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Lest we forget, our next meeting is being held at "Original Joe's" and it's located on Stony Plain Road, just east of the Groat Road overpass. It's an old red brick building on the north side of the road (on the right as you're traveling west). I haven't been there yet, but I am told they have a good selection of real beer, so let's show up and sample them all.
More good news for all of you who ordered hops. All the hops came in, except for the Columbus pellets. All the leaf hops and Liberty pellets are here, and we were able to fill every order, even the varieties were only 1/2 pound was ordered. Our esteemed Vice President (vacant?, ed.) volunteered to weigh and package the entire order of 51 pounds, and they are now ready to be delivered to you.
As you'll see when you get yours, they are all nicely packaged in Zip-Lock bags in 1/2 pound packages. They were ordered from Freshops in Oregon and look like quality hops. As you know, this past season hasn't been a banner year for hop quality. We are re-ordering the Columbus pellets from Quebec and hope to have them for the next meeting.
If you are in a rush for your hops, I have them at my place. Call me at [phone removed] and you can pick them up any time. If you don't call, I'll bring them to the meeting at Original Joe's and you can pick them up there. If you see the Vice President at Original Joe's buy him a beer for his effort. He's a real nice quiet guy. He doesn't talk much and he also doesn't drink Scotch, but he's an expert on weighing and packaging hops.
I was one of the ten fortunate members who made the trip to Westcan Malting in Alix. As I'm sure the others will attest, it was a day well spent. This was my second visit, and it was as interesting again as the first. They sure know how to treat you well there. Günther has a feature article on the visit.
And lastly, my friends, I want to refer you to an article I had Günther reproduce from the Edmonton Journal about wine tasters and so-called experts. Please read it and judge for yourselves. The article speaks for itself, and I won't dwell on it. But let me repeat one line: "The opinion of the so-called connoisseurs are no better and perhaps worse than that of the occasional drinker..." Isn't that interesting. Are so-called Scotch connoisseurs any better than the wine connoisseurs?
Are the members of our club so naïve about tasting Scotch that we need a "Babysitter" to preach to the converted for an hour about where Scotch comes from, etc. etc. etc., regardless of how well intentioned the individual was.
Am I the only square peg in a round hole? I'm sorry, but I just had to get it off my chest. What do you think?
See you at the meeting.
Times of London - PARIS -- Drinkers have long suspected it but now French researchers have finally proved it: wine "experts" know no more than the rest of us.
Their rituals as they pronounce judgment have been revealed as little more than self-delusion by an award winning French study. They base their views as much on colour and labels as upon a wine's bouquet and flavour. "The truth is that you cannot define taste objectively," said Frederic Brochet, a researcher from Bordeaux. The opinions of the so-called connoisseurs are no better and perhaps worse than that of the occasional drinker. The greater the expertise, the greater the cultural baggage that prevents you from perceiving the actual taste in your mouth.
Brochet carried out two studies. In the first, he invited wine experts to sample different bottles, including a white wine to which he had added a flavourless substance giving it a red colour. Not a single expert noticed. In the second test, 57 experts tasted the same average bottle of Bordeaux wine on two occasions. The first time it was labeled as a prestigious Grand Cru Classe, and the second time it was labelled as a cheap Vin de Table. When they thought it was a Grand Cru Classe, the experts described it as agreeable, woody, complex, balanced and rounded. When they thought it was a Vin de Table, they said it was weak, short, light, flat and faulty.
"This is why wine frauds are virtually never detected on taste alone, but because someone tips off the police who look at the paperwork," Brochet said.
He has studied the brain activity of wine tasters and found that those sections handling information relating to colour and knowledge operate alongside those which deal with flavour and smell. What we perceive is a mixture of thought, vision and taste. Indeed, the brain receives more information more quickly from the eyes than from the mouth or nose.
