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I'm working away furiously at my new Scottish book. And I rec ently noted a huge gap in my knowledge of Scottish beer: the makeup of brewing water.

I'm pretty sure that I have searched for analyses of Edinburgh water in the past, but without much luck. I vaguely thought that it was similar to Burton water, but wasn't sure, not having any real numbers. Ed Wray helped me out with a scan from Lloyd Hind. Which prompted me to look in my own copy of the book. Where I found the handy table below.

It sems my assumption was well far off the mark. Edinburgh water is quite different to Burton's. More sodium, but less magnesium, calcium and way less sulphates and carbonates. Though you'll note that there are far fewer minerals in the third Burton sample. As I delight in pointing out - probably to everyone else's great annoyance - there's no such thing as Burton water, as every well produces water with a different set of minerals.

That said, the sulphate content of Edinburgh water is high compared to most others, Burton excepted, of course. Was it enough to help Pale Ale brewing? I don't really know, to be honest. I'm not that up on water chemistry, if I'm honest If you are, feel free to share your expertise.


Classification of Hard Brewing Waters (parts per 100,000)
Carbo- nate ratio Total solids Na Mg Ca NO3 CI S04 C03 Geological formation
GROUP A.
1, Burton-on-Trent 13 219.2 4.6 8.2 51.2 4.3 6.7 130.1 141 Keuper marl
2. Burton-on-Trent 25 122.6 3 6.2 26.8 3.1 3.6 65.8 141 Gravel beds
3. Burton-on-Trent 39 81.1 4.3 5.8 15.6 5 7.3 29.3 13.8 " "
4. Bedfordshire 49 78.8 6 0.9 19 4.8 3.1 30 15 Lias
GROUP B.
5. Co. Durham 54 76.5 7.4 3.5 14.4 1.2 11.4 21.1 16.5 Magnesian Limestone
6. Dortmund 60 101.2 6.9 2.3 26 — 10.7 28.3 27
7. Gloucestershire 60 67.8 4.5 4 13.6 0.3 3.6 23.5 18.3 Magnesian Limestone
8. Bedfordshire 66 55.5 4.6 0.8 13.9 0.6 3 17.6 15 Oolites
GROUP C.
9. Lancashire 68 61.5 3.9 4.5 12.1 0.3 6.7 14 20 New Red Sandstone
10. Lincolnshire 69 45.8 3.4 0.4 12.2 4 3 9.6 12.2 Lower Oolite
11. Edinburgh 70 80 9.2 3.6 14 3.1 6 23.1 21 Old Red Sandstone
12. Yorkshire 77 41.2 2.3 1.7 10.5 1.8 3 6.6 15.3 New Red Sandstone
13. Lancashire 78 24.7 1.6 1.4 5.5 1.7 2.4 2.9 9.2 " "
14. Berkshire 80 30.3 0.5 0.9 10 0.5 3.6 0.6 14.2 Chalk
GROUP D.
15. Gloucestershire 85 27.7 0.9 0.6 8.8 1 1.6 2.4 12.4 Lias
16. London M.W.B. 85 32 2.4 0.4 9 0.3 1.8 5.8 12.3
17. Nottinghamshire 85 24.6 1.2 3.2 3.6 0.2 1.6 3.4 11.4 New Red Sandstone
18. Surrey 86 29.7 1.6 0.2 9.3 2.6 2.3 1.4 12.3 Chalk
19. Hertfordshire 92 44.6 3.8 7 11.8 3.2 3.5 4.5 17.1 "
GROUP E.
20. Munich, Dublin 97 27.5 0.1 1.9 8.1 0.3 0.1 0.5 16.5
21. Lancashire 100 23.9 2.7 1.4 4.4 0.9 1.7 2.7 10.1 New Red Sandstone
22. Lancashire 100 38.4 1.9 3.4 8.4 - 1.7 1.8 21.2 " "
Source:
Brewing: Science and Practice 1: by Herbert Lloyd Hind, 1940, page 458.




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