Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers

Brewing Elements Series

by John J. Palmer, Colin Kaminski

Water is an essential component for staying alive and one of the foundation elements in the brewing process. Written by How to Brew author John Palmer and professional brewer, Colin Kaminski, this second book in Brewers Publications Brewing Elements Series, Water, will take the mystery out of using water in brewing beer. Beginning with an overview on sources, quality and geography, this book will lead brewers through water s role in the brewing process, including how to read water reports, troubleshooting, its flavor contributions and the treatment and chemistry of brewing water. A discussion of adjusting water to styles of beer, residual alkalinity, waste water treatment and research on malt color and pH are included

Genres: Brewing, Beer, Reference, Nonfiction, Science, Food, Chemistry

300 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2013

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything (and I mean everything) you could want to know about water and water chemistry for beer brewing. And yes, it's a lot; and yes, it's pretty technical and serious stuff. Appendix A helps to brush up on some of the high school chemistry terms (etc.) so you can digest the meat of this book, but you're still likely to have your head swimming here and there. Fortunately that's the worst part -- that you'll feel like you need to brush up on the chemistry and circle back. On the other hand, they wrote the book with that in mind, and offer up more than a few concrete, practical examples to help guide you through the brewer's art.

Also: feel free to skip the last 3 chapters unless you run a brewery or are really that interested in the subject.

[Tom Virtue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best book on brewing water chemistry out there.

This book has a lot of takeaway points for brewers of all levels, and makes a great reference on both process and technology.

I personally found it got a bit bogged down on the specific chemistry of adjusting pH, when in industry it's a less exact calculation, and pH adjustment can often be based on experience, but it was still good to read up on the chemistry and calculations.

Yet another great book in the BA Brewing Elements series!

[Ramon van Dam · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first: this book is for a very specific group of readers, which will have a huge impact on the rating. I gave it 3 stars because several sections are not really relevant for me, but that is not the book's fault at all.

John Palmer already covered water in a very practical way in his brewing bible How To Brew, this can be seen as a deeper dive. It covers almost everything there is to know about the liquid that makes up 90% of our beloved end product. And I really do mean almost everything.

I think How To Brew already gave me the base I need for my own brewing adventures, this will be more like an encyclopedia I can pick up whenever I need to really get into the nitty gritty of it.

Recommended for brewers with their own professional installation, but I think homebrewers can stick with Palmer's other well-known book.

[Jürgen Defurne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the four books in the series, this is definitely the most technical, since this is pure chemistry. However, the author does a good job in explaining the necessary things, leaving out the difficult things, explaining the necessary principles step by step and where necessary repeating them quickly for the sake of the explanation.

It is not only about water in the brew, it is also about water in and around the brewery. Again, interesting for those who want possibly to grow in their brewing, this technical part will probably help deciding for or against.

[Joe Darden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done, so much detail that it will continue to be a reference for me in not only beer brewing, but any water adjustments. This is a must have both k for any brewer that is serious about improving their process and finished beer.

This book has allowed me to develop a much better understanding of water and it’s contribution to terroir, how various elements in water can help/hurt your beer and different styles, and how to take simple steps to improve your process and treatment of brewing water.

[Geoff Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Water turns out to be a rather dry subject. This volume is both highly technical and highly informative, with much of it being quite dense.

I was most interested in learning about brewing chemistry, specifically what adjustments to make to my water and why, but other topics such as wastewater management are no less fascinating. Although the latter isn't a significant issue for homebrewers, it's good to be aware of industry challenges and possible solutions.

[Grndpa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some useful knowledge in it. Especially if someone have no idea about chemistry exceeding highschool it may be really handy. In many places it is written more as a guide for a technician - to follow without thinking too much, but I guess it was the purpose. For me it was mostly boring as new information were scattered here and there within school knowledge. I was expecting something more scientific.

[Russell Yarnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife will read a good book and talk about the let down of the book being finished. I cannot say that I have felt that for any book and then this one entered my life. I am a water nerd. I took water and wastewater classes for my engineering and it was always presented in a technical level. Palmer covers the water chemistry in a technical way and then adds a few words to it that explains it in plain terms.

I hope others find this book just as good.

[Mark A. Vierthaler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the usage of water for brewing.

Definitely way over my head first time through, but look forward to revisiting it from time to time as I continue to learn more about the chemistry of water.

[John Hubbard · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this series, Yeast was great, Hops ok, Water seemed less useful. Perhaps more important if I lived in a place where I needed to do more.

[Gurra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many things discussed are way over my knowledge, have to reread in the future.

[Ale Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a chemist and amateur home brewer, I found this book really entertained. Some parts might be a little bit too technical for non chemist home brewers.

[Drew Kostic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely the most challenging read of the series...especially if you do not have a background in microbiology like yours truly. Will need to read a second-time around to digest, I think!

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I walked away from this book more mystified than when I started.

[Mario Rivas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very complete book about the water treatment for brewing purposes. It can be hard to read and sometimes borring, but it has useful information.

[Darren Carthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it difficult to engage with this book beyond using it as a reference text, their were some useful nuggets of wisdom along the way, but I found this one cumbersome to complete.

[Paige Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most in depth guide to brewing water but very slow read. Would have liked more historical study of brewing water from famous beer regions.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Valuable book for the Homebrewer. It breaks down water chemistry for brewing beer.

[Debbie]

Respect all people
April 2011

[Patrick Reeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeast is better.

