Another Ward Lab water report

[AndyRN]

I like to brew IPA's, Brown Ales, and wheats. My efficiency has been around 60-68% with store grind. The pH I get on a freshly calibrated meter is about 7.41, which I tend to agree with more than a sample that was in transit and in the lab for a total of 1 week.

I'm just now starting to adjust my water chemistry and looking for advice on what I should be adding to my water to bring the pH down and what other minerals etc I should keep on hand for the various styles I like to brew.

I do have RO water in the house, and I can get about 1.5 gallons from it on brew day.

I have plugged in my info to Brunwater and the profiles are a little confusing as to which one I should pick for which beer.

Just looking for some advice from the pros. I see my biggest issue is the bicarb level is way higher then the default target on Brun water, everything else is a little high or not too far off from the default target level.


pH 7.2

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 392
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.65
Cations / Anions, me/L 7.7 / 8.0


Sodium, Na -- 7

Potassium, K -- 3

Calcium, Ca -- 70

Magnesium, Mg -- 46

Total Hardness, CaCO3 -- 367

Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)

Sulfate, SO4-S -- 7

Chloride, Cl -- 7

Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0

Bicarbonate, HCO3 -- 451

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 -- 371

Total Phosphorus, P < 0.01

Total Iron, Fe 0.05

 

[ajdelange]

Your alkalinity is 7.42 mEq/L which may be the biggest number I have ever seen reported. Same for your hardness. Will a spoon stand up on its own in a glass of this water? As it is this water is pretty much disqualified for brewing. You might try boiling some after adding anothe 70 mg/L as calcium sulfate and/or chloride. It should turn milky as the temperature approaches boiling and after removing the heat and letting it settle and cool there should be lots of chalk on the bottom of the pot. Clear water decanted should have alkalinity about 50 (1 mEq/L) and hardness (as CaCO3) about the same. Your water will, of course, wind up with lots of extra sulfate and/or chloride depending on which calcium salt you use and this is a lot of trouble compared to just using RO which would be your best bet with this water but with the source so hard and alkaline you would get, for example, even with 95% rejection, akalinity of 18.5 (ppm as CaCO3 ~ 0.36 mEq/L) and so you would want to monitor the permeate for this. It is also essential that the RO unit be fed with softened water in order to prevent fouling of the membrane with chalk.

 

[AndyRN]

Your alkalinity is 7.42 mEq/L which may be the biggest number I have ever seen reported. Same for your hardness. Will a spoon stand up on its own in a glass of this water? As it is this water is pretty much disqualified for brewing. You might try boiling some after adding anothe 70 mg/L as calcium sulfate and/or chloride. It should turn milky as the temperature approaches boiling and after removing the heat and letting it settle and cool there should be lots of chalk on the bottom of the pot. Clear water decanted should have alkalinity about 50 (1 mEq/L) and hardness (as CaCO3) about the same. Your water will, of course, wind up with lots of extra sulfate and/or chloride depending on which calcium salt you use and this is a lot of trouble compared to just using RO which would be your best bet with this water but with the source so hard and alkaline you would get, for example, even with 95% rejection, akalinity of 18.5 (ppm as CaCO3 ~ 0.36 mEq/L) and so you would want to monitor the permeate for this. It is also essential that the RO unit be fed with softened water in order to prevent fouling of the membrane with chalk.

Well crap. Does a carbon filter impact alkalinity?

 

[mchrispen]

Carbon doesn't affect ionic content... so no. RO is your best bet for the reasons that AJ outlined. For what it's worth, I have worse water. I bought a RO filter, build my water with mineral salts and haven't looked back.

 

[AndyRN]

Carbon doesn't affect ionic content... so no. RO is your best bet for the reasons that AJ outlined. For what it's worth, I have worse water. I bought a RO filter, build my water with mineral salts and haven't looked back.

Sounds good. I have a Culligan RO system that does pull from softened water. I went down and checked it and the last time any of the filters were changes was back in 2008. Culligan says the RO membrane is good for 6-8 years but the other filters should have been changed many moons ago. That RO filter is going to cost me a "pretty penny" It's almost cheaper to buy new, but I think this is supposed to be a pretty decent system and I know I can get the filters for it.

 

[mchrispen]

Post softener is a great place for it. You can check the output with a fairly inexpensive TDS meter. You should be looking for a pretty low TDS - like around 10-15 for good rejection, and I change my filters out around 35 TDS. You can also check post softener, pre-RO, and compare.