[trapae]

I would love some advice from Martin, AJ, or other water gurus out there.  I have been brewing (allgrain) with arrowhead spring water for a decade because my house had a water softener.  The one time I tried to brew with distilled and build my water turned out flat and boring.  Anyway, the water softener died so I got a Halo 5 water filtration system ( with multi-reversing polarity…not sure if that matters ), and sent a sample to ward with hopes to be able to brew with my house water now ( which tastes great now ).  Below is the report and I would be appreciative for any advice as to if it is appropriate to brew with.  I typically brew lagers, IPAs, porters/stouts.  Thanks in advance.

Ph                                                  8.3
TDS est, ppm                                  311
Electrical conductivity, mmho/cm      0.52
Cation/Anion me/L                           5.3/4.9

                                    ppm
Na.                                48
K.                                  2
Ca.                                49
Mg.                                8
Total Hardness, CaCO3    156
Nitrate.                          0.2 SAFE
Sulfate.                          21
Cl.                                 30
CO3.                              1.8
Bicarbonate, HCO3.         163
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3.    136
Total P.                            0.02
Total Fe.                          <0.01

[dmtaylor]

That looks almost identical to my tap water here (treated from Lake Michigan).  "They" will say your water is a little hard and alkaline, so it will be ideal for brewing brown beers and darker.  However personally, I use it for everything.  I think I generally make pretty O.K. beer.  If you are a water nerd, stick with browns and darks with the water as-is, and for pale styles you might want to blend like 50/50 with distilled.  Also might want to add a little gypsum for hoppy styles and CaCl2 for malty styles, but of course that's all up to you.  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

[purduekenn]

I agree with Dave and your water report is similar to mine that comes from a municipal water wells in Western KY near the Ohio River. When I brew light colored pale beers like lagers, blond ales etc I dilute it with 50% distilled water. I quit using RO water from the grocery store machines because they seamed to have to much dissolved solids when testing with a TDS meter.


My Water Report East Daviess County, KY June 2021

From Ward Labs:
Total Dissolved Solids 225
pH 8.4
ppm:

Sodium Na                    22
Potassium K                    2
Calcium Ca                    26.8
Magnesium Mg               19
Total Hardness CaCO3   118     
Sulfate SO4-S                19
Chloride Cl                     32
Carbonate CaCO3        <1.0
Bicarbonate CaCO3         95
Total Alkalinity                80

[nateo]

The only real problem is alkalinity. A bit of phosphoric acid for lighter beers and you'll be fine.

[purduekenn]

Yes add Lactic or Phosphoric acid as needed so the mash pH is not to high.

[erockrph]

Yes add Lactic or Phosphoric acid as needed so the mash pH is not to high.

I'll third that comment. My well is a little bit softer than what you have here, but fairly close. This is a nice, fairly blank slate for building water as you see fit. I use Brunwater or the Brewer's Friend water calculator to determine my acid addition to hit my target mash pH, and can brew pretty much every style without issue.

I don't see iron, manganese, or any other ions listed here. I know they aren't really ions targeted by brewers per se, but if you have any significant amount of metal ions you will notice a big improvement by using a chelating agent like Brewtan B.

[purduekenn]

I used BeerSmith and Easy Water calculators to get a pH between 5.2-5.6. I think Brunwater Excel spread sheet is great but it doesn't work well with Mac Numbers spread sheet.Numbers was recently updated and i'll have to try it again.

[purduekenn]

I used BeerSmith and Easy Water calculators to get a pH between 5.2-5.6. I think Brunwater Excel spread sheet is great but it doesn't work well with Mac Numbers spread sheet.Numbers was recently updated and i'll have to try it again.

FYI: EZ water spreadsheet is: https://ezwatercalculator.com

[Lazy Ant Brewing]

Go to the source!  Get the free Bru'n Water spreadsheet, treat per Martin's recommendations, and you're good to go.

[trapae]

Thanks everyone, sounds like the consensus is looks like a pretty good water if I can get the pH right? Going to have to buy a pH meter and finally deal with some water worksheets/programs to figure out how much acid malt for phosphoric acid to add.

[purduekenn]

Go to the source!  Get the free Bru'n Water spreadsheet, treat per Martin's recommendations, and you're good to go.

Lazy Ant is correct in stating that Bru'n Water spreadsheet is good. I think it is the best one to use. I can now use it on my Mac with a Microsoft Mac App.

[hopfenundmalz]

Thanks everyone, sounds like the consensus is looks like a pretty good water if I can get the pH right? Going to have to buy a pH meter and finally deal with some water worksheets/programs to figure out how much acid malt for phosphoric acid to add.

Weyermann has a rule of thumb stating that each percent of acid malt in the grain bill reduces the pH by 0.1.

[Bel Air Brewing]

Our city water supply is very similar to what is posted here. We do one of two things -

1. Filter the water with a high quality countertop cartridge filter, one that even removes ammonia.
2. Filter the water with our built in RO system.

As our city tap water has a good base composition for most beer styles, we have never done anything with modifying it.

If making a North German style Pils, we go with plain filtered tap. If making a Bavarian style (Munich), or a Czech style beer, we will go with a blend of straight filtered tap / RO water. Sometimes a 50 / 50 ratio.

Here is a funny story...my neighbor and brewing friend (Dave) has always modified his water with various chemical additions. Dave is what I call a water "nerd". So he was asked for advice on adding Sulfate. His response..."After drinking your beers, I would not change a thing. In fact, I am wasting my time with all this water chemistry, and will follow your example."

edit: Dave is a very honest person when it comes to beer. He is the one who told me a recent beer (Festbier) that I made was flawed.

[dmtaylor]

Here is a funny story...my neighbor and brewing friend (Dave) has always modified his water with various chemical additions. Dave is what I call a water "nerd". So he was asked for advice on adding Sulfate. His response..."After drinking your beers, I would not change a thing. In fact, I am wasting my time with all this water chemistry, and will follow your example."

edit: Dave is a very honest person when it comes to beer. He is the one who told me a recent beer (Festbier) that I made was flawed.

Dang, this sounds so familiar!

And no, I am not the same Dave.  But I've experienced similar.  I tried to chase water for a few years.  But the best brewers I know don't care about water at all.  So then I stopped caring much.

AND, I would tell you if your beer was flawed. 

[Bel Air Brewing]

Here is a funny story...my neighbor and brewing friend (Dave) has always modified his water with various chemical additions. Dave is what I call a water "nerd". So he was asked for advice on adding Sulfate. His response..."After drinking your beers, I would not change a thing. In fact, I am wasting my time with all this water chemistry, and will follow your example."

edit: Dave is a very honest person when it comes to beer. He is the one who told me a recent beer (Festbier) that I made was flawed.

Dang, this sounds so familiar!

And no, I am not the same Dave.  But I've experienced similar.  I tried to chase water for a few years.  But the best brewers I know don't care about water at all.  So then I stopped caring much.

AND, I would tell you if your beer was flawed. 

Cool! Dave also said the best friends you have are those who are honest with you about your beer! I agree.

I never cared about water, other than a good filtration to remove undesirable components, like Chlorine. So now I care even less, if that is possible.