The MCAB 5 qualifier competition have been announced and the EHG's Aurora Brewing Challenge was again chosen as the Canadian qualifier event for 2002. Here are excerpts from the e-mail Kevin received from Louis Bonham, the MCAB competition chairman.
The Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB) is pleased to announce the 2002 Qualifying Events for MCAB V:
As before, the MCAB Qualifying Styles will be BJCP Styles 1-20:
All substyles within these categories will be eligible. In cases where a Qualifying Events offers ribbon categories for individual BJCP substyles within a Qualifying Style (e.g., APA and California Common), the Qualifying Event will select between the winners of those substyles to determine the MCAB Qualifier.
And, of course, keep watching the MCAB website (hbd.org/mcab) for details on MCAB IV, which will be held in Cleveland, April 12-13, 2002.
All the best-Louis K. Bonham [email removed]
On Saturday, January 12th, 10 Guild Members went on a pilgrimage to encounter the creation of the ingredient to our craft, without which we may as well plant rose gardens for a hobby or be members of a flourishing Edmonton Homebakers Guild. Of course, what I am talking about here is malt.
Thanks to our hosts, Barb and Paul, we were rewarded with the most informative, exciting and rewarding experience apart from taking that third decoction on brew day.
Malting at Westcan is arranged in a gravity fed tower (except for the kiln), so all you have to lift is the dry barley and the water for what looks like a big 'dough-in'. From then on, gravity takes care of the process (aren't our own breweries set up on similar principles?).
Anyway, first things first. Westcan is located in Alix not because that's where the best barley is grown, but because the facility has access to both CP and CN rail lines - it's also close enough to highway 2 for trucks. To keep Westcan in production, 20 semis need to disgorge their loads each day. Upon arrival samples are taken from trucks or rail cars and they are immediately analyzed for the grain's quality. The kernels have to be of uniform size and the moisture content has to be below 13.5%. Any truck or rail car, whose load does not pass these standards is immediately redirected to the nearest feed lot.
Once the barley passes the initial assay, the grain is transferred to one of the bins you see on the left of the above picture. Next, 500 tons of grain are moved up to the top story of the malting plant – and that's very high up. I don't know how familiar you are with church spires, but that place is way, way up – the view is great. The barley is then divided between 4 cylindro-conical immersion steeping tanks, each 20 feet high (6 meters for people like me) and soaked in water. Now, you are familiar with strike temperature. They do the same thing here. Depending on ambient temperature and the temperature of the grain, they infuse water at such a temperature that they achieve a strike temperature of about 18°C. Could you believe it that the concrete floor drops by about 6 inches under the weight of all the grain and water?
Air is blown through the grain/water mix constantly to remove CO2 build-up and to loosen up the grain. Big paddles skim off any scum that forms on top. After 24 hours the grain drops onto the next floor into the spray steep tank, where it spends a further day. At the end the moisture content of the grain is 45%.
Once this uniform moisture has been achieved, the grain is dropped into one of four germination tanks below, where it remains for four days (why have they four floors dedicated to germination tanks? you may ask - they get through a batch a day that way). Temperature and moisture control are most important at this stage. Also, CO2 has to be driven away and fresh oxygen supplied at all times. A huge arm with 6 huge augurs moves through the grain bed every 6 hours and sprays fresh water on the grain while the augurs redistribute the grain in the grain bed. It takes this arm just short of three hours to rotate around the whole grain bed. The grain has to stay at 45% moisture content at all times and has to have access to oxygen. During germination little rootlets form and the acrospire grows to about 3/4 length of the kernel. But that is not really important for us brewers. What is important is that hydrolytic enzymes are released which modify the starchy endosperm. The degree of modification depends on the length of time these enzymes are allowed to act.
