Beer Part 6 – Mashing & Water

Recommended Reading:

Basic

  • Wotring, Ginger. BJCP Beer Exam Study Guide. Water
  • Houseman, David & Bickham, Scott. BJCP Beer Exam Study Guide. Wort Production
  • Palmer, John (2006). How to Brew. Pages (37 – 40, 133 – 198). Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications. Note: If you have a different revision the reading is equivalent to Chapters 4, 13 – 18, Appendix E & F – which are the topics malt extract, barley & adjuncts and beer color.

Intermediate

  • Palmer, John; Kaminski, Colin (2013). Water: A Comprehensive Guide For Brewers. Brewers Publications.

Overview

This course should be everything pertaining to water and brewing: different mashing techniques, enzymes, sparging, the importance of temperature and pH, mineral types and their impact on the finished beer, water quality, and modifications (assessing, adjusting and additives). Discuss the water profiles of famous beer regions, the impact of that water on the ingredients of beer styles of those regions, and bring in samples of water that resemble those regions. At the least it is suggested that samples of water from different sources (municipal tap, well, distilled, commercial bottled, local spring, etc.), share them with the participants, and compare / contrast.