Water Report Questions

[cwoods]

Hey guys, First time poster here. I am fairly new to home brewing and I recently had my water tested at Ward Labs. I am trying to get a feel for what I'm working with as far as my water is concerned. I have well water, and these results are with my water softener bypassed. Any feedback is appreciated! What are your thoughts on water currently, what would you recommend as far as treating it? Is this a good water to start brewing with? Anything really.. Thanks!

pH 6.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 180
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.30
Cations / Anions, me/L 3.4 / 3.0
Sodium, Na 8 ppm
Potassium, K 2 ppm
Calcium, Ca 32 ppm
Magnesium, Mg 17 ppm
Total Hardness, CaCO3 151 ppm
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.7 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 13 ppm
Chloride, Cl 4 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 124 ppm
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 102 ppm
Total Phosphorus, P < 0.01 ppm
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01 "<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[mabrungard]

Looks like a decent starting point. The alkalinity will need to be neutralized in most brewing. The magnesium is a bit elevated and I would be cautious in adding more.

 

[jturman35]

Subscribing! I have a sample I need to send to Ward labs myself!

I have readings of high PH when mashing 6.2-6.5 and have a feeling this is causing off flavors in my low hop beers.

 

[cwoods]

Would mixing with 50% RO water be a good start?

 

[Scottie61]

C,

Your water looks similar to my well water, with mine being slightly harder with even higher alkalinity and PH. I did a lot of brewing before I started checking my water, and got reasonably good results.

Based on Martin's spreadsheet (Bru'n Water), the main thing I add to my brewing water is phosphoric acid to bring the PH down a bit, which is the alkalinity neutralizing item that Martin mentions above. Other than that, me and the other brewers in my area don't typically treat our water with very many additives or do much RO mixing.

Do you have Martin's spreadsheet? Pretty handy tool.

Scottie

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I would not dilute this water with RO. It looks like 3 mL of 88% Lactic Acid added to each 5 gallons of your water will neutralize its bicarbonate (alkalinity) to a pH of ~5.4. That alone should suffice for many recipes.

But the addition of 1.5 grams of calcium chloride (as the dihydrate, CaCl2.2H2O) for each 5 gallons (in addition to the lactic acid) would boost your calcium and chloride ions to more ideal levels.

 

[cwoods]

Thanks for the help guys. I have not used Bru'n Water before. Do you basically just plug in your water profile and it tells you what to add to get it where you want. Also, is Lactic Acid the same as phosphoric acid? My last batch I brewed I forgot to bypass my water softener and the finished beer had a very bitter aftertaste. I'm hoping this will help.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Thanks for the help guys. I have not used Bru'n Water before. Do you basically just plug in your water profile and it tells you what to add to get it where you want. Also, is Lactic Acid the same as phosphoric acid? My last batch I brewed I forgot to bypass my water softener and the finished beer had a very bitter aftertaste. I'm hoping this will help.

Bru'n water does the reverse - plug in your water profile, what you intend to add (including ingredients), and it will tell you what it predicts you'll get (finished water profile and mash pH).

Lactic acid is different to phosphoric acid. Any acid you add will give you H+ ions as well as the associated anion (lactate from lactic acid and phosphate from phosphoric acid)*. You already have phosphates in the mash (from grain) so adding more is relatively flavour neutral. Lactate can give a soft tart sourness (like yoghurt) if used in high quantities. 3mL in a 5G batch should be undetectable.

By going through your water softener, you would have had elevated Sodium levels - not by much though.....your water isn't very hard to start with, so there isn't much for the Sodium to replace.

*There are other acids that work by accepting electrons instead of adding H+ (Lewis acids), but they aren't used for brewing water pH adjustment, so it's kind of irrelevant.

 

[mabrungard]

The OP's water would end up with about 69 ppm sodium based on the reported Ca and Mg levels. Not excessive, but not desirable for all beers. The likely cause of the very bitter aftertaste was due to an elevated wort pH, assuming that the water wasn't acidified prior to use.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

The OP's tap water may also have chlorine and/or chloramides. The Ward Labs test did not address these, but they need to be addressed by the OP if present.