[Christopher Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a line fairly early on, that says you should be a fairly competent brewer and have a basic knowledge of high school chemistry to understand the concepts of the book, this is true, I would say like most people buying this book I'm sort of the former, but high school chemistry was quite a long time ago. I read this book twice and there's still a bit of a chapter that I'm not 100% on, but I've learnt enough from the book to be pretty sure what I don't get isn't relevant for me, which is good enough.

There's a lot of explaining the chemistry and then helpfully there are the equations and quantities for whatever it might be in the tables and appendices, so you're fine even if some of it goes over your head. I would recommend that you also get John Palmer's How to Brew, as some of the parts of that online helped me understand some of this book, and while they do duplicate some things I think they go together very well.

This book is essential because it tells you exactly what levels of all the relevant chemicals you need to have in your water. It tells you how to read a water report, what you need for the best water for whatever style you want to do, and then it tells you all the different methods you can use to alter your water to fit whatever style, which methods are worth doing, what are their strengths and weaknesses. It also has a table showing the chemical breakdown of various brewing cities around the world so you can see how the various waters gave birth to various styles of beer. You might be able to find this information somewhere else, but I can't imagine that you would ever need to look into water much further than what is in this book.

It could have been more interesting to read and more clear in some parts, but if I can get my head round it, it can't be too bad. There is a chapter that goes on for pages building towards the complex process of predicting mash ph, then at the end it says, though it takes a lot of fun out of the design process, it's complicated, you might as well just do a test batch, I found that amusing. I would view the whole book as kind of like that, it's good to find out about this stuff, try and work out the chemistry, but this is really the starting point for you to go get a ph meter and experiment.

Essential if you are starting a microbrewery, or if you are an extremely inquisitive home brewer, if you have a yeast lab in your fridge and you've wired your own temperature controlled fermentation buckets, if you're that kind of home brewer, you might as well.

[Jason Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a difficult book to read, lots of chemistry and I’m not a chemist. That being said, it was a great book, I was able to understand a lot of it. I will definitely be reading this again!

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you make beer (recreationally or professionally) you know that beer is mostly water. As part of the Brewing Elements Series, "Water" is the first book entirely dedicated to brewing water. And I want to say that it's essential reading for every homebrewer, but honestly, it probably isn't. Most homebrewers either approach the hobby from a artistic/brewing standpoint ("I want to make new and exciting kinds of beer") or an engineering standpoint ("I like to build equipment and fiddle with gadgets"). Very few people approach brewing from a chemistry standpoint. Water is largely a chemistry book. Palmer and Kaminski do a great job simplifying and explaining the chemistry involved- it's not a book entirely of stochiometry and chemical diagrams. But if you're like me, you tend to shut down a little bit whenever a chemical reaction shows up in a text. And if you're like that, you're probably going to end up skimming this one rather than really reading it.

At a homebrew club meeting I heard someone say that people start making really good beer not when they master one technique, but when they start doing a lot of little things right together. And messing with your water chemistry might be the thing that takes your beer from good to great. But for most of us, I think it's a level of complication way beyond hobbyist. If you're making good beer, why would you want to start chucking food grade acids into it or salting it?

So, who would benefit from a book like this? Pros, obviously. But also people who are having problems making good beer. If all of your lighter colored worts don't convert to your target gravity, read this book. If you're beers are all tannic, read this book. If you know you have hard water, read this book. But if everything is going ok, maybe you can skip this one.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure glad that there are more microbreweries out there, or this series of books would have never been written. Unless you are a chemist, or a REALLY big nerd, the first 140 or so pages of this book are very dense. As the authors get into the chapter called Adjusting brewing waters for style, you realize that all of the charts and chemical equasions presented in the fist part of the book become applicable. I can assure you that this book will be irrelevant for the majority of hobby brewers out there, but I found it to be very insightful and useful for brewers on a commercial scale.

[Thea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource book for advanced brewing issues. For the home brewer the first 7 chapters are most relevant. The remaining chapters discuss issues only pertinent to breweries. The concensus is that water adjustments can be complex and vary on water supply and style of beer being brewed. In practice many home brewers will not go to the depths discussed, however nice to be aware of all the potential implications of water adjustments. Synopsis: know how water composition affects style and be concerned with mash pH and sparge water pH.

[Darrell Gerber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very extensive look at the impact of water chemistry on the production of beer and some of the modifications a brewer can make. It has a lot of chemistry but if you have had basic college level chemistry you'll be able to get by. This is a good book for the homebrewer looking to take another step to making better beer.

[Tyler Masson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite it being a book on water I found it quite dry. No pun intended. Extremeley useful for anyone into brewing but not very applicable as far as homebrewing goes. Fantastic reference for learning more about the process of beer making. If you're interested in the "how" and the "why" water affects beer this book is just what you're looking.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the ultimate "Beer Geek" water guide for Home Brewers or any brewer for that matter. Clear in-depth explanations of water and how it may affect your brews. I brew ale, wine, mead and hard cider. Helps in all aspects.

The city of Appleton's water manager was kind enough to provide a complete breakdown of Appleton's water for me.

Just had to plug that info into my calculations.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written book! Coming from an engineering background, some of the units were dropped in out of nowhere and not explained very well. That made following some of the more in depth paragraphs difficult at times. All in all the book teaches you a lot about how to control your brewing water to make the best beer possible, without going insanely deep into chemistry.

[Keith Grice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fills a much needed gap in brewing literature. The writing is dense in parts, but contains valuable information. It is fantastic to find a summary of brewing water chemistry in a single resource.