its my turn. advice on my ward lab report.

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fixitoscar

fixitoscar

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Been brewing extract batches with ro water for a couple of years with great results. I brewed my first all grain at my new house using filtered tap water and a campden tab. Hit all my temps and numbers no surpirses. The dry hopped ipa I brewed came out odd. hop flavor was muted and crystal malt flavor was up front. even afrter lots of cold conditioning.
I knew the water wasn't ideal but I wanted to concentrate on my process and give the tap water a shot. Just got my lab report today. What do you guys think? Straight from the tap no filter.

ph 8.1
tds ppm 396
elec conductivity .66
cations/ anions me/l 6.6/6.6
PPM
sodium na 65
potassium k 3
calcium ca 50
magnesium mg 15
total hardness caco3 188
nitrate no3-n 5.1
sulfate so4-s 33
chloride cl 68
carbonate co3 6
bicarbonate hco3 122
total alkalinity caco3 111
total phosphorus p .24
total iron <.01

Thanks
 
Its not terrible, but its far from great. Sodium is higher than desirable, but not excessive. The sulfate is high, but not for an IPA. The alkalinity is fairly high and if you didn't acidify the mash or sparging water, that is likely the cause of most of your problem. I'd say that some dilution with RO would be wise for many beers.

Visit the Water Knowledge page of the Bru'n Water website for more information.
 
For very selfish reasons I love reading posts like this that have been answered by Martin or A.J. - I think through what my answer would have been, then read what the experts say. I'm getting a pretty good handle on water chemistry now!
 
Thanks for the help! I have read that we should multiply the sulfates by 4 on a ward lab report. is this right?
 
I hope you dont mind if I piggy back off your post but I received my results and Im still sorta confused on were to begin. If I should try and dilute or filter or what salts or chalks? Or to just stick to bottled water? I appreciate any advice or direction.

ph 8.1
tds ppm 1236
elec conductivity 2.06
cations/ anions me/l 20.9/22.1
PPM
sodium na 342
potassium k 13
calcium ca 74
magnesium mg 25
total hardness caco3 289
nitrate no3-n 2.3
sulfate so4-s 167
chloride cl 216
carbonate co3 17
bicarbonate hco3 291
total alkalinity caco3 268
total phosphorus p .37
total iron <.01


Cheers
:mug:
 
LOL it might as well be but its the finest tap water in Yuma Az.






Hermit said:
Is this ocean water? :drunk:

You seem to have some very high levels of different things like sulfate and chloride. I'd stick to bottled.
Click to expand...
 
fixitoscar said:
Been brewing extract batches with ro water for a couple of years with great results. I brewed my first all grain at my new house using filtered tap water and a campden tab. Hit all my temps and numbers no surpirses. The dry hopped ipa I brewed came out odd. hop flavor was muted and crystal malt flavor was up front. even afrter lots of cold conditioning.
I knew the water wasn't ideal but I wanted to concentrate on my process and give the tap water a shot. Just got my lab report today. What do you guys think? Straight from the tap no filter.

ph 8.1
tds ppm 396
elec conductivity .66
cations/ anions me/l 6.6/6.6
PPM
sodium na 65
potassium k 3
calcium ca 50
magnesium mg 15
total hardness caco3 188
nitrate no3-n 5.1
sulfate so4-s 33
chloride cl 68
carbonate co3 6
bicarbonate hco3 122
total alkalinity caco3 111
total phosphorus p .24
total iron <.01

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you figure this out please update. I have the same problem with hoppy beers. I've tried all other variables. Feel like it must be the water. Mine looks a like this...

Ca: 32
Mg: 8.5
Na: 14.1
Cl: 20
So4/3: 21.2
Alkalinity: 95
Ph: 8

I've used brun water for acidification and calcium chloride and gypsum additions. I haven't tried dilution. Other beers come out great...
 
Bfinch77 said:
LOL it might as well be but its the finest tap water in Yuma Az.
Click to expand...
Well, that is seriously high sodium levels. The AMA paying the city to give everyone hypertension to treat? Just go to this site and look at different water profiles.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/ Choose target water selection. I pretty much just stick to the balanced profile because I don't want to add to much 'stuff' to my water.

It will show you what you are up against even with dilution.
 
tagz said:
If you figure this out please update. I have the same problem with hoppy beers. I've tried all other variables. Feel like it must be the water. Mine looks a like this...

Ca: 32
Mg: 8.5
Na: 14.1
Cl: 20
So4/3: 21.2
Alkalinity: 95
Ph: 8

I've used brun water for acidification and calcium chloride and gypsum additions. I haven't tried dilution. Other beers come out great...
Click to expand...

Sounds like you went down the road i'm about to take. Playing with the brewersfriend calculator. roughly I need to dilute with a bit over a gallon of ro water (to bring my sodium down) then add some gypsum and lactic acid. to get close the profile of "light hoppy beers" When I get home i'll try brun water.
According to brewers friend my predicted mash ph was 5.79 for this ipa. That is with no adjustments.
Time to pick up some gypsum and lactic acid and give adjusting a shot.
I'm going to brew the exact same beer and see how it comes out with adjustments.
 
So I just moved the same (adjusted) ipa to secondary for dry hopping. Taste is soo different. Hop flavor is highlighted and malt flavor is not sweet like it was before. I was a little scared of using what I thought to be a lot of lactic acid. (7ml) but it set my mash ph close to 5.5 (ph strips) and did not give me any off flavors that i can taste. I diluted with 2 gal of distilled water and added 4.5 grams of gypsum.
Thanks to everyone for their help. I now know what I need to do with my water. Can't wait to try a darker beer with adjusted water now. :rockin:
 

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