I have been using spring\well water from my buddies farm, everything has been great. I don't use my water because its city water and I figured spring\well water with no additives would be better. I want to start tweaking my brews getting the best brew possible, starting with the water. Whats the best way to test water? Are there some strips I can buy? Where is the best place to get them and the brand name please.
Testing my water
- Thread starter Minjin
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I would send off a bottle to Ward labs. They'll give you a complete breakdown of the important brewing minerals for the lowest price. You can order the "homebrewers kit" which includes shipping and a bottle which they'll send you, or you can just pay for the test and ship them a bottle of your own. www.wardlab.com
Ward Labs as a "brewing" test, but the "household" test (I think the number is W6 or something like that) is perfect, and it's cheaper. The test you need is $16.50 I believe at Ward Lab.
It's pretty fast, as I sent my sample in and had the results in just a few days.
It's pretty fast, as I sent my sample in and had the results in just a few days.
Oh, another thing is you shouldn't automatically assume the bottled water is better than your city water, which varies drastically town to town. If you're feeling fancy, you could send off a bottle of each, but tap water is always going to be easier to get. I say send that in. If you have a ton of chlorine or chloramine in the water there are ways of alleviating that, but I'd say start with tap water and go from there unless it smells and tastes like a public pool.
If your water is so hard that it's unusable (unlikely, my water is very hard but has good amounts of the correct minerals), you can save yourself a bit of hassle by buying a cheap RO system and building water from scratch.
If your water is so hard that it's unusable (unlikely, my water is very hard but has good amounts of the correct minerals), you can save yourself a bit of hassle by buying a cheap RO system and building water from scratch.
kcbeersnob
Well-Known Member
Whatever water you use for brewing should definitely be tested. You might actually find that your municipal water supply is superior to the well/spring water you've been using. If your tap water is a good base for brewing, you can use campden tablets to precipitate off chloramine and chlorine.
Your city (or whoever supplies your water) may also publish a periodic water report that will give you an approximate idea what you're dealing with.
A lot of good, reliable info here: https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/
Not to hijack the thread but what if we get the test and we then get the readings. What are we looking for, I currently brew using water from a well in pa, and I am moving to Boston area where I'm pretty sure I'm on public water. Never got my water tested before but it's been cranking out good beer so it can't be that bad right but I worried the water will be significantly different in Boston area
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