Once germination is completed, the green malt (that's what the barley has turned into) is moved to the kiln. The kilns are not part of the tower system. They are set off to the side. Each lot is divided in two, because kilning the whole lot at once would make it very difficult to achieve even kilning. Westcan only produced pilsener malt, but it could also produce darker malt, up to Munich. Specialized equipment is needed for crystal and dark malts. Kilning happens in 2 phases: drying and curing. It is important to quickly reduce the moisture level in the grain in order to arrest any enzyme activity. During the curing phase colour, aroma and friability are closely controlled. Hot dry (50 ºC) air is blown through the grain bed while the grain is constantly being moved to aid the uniformity of the process. Eventually the temperature rises to 85 ºC. It is very important to kill as few enzymes as possible in order to maintain maximum diastatic power. After kilning the malt is quickly analyzed and then stored in bins, blended with other batches with similar characteristics.
Now guys, I have to tell you something about the lab. You know, we classify breweries depending on the scale of their batches, i.e. the size of your mash tun. We have micro-breweries that brew batches of 10 to 40 hectoliters. We call our own setups pico-breweries with our 5 to 10 gallon batches. Roxy's 3 gallon setup is a bit unclassifiable, I think. But what do you call a brewery that operates with 1/2 pint batches?
Westcan ships malt all over the world. The two breweries that concern us most, I guess apart from our own, that get their malt from Westcan are Alley Kat and Brewsters. So does Big Rock, Sierra Nevada and many other micro breweries. Westcan malt is Anhaeuser Busch approved, which, we are told is a quality milestone. Don't worry, though, it's not their malt that makes Bud tasteless.
With the tour under our belt, our hosts invited us up to the penthouse suite (lunch room). There we spend some very enjoyable time just chatting and sampling some Westcan malt in its liquid form. We commented on how many of our winning beers are brewed with malt from Alix, etc. etc. Thanks, Barb and Paul. Of course, Westcan is one of the major sponsors of the Aurora Brewing Challenge, and we are extremely grateful to them for that. So grateful indeed, that Kevin had a plaque made for them, which he presented right there and then.
That visit to Westcan Malting was an exciting tour. Trying as I might to convey some of the experience through this article, it's impossible to match the 'being there'. So, if you missed this very informative outing, I hope to have covered the essence of it right here. However, I have to urge everyone of you, if the opportunity arises again, drop whatever you have been planning for the day and go to Alix. It's worth it.
Over the last two years, an unpleasant astringency/bitterness has snuck into the "house character" of my beers. In dialogue with other brewers, it appears this problem may be remedied by the dilution of our tap water. This has caused me to hypothesize that the levels of permanent hardness (particularly magnesium sulphate) in the tap water have increased. In my operations, carbon filtration, pre-boiling and acidulation treatments are insufficient for softening the liquor to remove the precursors of astringency. I am puzzled by the fact that our local breweries are producing very excellent products without deliberately altering the permanent hardness of their water. The sensitivity of the homebrewer's small batch method is a confound of scale that remains a mystery. The "buffering" effects of commercial batch sizes to subtle changes in ingredient including water - I cannot deny. Another possible difference may be a matter of source. The reservoirs feeding Alley Kat and Brewsters may be entirely different from those which a given home may draw from. The fact remains, I have not been able to produce the fine brews of the past using our city water. The most problematic beers have been stouts and porters - not entirely due to my hand getting heavy inside the bag of dark malt.
This article will explore the significant contributions of magnesium sulphate and related compounds to deleterious affects on beer flavour the practical, and, the intriguing - but devilishly complex methods of reducing permanent hardness (sorry, it doesn’t involve goat's blood, just math), a look at municipal water treatment, how water mineralizes in the first place, and finally a description of the water test kits available on order.
I can not say with absolute certainty that magnesium sulphate is the culprit of astringency. With a little knowledge, I am setting up preconceptions of a magnesium induced astringency paradigm. I am going to be guilty of what philosopher Fireabend criticized science for. Science wants to prove the preconceived and not necessarily look for all the facts. So, I will try to use knowledge to support my feeble, prejudiced spawn.
