Five Gallons At A Time: Water Chemistry Updates

I updated the six-part series on water chemistry. Here are the links to the articles:

Part I (introduction)
Part II (easy ballpark water treatments)
Part III (factors that affect mash pH)
Part IV (target residual alkalinity calculations)
Part V (water treatment outline and salt addition calculations)
Part VI (slaked lime and lactic acid calculations)

I rewrote the old articles instead of writing new ones because leaving up the old information, some of which was valid and some of which was outdated, would have been confusing for readers. In addition, I wanted to leave the original web addresses intact so people who use them as references would be able to find the new information as easily as possible. I included latest revision date in the body of each post so people will know that the content has changed since the publishing dates.

I'm always trying to better myself as a brewer, and I've gathered a lot of new information about water and mash chemistry over the last year. Some of it profoundly affects how brewing water should be treated:

-The target mash pH range of 5.2-5.5 is for room temperature measurements, not mash temperature measurements.
-Some of the pH strips available at homebrew shops report values that are about 0.3 lower than the actual pHs. I was using them, which made me believe my mashes were within the target pH range when they weren't.
-Kohlbach's claim that each mEq/L of residual alkalinity will raise pH by 0.084 was for 12-Plato kettle wort, not mashes.
-Water with significant carbonic acid, such as Madison city water, requires additional slaked lime to convert carbonic acid into bicarbonate ions.
-A given amount of acid will lower a mash pH at a higher rate when no carbonate alkalinity is present in the mash water.

That's why I decided to update the water treatment posts. I hope you find them helpful.