Coment on water report pleeeeease !!!

Very chuffed. Just got my water report.

Would any good samaritan like to comment on it suitability ? Many thank you's

Wheelspin said:

Very chuffed. Just got my water report.

Would any good samaritan like to comment on it suitability ? Many thank you's

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Pretty nominal. A bit on the hard side but that is not necessarily bad. A bit high on the sulfate if you like delicate lagers. For many beers you will not need to do any thing except overcome that alkalinity which should be easy enough to do by adding some acid or by diluting with RO. Dilution with RO takes everything down by the dilution ratio e.g. if you cut 9:1 all the numbers (except pH) go down to 0.1 times what they were in the original sample (alkalinity becomes 13, Cl 6 etc.). This is a very easy way to control mineral content. Essentially you remove it and then replace what you have removed with as much as you want. Using acid is a bit trickier conceptually in that every equivalent of bicarbonate (responsible for alkalinity) removed is replaced by one equivalent of the acid's anion. This is either not a problem (because a neutral flavored acid such as phosphate is used) or an advantage (because you used sulfuric or hydrochloric acid in order to augment sulfate or chloride).

Because this water is in no way unusual you can follow most of the advice given in this topic on how to brew with it. Note that the simplest approach is to throw it away and use RO water and that may be a good way to start. You can move into more complicated schemes (such a removing some of the alkalinity by boiling or treatment with lime) as you gain experience.

Thank you very much. I appreciate the time you took to reply. One or two more questions if you don't mind.

Before I got this water report I had been adjusting my mash Ph down to 5.3 by way of phosphoric acid additions. So I believe my ph has always been OK.

I also used to throw in 2 tsps gypsum and 1 tsp epsom salts in the mash - not quite sure why but I was told it was a good idea. In light of the water report, should I stick to this or make changes.

My beer seems to come out pretty well (some very good) although imho, it is always a bit too "sweet". FG usually comes in at about 1.012 - 1.014 from an OG of around 1.061. A little high for liking even though I am meticulous about yeast handling and oxygination. Could this be a result of the existing water profile ?

I have just bought John Palmer and Colin Kaminski's book on WATER and plan to read it cover to cover although it will probably be a little over my head.

Wheelspin said:

Before I got this water report I had been adjusting my mash Ph down to 5.3 by way of phosphoric acid additions. So I believe my ph has always been OK.

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That sounds good.

Wheelspin said:

I also used to throw in 2 tsps gypsum and 1 tsp epsom salts in the mash - not quite sure why but I was told it was a good idea. In light of the water report, should I stick to this or make changes.

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You should make changes but not because there is anything wrong with what you were doing but rather so that you can see whether beers brewed at lower levels of sulfate may be more pleasing to you.

Wheelspin said:

My beer seems to come out pretty well (some very good) although imho, it is always a bit too "sweet". FG usually comes in at about 1.012 - 1.014 from an OG of around 1.061. A little high for liking even though I am meticulous about yeast handling and oxygination. Could this be a result of the existing water profile ?

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Probably not. Try lower saccharification temperature.

Wheelspin said:

I have just bought John Palmer and Colin Kaminski's book on WATER and plan to read it cover to cover although it will probably be a little over my head.

Click to expand...

That's an excellent idea.

Thanks very much. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Sawubona from the US. When I saw the words "chuffed and borehole" I knew this must be from Africa. Nothing to add, AJ responses are always spot on.

Given the level of magnesium in the raw water, I would be hesitant about adding epsom salt to the brewing water. There is no need for more Mg for most brewing.

Do recognize that the alkalinity is somewhat high and acidification of the mashing and sparging water is probably needed for all brewing.

Thank you for the advice.

I will do next batch with no epsom salts.

What is the effect of too much magnesium ? Could it effect yeast performance ?