The Practical Brewera lists a number of miscellaneous causes of grainy, harsh, astringent bitterness that are outside normal hop bitterness. The list includes high pH of liquor, high acidity, high sulphate, high magnesium or iron, high kettle pH, abnormal level of higher alcohols and spent hop carryover to fermentor (p296). In Brewing Lager Beerb, Noonan wrote, "In small concentrations of 10 to 30 ppm, (Mg++) accentuates the beer's flavour, but it imparts an astringent bitterness when it is present in excess" (p51). Looking back to Dave Line's The Big Book of Brewingc published in 1985, he writes, "Magnesium sulphate ... regrettably, has an unpleasant bitter flavour that mars its usefulness if present in too large a proportion" (p99). Line raises an eyebrow at sodium sulphate. "Sodium sulphate is not very often present in water as a predominant salt (and) is noted for its characteristic hard and harsh flavour which is very difficult to eliminate or mask" (p100). Dave Miller's The Complete Handbook of Homebrewingd describes excessive magnesium as contributing a sharp sour-bitter flavour and sodium sulphate creates unpleasant harshness (p67). Malting and Brewing Science Vol. 2ee cited a table in "Food and Taste Chemistry", 1979 in which MgSO4 was used to test perception of bitterness at the rear of the tongue (p843). For those chemistry buffs, the mean flavour threshold of magnesium sulphate is 0.0046 molarity or 0.0554% (M&B Sci. p848).
The concentration of magnesium ions in wort and beer is dramatically higher than that of liquor. Typical levels for British beer ranges from 60 to 200 ppm. While German beer have a range from 75 to 250 ppm and lagers start at 34 and hit 162 ppm of Mg++ (p779). Due to the abundance of this ion in malt, it is unnecessary to introduce it to the softest of water (Miller p71). Some classic brewing waters appear to be in much harder shape than Edmonton's - so why do we have water problems? Again I clutch to my theory of the effects of brewhouse scale. One fact that I find paradoxical is the fact that Burton-on-Trent water has 60 ppm of magnesium, twice as much as the recommended ceiling of 30 ppm! Idiot that I am, I still believe that permanent hardness of the magnesium type is responsible for my brewing problems.
The Practical Solution
Now, as always, the solution to pollution is dilution. Roxy Hastings, among others, has achieved good results by diluting the city water with reverse osmosized water. The dilution rate is 1 part R.O. to 1 part city for ale and 2:1 for lager. After the dilution, brewing salts may be added, sans epsom (MgSO4), to simulate classic brew liquor. The dilution solution is as close as your grocery or water distiller store.
A < Practical solution
The second option that may be available to a limited number of people is softening the water by ion exchange
method. The great fear in the past was that this process exchanged sodium ions in exchange for other metal ions. Scrounging through the water chemistry geekdom that is part of the Cameron Library, I discovered that all ion exchange units are not created equal. For example, weekly basic anion exchangers replace one SO4-2 group (that's supposed to be two negative charges, eh) with two OH-. The beads are recharged using NaOH, NH4OH or Na2CO3. Weakly acidic cation exchangers scrub Ca++ from Ca(HCO3)2 and produce two H+. The bed is regenerated with HCl or H2SO4. Similar effects on magnesium compounds are produced.
Total deionization (not absolute) is possible in a system where the primary exchanger is cationic, regenerated with acid, and the secondary unit is an anion exchanger, regenerated with caustic. A CO2 eliminator between the two may be required in commercial sized operations. Mixed bed ion exchange systems where cation and anion resins are blended is a possibility. The great disadvantage is that regeneration and washing of each resin occurs separately. The different beads must be gently decompacted - anion resin is lighter and will rise to the top - and separated. Careful, non-mechanical blending of the beads with compressed air, for example, will help preserve the fragile surface of the resinf. Perhaps a mixed bed system can make sense in the short run as a start to mucking with ion exchange before confidence in the technology is acquired. More research will be required of an individual willing to pursue purchasing an ion exchange system. The mathematics of capacity and regeneration reagents must be worked out. Buyer beware, you will have to pick the sales representative's brain cleaner than a Papua New Guinea cannibal.
