Webinar: John Palmer: Ask Me Anything

Webinar Questions Answered by John in the Webinar (written below as submitted):

• 50 ppm of Ca is often considered necessary for yeast health, but other texts suggest that malt provides more than than amount, and that lagers need considerably less (20ppm) Ca due to highly flocculating yeast – can you comment?
• Copper and Zinc are often mentioned as two minerals not provided by mashing all-malt grist – any others?
• Some german hops (Hallertauer) are supposedly “clash” in flavor with even modest amounts of Sulfate (50ppm) – are there any other similar flavor clashes with “seasoning” ions – Sulfate, Chloride etc.?
• Some literature recommends german styles (pilsner) to be mashed at lower than 5.2 pH (4.8-5.0) – aside from lower extract, are there any other negative effects of lower pH on flavor?
• You mentioned different styles require different minerals, can you recommend any literature where we can find these recommended profiles. Some sort of a quick start guide.
• Are there any studies on salt loss from the mash to the kettle and from the kettle to the keg/bottle/can? Most people do 1 addition, but some do multiple.
• I’m not sure if John would want to comment on this, I have titration water test system and a light absorption strip based system for testing my water. I always ensure my solutions or strips are within date, but the results can be widely different especially with respect to hardness. Any comment on the limitations of either system?
• when building your own water profile is it better to use distilled or RO water or is the minimal mineral content of RO water negligible?
• Does adding excess KMeta to scavenge oxygen have any other chemistry-related (as opposed to flavor-related) consequences?
• John, when you say beer made with distilled water doesn’t have much structure, is that about using pure distilled without adding salts?
• Hi Doug & John, this is Pablo from White Labs, there are a lot of homebrewers and pro brewers using RO water but is that a good option? I know it is if your water is not good but in case you have some “ok” water in your area, aren’t you losing some important minerals (trace) found in regular water? Are these minerals (trace) important? Do they have an important impact on the final beer? thanks, guys!