How to Install Reverse Osmosis Water System for Homebrewery [ Buckeye Hydro Review ]

We all know water can greatly impact the quality of beer! See why I chose to purchase and install a Buckeye Hydro Pro Reverse Osmosis system in my garage home brewery, the add-ons I decided to included in the system, any my thoughts on how this system performed.
#homebrewing #reverseosmosissystem #homebrew

[@BlichmannEngineering]

Well said. Great content and cheers to your continued success!

[@justhomebrew]

Thank you for the feedback!!!

[@kmind71]

Could you explain a little more on how you hooked up the water supply? I just purchased the system but am having trouble figuring out what connectors to get for the actual water supply. Thanks!

[@justhomebrew]

I hook mine directly to a garden hose faucet. It’s been a while since I installed this, but I do recall there being a few options for the hook up. I picked the garden hose attachment. There may be other options. I hope this helps!

[@kmind71]

@@justhomebrew this does. Thank you very much and great video!

[@richardbowlby9679]

I wonder if you could put a little punp in the wastewater and run it through again to limit waste?

[@justhomebrew]

Hey Richard, that’s something I might test sometime. My only thought is it could be additional wear and tear in your pump. It would have to run for a long period of time. Thanks for the comment!

[@BuckeyeHydro]

Good question Richard. This can be done, and it's routinely done on commercial RO systems. But the devil's in the details... it only makes sense if your tap water/feedwater water has been softened.

[@PetraKann]

“water is probably the most important ingredient in beer brewing”???? It is important, but I would rank it towards the bottom in terms of importance. I have found that malt quality, yeast, mashing and fermentation techniques and sanitation are more critical to your final beer quality. Your RO yield or efficiency is quite low although the “waste” water is fine to use for other purposes if your original water supply was drinkable to start off with. Do you filter the water before running it through the RO filtration system? A fine sediment and carbon stage filter stage would help. (Water chemistry is a different issue)

[@justhomebrew]

Maybe another way I could have got my point across in the video is that water can greatly impact the quality of your beer. I’ve been amazed how much of a difference there is to my beer when I tweak the water chemistry. I do have a sediment filter. For this video, I chose to leave that part of the test out because I just wanted to focus on the RO system. I saw a 10 ppm drop with my sediment filter in place when running another test. I appreciate the input and feedback!

[@PetraKann]

@@justhomebrew That's true. You mentioned buying spring water from your supplier for beer making. Spring water does have dissolved solid contents that are high. As long as one knows what the general chemistry is of your water supply, you can adjust the components and pH etc. I agree that you need to pay attention to all aspects of the beer making process. I brew beer at home with a basic set up and also make wine. I can say that for me wine making is less complicated than beer brewing. Good luck....it's a great hobby.

[@thebeerjunkies1]

Water is one of the most important raw materials in brewing with it making up 90-96% of your beer. You can make the argument that the other ingredients are just as important, but I would argue that it is the most overlooked raw material, particularly among new brewers. Optimizing the ions present can greatly impact many aspects of your beer, including perceived sweetness and hop bitterness. The hardness of your water also impacts your brewing process, as hard water can cause scale to build up on heating elements and reduce heating efficiencies. The hardness also impacts the pH of your mash. If it is too alkaline, you will have poor saccharification, poor wort separation, darker than expected wort, poor protein precipitation, and astringency. If the pH is too low, which is extremely common in darker beers due to insufficient residual alkalinity, you will produce a harsh, acidic beer. Depending on where you get your brewing water, there are certain chemicals and ions that are allowed in water for it to be considered potable, but you must remove them for quality beer. Small amounts of copper and iron are allowed in potable water, but are oxidation catalysts that will negatively affect colloidal stability. There are currently no regulations for silicates, and they can cause haze and negatively impact wort separation. There are many similar examples, and RO filters and ion exchanges help remove these from your water. You don’t need an RO filter or ion exchange system to brew excellent beer, but it does allow you to have greater control over the water profile if you want to make adjustments for different styles. Like I said earlier, I would agree with an argument that all ingredients are important to the brewing process and overall quality of your beer, but not that it’s less important.

[@justhomebrew]

Thanks for the additional feedback and input! I really like how you positioned water as an important raw material. This is another way I could have positioned my statement better in the video. Also, excellent insight and knowledge of what to think about for water profiles. Cheers!