Water Quality Report Questions & Styles

[tjashing]

Which style of beer is most suitable to the water profile described below (all values in ppm and are an average taken from a local water report):

pH: 7.6
Hardness as CaCO3: 199
Calcium: 54
Free Chlorine (residual): 1.13
Magnesium: 16
Sodium: 7
Sulfate: 57

Taking these values (Ca2+ & Mg2+) and finding the effective hardness, residual Alkalinity and mash pH (at room temp) from the figure in John Palmer's book “How to Brew” I get the following:

Effective Hardness: 47.5
Residual Alkalinity: 150
Mash pH: 5.95


I had a few questions.
1. From this analysis it seems to me that the water that we brew with is suitable for darker style beers? Am I correct to make this assumption due to the higher pH and hardness levels?
2. The water report shows a value for “free chlorine residual” rather than chlorides. Are these the same substance?
3. When this report displays “Hardness as CaCO3” do they refer to Total Hardness or Alkalinity?
4. Would any value be lowered/highered based on a stout or IPA?

Any other comments are welcome.

Thanks,

Tyler

 

[mabrungard]

That set of water data is not complete enough to develop some of the conclusions reached. The main omission is the lack of alkalinity data. The OP also mistakenly assumes that chlorine is the same as chloride (they are not).

The water data does not indicate any real 'red flags', but the magnesium might be a little higher than desirable in some delicate and malty styles. That water is hard, but without alkalinity data, you can't really assess what to do with this water. The hardness value quoted in the report does agree with the published Ca and Mg values.

A little more digging to find the missing Cl and alkalinity or HCO3 values is needed. Call the water company and see if they have that data. Given the hardness, they almost certainly will have the alkalinity value since they need to monitor and adjust that value to prevent scaling in their pipes.

 

[tjashing]

Thanks for the initial response. I was able to call the city to request for those additional parameters and this is what I have gathered:

The following are averages:

Bicarbonate, HCO3 2-: 111.5 ppm
Alkalinity: same concentration as above
Cl-: 3.4

With these concentrations, and the others I supplied before, what type of beer style best matches this water quality. Further comments are welcome.

Thanks!