ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews why there is often a need for water treatment for beer production—in other words, to understand how water quality can influence beer quality and then to review the appropriate processes that are available, the technologies involved, and their applications in achieving the desired quality standards, not only for water as a primary raw material but also for the other process uses. The various water uses in the brewery may require different compositions or treatments appropriate to the requisite functions. In this respect, different functions can be categorized as: Brewing water; Process water; Service water; and General purpose water. The primary sources of ingredient water in brewing are, obviously, mashing and sparging liquors and, if high gravity brewing is employed, then water used for alcohol/gravity adjustment (dilution or cutting liquor) can be a significant contributor to the beer volume.
