Happy Holidays

The holiday beer festival was held in Omaha over the weekend. My brew club was serving up some fine ales in ugly sweater attire. Fine beers were had by all. I was most impressed with Abita's Machiatto Stout.

Water Tips for Omaha

Last night, I gave a presentation to my brew club on water adjustments. They might tell you what I gave them was punishment--well a little. Water can get complicated, but it doesn't have to be that way. In a follow up to that meeting I put together a quick cheat sheet for adjusting Omaha tap water to get Calcium, pH and bitterness closer to desired levels. If your water is like Omaha water then this might work for you too.

Simplified Water Additions for Omaha

There is a full presentation where I try to make a few cases for water adjustments.

• Manage your pH to get better flavor stability, crispness and efficiency
• Adjust the Chloride to Sulfate ratio to control the perception of bitterness (1:1 is balanced; lower ratios are more bitter and higher are more malty)
• Aim for 100ppm calcium to get better kettle reactiona (hot & cold breaks) and yeast flocculation

You can find the presentation here and a copy of the Bru'n Water spreadsheet with the latest Platte West water plant figures here.