[Laminarman]

With time I guess I'll make sense of it.  In a nutshell what am I looking for?  I am doing extract now, will steep next, maybe full mash in the future.  After dinner I'll look at the Bru'n water spreadsheet I downloaded.  This is spring water from my property without any filtration/softening...nothing. 

pH 7.8
TDS 230
mmho/cm .38
Cations/anions 4.2/4.5

Na 25
K 2
Ca 39
Mg 14
Total Hardness 156
Nitrate .1
Sulfate 5
Chloride 2
Carbonate < 1.0
Bicarbonate 253
Total alkalinity 208
Phosph. .01
Iron .05

[Big Monk]

HCO3 is high so you may want to cut it with RO or distilled to get the mash pH down for paler beers. Could be good stout or Porter water. You could use a more acidic base malt like Best Pils to bring the mash pH down for paler beers without having to resort to tons of acid malt or mineral acid.


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[hopfenundmalz]

You would probably want to add gypsum or Calcium Chloride for many beers to help lower pH with the Ca addition, and add the SO4 and Cl flavor ions. That assumes you brew all grain. For extract I would use RO or distilled, as that water may give you an Alka Seltzer beer.

Some small breweries around here use a lot of phosphoric acid to drop the alkalinity. That would work even better for you, as the other ions are low, and the Na and Cl are high around here.

What general area are you in, or what is the local geology like?

[Laminarman]

Right now I'm brewing extract with distilled until I get more experience.  I am in Upstate NY.  The geology is highly taxed and unemployed if that helps.  Rolling hills and farmland I guess?  This is from our well on the property and spring adjacent to it (which I assume is the same water vein) and tastes great.  I pulled it from the main before it hits the softener.  I wanted it tested to see what it would do.  I think Bru'n water is telling me it's suited for 7-17 SRM beers?  I will spend more time on this on the weekend and see what I can add to my knowledge base.  Thank you. 

[Laminarman]

Looking at the water profile I posted in the original post, I thought I'd try to correct it with my Bru'nWater data for a Belgian Pale Ale.  I think, rather than go 5 gallon, I'll try a 1 gallon BIAB with all grain and corrected water to see if it produces something palatable.  Any thoughts? 

[69franx]

Just getting in to this thread for the first time. I think for a small trial, you cant go wrong doing what you propose. If it doesnt come out the way you want, its only 1 gallon, but it should come out as planned

[mabrungard]

Preboiling that water would bring the calcium and bicarb down a bit. That is an easy treatment for brewing.

[Laminarman]

Thank you.  It's natural well water and tastes great, therefore no chlorine..etc.  If I pre-boil does it significantly change the corrections Brun'Water recommends? 

[Ellismr]

Since you're doing extract beer I think you'll be fine.  As you wade into brewing you'll get more comfortable with adjusting your water profile.  It will also help to use some brewing software like Beersmith to get an idea of how to adjust your water.  Eventually you will want to switch to BIAB version of all grain.  and that is when you will need to really think about adjusting water to get the Ph in the the 5.2-5.4 range. 

Looking at you water profile it looks a low in Ca to support a hoppy IPA.  My Ca in Maryland is around 40 and I'll add about 7 g of gypsum to a 5 gallon batch.  You would add this in the boil for extract.  I add to the mash. 

Cheers!

[Laminarman]

Since you're doing extract beer I think you'll be fine.  As you wade into brewing you'll get more comfortable with adjusting your water profile.  It will also help to use some brewing software like Beersmith to get an idea of how to adjust your water.  Eventually you will want to switch to BIAB version of all grain.  and that is when you will need to really think about adjusting water to get the Ph in the the 5.2-5.4 range. 

Looking at you water profile it looks a low in Ca to support a hoppy IPA.  My Ca in Maryland is around 40 and I'll add about 7 g of gypsum to a 5 gallon batch.  You would add this in the boil for extract.  I add to the mash. 

Cheers!

Thank you. I did my first BIAB last night complete with water correction.  It's a one gallon batch and it's fermenting next to me in my small office as I have my coffee.  We'll see how this worked out.  I used BrunWater for the water and it was pretty slick to be sure. Used Beersmith for the recipe development.