The Deep End of Water Softening
The last alternative, probably the least practical but, the greatest in terms of coolness factor, is water softening via coagulation and sedimentation - just like a water treatment plant. Fear No Sludge!
For homebrewers, water treatment with coagulants could be the new schmeg on the block. Our hobby is based on extracting and decanting the good stuff. Brewing is part schmeg and part schmoogly management. From vourlauf, kettle finings secondary,fermentation and chillproofing, we are intent on creating big flocs of crud and letting them settle. For the adventurous, water treatment advances the homebrewer to the next level of adding a little bit of material to the brew to get massive schmeg products. For example, one pound of lime will yield three and a half pounds of solidsg. To be practical, water treatment procedures would start at the same time as yeast propagation. Let sedimentation take its own sweet time. To start with, tap water is extraordinarily free of chunks as compared to raw water but we can fix that, folks. With a wee pinch of bentonite the water will have enough nucleation sites for all kinds of wonderful reactions to occour. Creating artificial turbidity is just that simple Now we can add chemicals to change calcium and magnesium compounds into insoluble forms (Riehl p34).
Precipitate
Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 >> 2CaCO3 + 2H2O
Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 >> *MgCo3 + CaCO3+2H2O
*MgCo3 + Ca(OH)2 >> Mg(OH)2 + CaCO3
MgCl2 + Ca(OH)2 >> Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2
Mg(No3)2 + Ca(OH)2 >> Mg(OH)2 + Ca(NO3)2
MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 >> Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4
(Riel p103)
The most popular and versatile chemical used in municipal and industrial water softening is slaked (hydrated) lime. Beware - cement may form on the bottom of the lime slaker. With the addition of lime Ca(OH)2 milk; Carbonates*, sulphates and chlorides of magnesium are converted to the carbonates, sulphates and chlorides of calcium and the insoluble magnesium hydroxide Mg(OH)2. Bicarbonate of magnesium will reduce to the soluble compound magnesium carbonate, yet, this product will precipitate in further reactions with lime to Mg(OH)2 as listed above.
As you can see, the resulting increase in calcium sulphate hardness can be a benefit to ale brewing! Firstly, the lime will react with free CO2, then calcium bicarbonate and then precipitate about 10% of the magnesium hardness. For further precipitation of magnesium hardness, lime treatment must continue to pH 10.0 or slightly higher. According to Riehl, "The precipitation of magnesium hydroxide provides a net benefit for coagulation of raw water particulates. Magnesium hydroxide, a bulky gelatinous precipitate which coagulates the suspended clay particles or mud as readily as the precipitates formed by the sulphates of aluminum or iron." (p96). Epcor uses alum (aluminum sulphate) as a coagulant. As far as I can see, it does an excellent job at removing some of the calcium bicarbonate, but has little direct effect on magnesium sulphate unless secondary reactions with aluminum hydroxide occur.
Now you brewers are saying, "Ok, Geoffrey, the crud is falling, the crud is falling, but I have a big alkalinity problem! What will I do?" In a municipal water treatment where over-treatment with lime is a standard procedure they will also recarbonate the water to achieve stability when required.
Ca(OH)2 + 2CO2 <<>> Ca(HCO3)2
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 <<>> *CaCO3 + H2O
*CaCO3 + H2O + CO2 <<>> Ca(HCO3)2
Mg(OH)2 + 2CO2 <<>> Mg(HCO3)2
Mg(OH)2 + CO2 <<>> *MgCO3 + H2O
*MgCO3 + H2O + CO2 <<>> Mg(CO3)2 h
These reactions will rid the water of fine particulates by producing soluble bicarbonates. This measure would produce liquor suitable for brewing dark beers perhaps. Boiling the water will drive off the half bound carbon dioxide portion of the bicarbonate, which will precipitate calcium carbonate. Magnesium hydroxide has a greater affinity for CO2 than CaCO3 (Riehl p132). All of the good work that has been done by raising the water pH for magnesium removal may be for naught if the clear stuff isn't carefully decanted off the Mg(OH)2 sediment prior to recarbonation. However, additions of sulphuric acid will produce calcium sulphate and stabilize calcium carbonate (Powell p85). Similarly, phosphoric acid will produce calcium phosphate - a yeast nutrient.
