Why is water so important in the process of brewing?
Beer is 90% water, therefore it is obviously critical to the whole process and end product. As a general rule, if your water is good to drink it will be fine for brewing. Getting a bit deeper into the subject though, it is the specific water chemistry that plays a huge role in the type of beer that can be produced successfully. If you live in Henley, you will know what your kettle looks like after a couple weeks of making tea and coffee. This type of water is not the easiest water to brew with. The ‘temporary’ (because it can be turned into white fur) hardness limits the types of beer that can be brewed with it, specifically, golden beers are very difficult to make palatable with this type of water. It turns out that most world beer styles have been determined by the water chemistry of the areas where they evolved. For instance, Henley beers were always on the dark side for a bitter. Back then, they didn’t know it, but by adding dark grains (roasted to differing degrees Lovibond) the b
