can be tolerated without adverse effect for the production of pale ales is 50 mgs/l, and the preferred level would be about 25 mgs/l. It should also be noted that whilst additions of calcium may be made to HLT, grist and copper, the removal of bicarbonate must be achieved in the Hot Liquor Tank. This may be done in a number of ways: Deionsiation: Very effective, but high capital and revenue costs. Lime treatment: Addition of carefully controlled amounts of lime (calcium hydroxide) to the HLT will precipitate the bicarbonate as calcium carbonate. There are 2 major drawbacks: 1. The amount added needs to be
exactly calculated and over addition may result in an overall increase in
alkalinity. Boiling: This again is a traditional method of removal of bicarbonate (Temporary Hardness) but again has 2 drawbacks: 1. Very expensive. Acid Treatment: Now the most widely used method, for a number of reasons: 1. Relatively inexpensive. It is essential to rouse the liquor when acid treating in order to encourage the removal of the carbon dioxide. This can have corrosive effects on the materials of construction of HLT's if left in solution.
1. Excess magnesium can
interfere with the reactions of calcium because its phosphates are more soluble
Sulphur is essential for the fermentation process, since the yeast needs to manufacture the two sulphur containing amino acids, cysteine and methionine. Some yeast strains will use sulphur from sulphate ions for this purpose and will then excrete any excess as sulphite ions. These can then be reduced to form hydrogen sulphide or sulphur dioxide. Both of these materials have characteristic pungent odours and even at low levels can give unacceptable sulphury noses to the beer. Bacteria also have the ability to produce a wide variety of sulphury off flavors, including rubber, garlic and cooked vegetable.
Silica should also be at very low levels in brewing liquor because of the likelihood of colloidal hazes being formed. Ammonia should be absent in brewing liquors, being indicative of contamination by sewage. Fluorine, present in most waters at about 1 ppm for dental purposes, has no detectable effect on the brewing process. However Chlorine, used for sterilisation, may be at relatively high levels at certain times of the year. This can cause problems since chlorine is a very reactive chemical and will readily react with organics to form chlorophenols. These have a medicinal (T.C.P.) flavor which is in some cases detectable at levels below 1 ppb. Chlorine will be lost to some degree by the heat in the Hot Liquor Tank, but not all water used within the brewery is from that source. Some brewers may use untreated liquor to break down to gravity in fermenter, and rinsing following caustic or acid cleaning cycles will typically be with untreated mains liquor. One solution is to treat both Hot and Cold Liquor Tanks with 10 ppm of Salicon Liquid 18% (20 mls in 10 brls liquor) and rouse vigorously to remove the chlorine. Typical Liquor Analyses for Beer Types:
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