Ca(OH)2 + H2SO4 >> CaSO4 + 2H2O
2CaCO3 + H2SO4 >> Ca(HCO3)2 + CaSO4
Sulphate species remains soluble after treatment. It only switches partners with the cation++ of the coagulant. Soda ash (NaCO3) or caustic soda (NaOH) treatment, which complements lime treatment in municipal supply, will only exacerbate this problem for brewers by converting CaSO4 to NaSO4 (Reihl) - a salt with hard and harsh flavour (Line p100). The specific dosing calculations for lime or alum will have to wait for some other time - I've run out of mine. Be my guest to the challenge. My guess is, if you add lime milk (bentonite - optional) to get pH 10, decant and acidulate, you should get rid of the temporary hardness.
Treating water can be a real pain, so, how does H2O pick up all of these impurities in the first place? The raindrop naturally picks up atmospheric gases and industrial pollutants or sea salt. However, the majority of impurities are picked up on the ground. The earth's crust contains considerable amounts of salt, gypsum, limestone, epsom, silica, iron, etc. But this leaves the bicarbonates to question - they don't actually exist in solid form. Calcium and magnesium bicarbonates exist in water because they are half bound with CO2. Naturally, CO2 enters surface water through rotting vegetation, fish breath, beaver farts, etc. Similarly, gases bound in the earth can build up pressure in underground water channels, essentially force carbonating the water. The dissolved CO2 allows the solubility and association with chalk or limestone to create calcium bicarbonatesi. The old legend of dissolving a tooth in a bottle of pop is probably explained by calcium reactions with CO2 as much as it is by high levels of acid. One can demonstrate the binding power of CO2 with powdered chalk added to tap water vs. carbonated water (Berman p28-32).
So, why all the fuss about bicarbonate removal? It causes hardness and alkalinity. The alkalinity and temporary hardness are detrimental to mash reactions and boiling reactions. Can you see the difference between acidulating alkaline water with little hardness vs. pH adjustment for hard alkaline water? In the former, acid is neutralizing OH radicals; in the later, acid is chasing CO3 radicals and sometimes stabilizing them into bicarbonates. The two waters may be pH adjusted with different levels of temporary hardness and consequently different mash pHs will result. CaSO4 and MgSO4 contribute hardness, but not alkalinity. Na2(CO3)2 - sodium bicarbonate - contributes alkalinity without hardness. Na2SO4 contributes neither hardness, nor alkalinity, but imparts off flavour (Berman p34).
Gotta Hardness Problem, Buddy?
No Need to Suffer in Silence.
Hope is on its way – water test kits are available from Cole Palmer. In discussion with Rob Walsh of Brewsters, the club is open to place an order with the Brewsters account. Test strips have a shelf life of 4-7 mo. Titration kits remain sound indefinitely. You can test for total hardness and calcium hardness – subtract the two and you get magnesium hardness. There are tests for sulphate, alkalinity, etc. Perhaps the club will purchase some of these kits for a mass testing of our member's typical brewing liquor, for analyzing treatments we do in the future and keeping an eye out on Epcor.
What Would a Microbrewer Do?
Below is a list of water treatments of some of the best beers around. Thanks, Neil & Rob.
| Kat Liquor | Brewster's Brew-water | |
| Charcoal/Carbon Filter | Y | Y |
| Pre-boil | N | 1 Hour, Decant |
| Acidulate H2PO4 | Y | Y, pH 7.0 |
| CaSo4 | Scona | In Bitters |
| CaCl2 | Scona | Lt. Beers 1oz./100L (PB) |
| Details: | Mash liquor pH 7.0, pH 6.0 | Hot Liquor Burtonizing is calculated using Epcor data and brewers software. |
Why Did I Write This?
