Lesson 5 - Brewing Water Composition and Impact SAQ
This lesson provides the opportunity for you to test yourself on the material covered in Lesson 4 (Brewing Water Composition and Impact) and determine the level to which you have attained the expected outcomes.
Self-Assessment Questions
1. *What effect will the following minerals have on the final beer flavour profile:
a) Chloride
b) Sulphate
c) A zinc level of 5 mg/L in the product water
d) A 2:1 chloride:sulphate ratio
e) Sodium
2. **The mineral content of the base product water in your brewery is as follows:
Calcium – 30 mg/L
Sulphate – 50 mg/L
Chloride – 50 mg/L
mw of Ca is 40
mw of SO4 is 96
mw of Cl2 is 71
mw of H2O is 18
a) You would like to brew an amber lager. How would you adjust the mineral levels? Show any calculations.
b) If you added 104 mg/L of calcium sulphate, what beer style/s could you brew?
3. **Your base product water has a calcium level of 150 mg/L. The chloride and sulphate levels are both 0 mg/L. You would like to have chloride levels up to 100 mg/L, and a sulphate level of 300 mg/L. You will need the following information:
mw of sodium chloride (NaCl) is 58.4
mw of chloride (Cl) is 35.5
mw of sodium (Na) is 23
mw of magnesium sulphate (MgSO4.7H2O) is 246.5
mw of magnesium (Mg) is 24.3
mw of sulphate (SO4) is 96
a) What type of beer style would this be suitable for, once the sulphate and chloride levels have been adjusted?
b) Why would you not add calcium chloride or calcium sulphate to this water to get the chloride and sulphate levels to the target level?
c) Calculate how much sodium chloride would need to be added to achieve the target chloride. What impact would this have on the beer?
d) Calculate how much magnesium sulphate you would need to add to achieve the sulphate target. What impact would this have on the beer?
4. **Minerals in the brewing product water can positively influence yeast and beer flavour. In some cases, there can be too much of a good thing. In other cases, small amounts can have a detrimental impact on the final beer. Discuss how mineral levels in the product water can negatively impact the final beer.
5. **You have been asked to design a water specification for a pale lager. You have been provided with the following parameters:
Microbiological
Copper
Iron
Manganese
Nitrate
Sodium
Alkalinity
Calcium
Chlorine
Chloride
Magnesium
Sulphate
Zinc
Provide suggested values and reasons for each of the parameters listed.