brew2enjoy

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My plan is to brew BM's Blonde ale this weekend. I just got my water analysis results from Wards Labs. I have only recently started reading about water chemistry so I have no idea what I'm looking at here. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

pH 5.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 255
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.43
Cations / Anions, me/L 3.5 / 3.3
ppm
Sodium, Na 32
Potassium, K 4
Calcium, Ca 18
Magnesium, Mg 13
Total Hardness, CaCO3 99
Nitrate, NO3-N 21.0 (UNSAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 7
Chloride, Cl 32
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 28
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 23

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Grinder12000

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Best source I have seen is Palmers. How To Brew book. Good info there. Maybe later tonight I'll look at your numbers. Need more beer in me first.

Nice PH though. Close to 5.2

Calcium seems low if that 18 is ppm. Should be 50 to 150.

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tgmartin000

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pH 5.6? That doesn't make sense. You'll need massive additions of alkalinity to keep your mash ph in range. You sure It wasn't 7.6? Other than that, maybe a little gypsum to bring up your calcium, since your sulfate seems low.

Other than that, looks like you have moderately soft water with low alkalinity which is generally good for brewing.

mabrungard

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There seems to be a serious problem with this water. The nitrate levels are extremely high. Converting the NO3-N level to straight NO3, the concentration is 93 ppm. Considering the MCL for nitrate is 10 ppm, that is a problem. The good thing is that the MCL is based on infants consuming this water. Adults are far less affected. But, this nitrate concentration could be getting to the point where the nitrate is getting converted to nitrite and that is injurous to yeast. I take it that the OP is located in an agricultural area and the water came from a well.

The rest of the parameters are relatively unremarkable and the water could otherwise work for brewing.

Might be time to re-think your water supply. The water report says UNSAFE for a reason. It is.

Regarding the water pH, it is in line with the water having very little alkalinity. Otherwise, the water pH has little meaning to brewing.

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brew2enjoy

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Sorry guys, I forgot a few details. This is water from a well. We just bought this house last June, but I have lived in this neighborhood for 25 years (grew up down the street). I have been told that this area used to be an apple orchard some 50-60 years ago. Could that be the source of the high nitrate concentration? I copy/pasted these results directly from the Wards Lab results they sent me this afternoon so they are the correct numbers. Is there anything I can do to make this water safe to brew with? I have already brewed an IIPA using this water that is currently aging and it tastes fantastic. But I'm not going to continue to use this water if it can't be "fixed"

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Yooper

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I wouldn't even drink that water with the nitrate level like it is. That would kill my fish in my aquarium for sure.

But I'm a hippie and also don't use BPA lined cans, or cosmetics, or anything unhealthy.

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brew2enjoy

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I am a little shocked by the nitrate levels as well, but I didn't really know what it meant. After a little searching on the web, it seems to only be a problem for infants. Am I missing something there? Other than that, how does my water look?

I guess until I know for sure, I'll be brewing with distilled water and adding minerals as needed. I was hoping to be able to use my tap water and save some money.

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ajdelange

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Doubt it after 50 - 60 yrs though agricultural runoff is a common source of nitrate. But another is nitrate bearing rock and I expect that's what you have.

I think it's safe for adults. Do you have an occupancy permit for the house? If you do that says the county considers your well safe (at least that's the case here in Fairfax County, VA). You should be able to brew with it but must be extra careful with sanitation such that no nitrate reducing bacteria get a whack at the NO3-. Were I you I would get a nitrite test too.

As for rendering it "safe" 1:1.1 dilution with RO would do that (getting the nitrate down to the 10 ppm level. This would also knock that sodium down and reduce sulfate to the levels you could do pils, helles... with. You would have to supplement calcium for many beers but you'd have to do that with the undiluted water too.

BrightSpot

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I really like your style...

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brew2enjoy

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Thanks for the info. I think I will go with the RO dilutuin for my beer today since it's a light body ale (blonde). In the meantime, I guess I have some studying to do on water profiles and adding minerals. Man! I was really hoping my water would be good as-is but oh well. I don't feel comfortable keeping the nitrate level that high. I may actually look into a RO system for our house.

One more question. By diluting basically 50/50 w/ RO water, what is that gonna do to my PH and will I have to adjust anything to get the correct mash PH?

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