Water is arguably the most critical and least understood of the foundation elements in brewing beer. Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, third in Brewers Publications Brewing Elements series, takes the mystery out of water's role in the brewing process. The book leads brewers through the chemistry and treatment of brewing water, from an overview of water sources, to adjusting water for different beer styles, and different brewery processes, to wastewater treatment. The discussions include how to read water reports, understanding flavor contributions, residual alkalinity, malt acidity, and mash pH.
Review
"If you don't get the water right, neither will you succeed with the beer. Water is a precious commodity, from its availability, through its quality, right to its departure down the drain. It demands respect and that is precisely what it receives in this book, which is packed with valuable information, calculations and lines for brewers large and small." -- Charles Bamforth, Professor of Malting & Brewing Sciences, University of California "In addition to extracting nuggets from the literature, the authors have drawn on the knowledge of experienced brewers ... and those who have developed software for doing some of the complex calculations and experiments. With such a breadth of sources, this book will either answer your brewing water questions or have you well on the way to those answers." -- From the Foreword by A J deLange, Water Researcher/Homebrewer "I have worked with water my entire engineering career and I know the intricacies of typical water treatment and utilisation. Brewing water needs are a unique aspect that have received little research or explanation in the past. This book assembles a wide variety of information focused on the specialised water needs in brewing and makes it accessible to all brewers. The treatment of brewing water can be as simple or complicated as a brewer wants to make it, but any brewer will find things in this book that can make their beer better." -- Martin Brungard, Water Resource Engineer/Homebrewer
About the Authors
John Palmer is the best-selling author of How to Brew, and the co-author of Brewing Classic Styles. He is also the co-host the popular brewing podcast, Brew Strong. John is a metallurgical engineer by trade, and is intrigued by the processes of brewing from an engineer's point of view, including malting, mashing, water chemistry, lautering, clarity, color, and foam retention. John was born in Midland, MI and currently resides in California.
Colin Kaminski's brewing career started as the product designer at Beer, Beer and More Beer, designing more than 180 products including the Peltier cooled conical fermentor. Colin has written on a variety of topics including lutherie, holography, solar astronomy and beer. He has been the Master Brewer at Downtown Joe's Brewery since 2003. Colin resides in California.