Practically speaking, the solution to our problem is already em ployed by dilution. It will never get any simpler than a glug, glug, glug out of a water jug. The test kits will probably be needed in the case of lime treatment, thus, adding to cost. Lime suitable for water treatment will have to be sourced. Recharging an ion exchange unit is tricky - and sodium can leak from these systems when they are near holding capacity. The fact remains, better water can be made at home. You can tailor it for bitter, brown, porter, Dort, lager as you modify and test. The water I forever took for granted has changed, and, made me look for new variations and treatments to not only get back to the historical quality of Edmonton water, but improve upon it.- And in the process I will FEAR NO SCHMEG!
I feel justified in my suspicions. I have some old water reports from '88 - '90 on file. I collected them when I was first curious about mashing. I have not given the data much consideration since. The numbers don't lie, we are seeing changes and not all for the good - that's the reality of public water for profit. It leaves the beverage producer, boiler operator, and industrial water user scrambling to solve a new costly city snafu's.
| units are in mg/L except * | Oct 2001 Avg.j | '99 Avg. | '99 Raw RD/ELS |
'88 Avg. | '89 Avg. |
| Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 |
115 | 65 | 142/140 | 56 | 56 |
| Conductivity *µS/cm | 351 | n/a | 366/364 | 246 | 271 |
| Calcium Hardness as CaCO3 |
112 | 125 | n/a (Ca) 116/91 |
69 (Ca) 28 |
71 |
| Total Hardness as CaCO3 |
164 | 164 | 116 | 115 | |
| magnesium | n/a | 13.2 | 31.9/24.2 | 11.8 | n/a |
| *pH | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.1 | |
| Sodium | 8.9 | 4 | 3.64 | 4.83 | |
| Sulphate | 62.5 | 59 | 59.8 | 60 | |
| Total Dissolved Solids | 202 | 231 | 160 | 170 |
On the subject of Haggis. Whilst softened water is not as good a complementary pair with haggis as fine scotch, soft water is useful in the preparation of another Scottish delicacy. Soft water, when heated to boiling, is the perfect liquid to sodden MacDevilin's Cup O'Spleen (available at finer Scottish imports). Eaten from its own polystyrene service, it is scrumptious and savoury to the last of the drippings - like a fine pot of offal that Mum used to make.
aHarold M. Broderick, technical director. P 296. The
Practical Brewer A Manual for the Brewing Industry,
Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Madison,
Wisconsin 53705. 1977.
bGregory J. Noonan. P 51. Brewing Lager Beer.
Brewers Publications, Boulder, Colorado 80306. 1986
cDave Line. P 51. The Big Book of Brewing. Amateur
Winemaker Publications, Andover, Hampshire, England.
HP2 4SS. 1985.
dDave Miller. P 67. The Complete Handbook of
Homebrewing. Garden Way Publishing, Pownal,
Vermont. 05261. 1988.
eJ.S. Hough, D.E. Briggs, R Stevens and T.W Young. P
843. Malting and Brewing Science Volume 2 Hopped
Wort and Beer. Chapman and Hall, London, England.
SE1 8HN. 1982.
f Degremont. Water Treatment Handbook, 5th ed.
Holsted Press, NY, NY.1979
g Merrill L. Riehl. P 95. Hoover's Water Supply and
Treatment, 11th ed. National Lime Association,
Washington D.C. 2016. 1976.
h Sheppard T. Powell. Water Conditioning for Industry,
1st ed. McGraw-Hill / Maple press York, PA, USA. 1954.
i A.S. Behrman. Water is Everybody's Buisiness,
Doubleday & Company Inc. Garden City, NY, USA.
1968.
j epcor.ca, January 7, 2002.