by Kido Hirotaka

A large amount of water is generally necessary for brewing beer. Regions famous for breweries have long been situated near lakes or flowing rivers, in addition to their proximity to areas where hops and barley are grown. You want to be where the good water is!

Since most of beer is made from water, the taste of that water greatly influences the taste of the beer, and the qualities of the water can impact the range of flavor dramatically. It’s not going to far to say that the water of a given region determines the characteristics the beer made there.

For example, pale ale flourished in England, among Burton-on-Trent brewers. The spring water there has high amounts of calcium and gypsum, making it “hard water.” Calcium works as a diastatic enzyme, drawing forth the sweetness of the malt. Likewise, sulphurs help draw forth hop bitterness. The sweetness of the malt contrasts with the bitterness of the hop to create a well-balanced beer.

These days, some adjust the qualities of the water, reducing or adding minerals, to fit the style of beer they want to make. When making a Burton-like pale ale in a region of soft water, brewers add minerals to make it hard water. This is called Burtonisation. But before we go deeper, let’s look a little more closely at what exactly “soft water” and “hard water” means. Sure, if you drink and compare, you’d say hard water is hard, and soft water is soft. But this expression actually comes from how soap lathers!

Getting soap to lather with water high in minerals is more difficult. People would say, “Hard to lather,” and hence the name. And from “hard water,” came it’s opposite, “soft water” low in minerals.

Most living things are primarily composed of water. Beer, too. What in the world would we do without water?!

This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.