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chrisrush · 01-12-2010, 09:46 PM

Got my water profile. Please let me know what you think.

pH 8.0
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 294
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.49
Cations / Anions, me/L 5.0 / 5.0
ppm
Sodium, Na 27
Potassium, K 4
Calcium, Ca 43
Magnesium, Mg 19
Total Hardness, CaCO3 187
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.6 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 9
Chloride, Cl 42
Carbonate, CO3 6
Bicarbonate, HCO3 184
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 161

**Bobby_M** · 01-13-2010, 02:42 AM

Very low sulfates. Invest in a pound of gypsum.

ian-atx · 01-13-2010, 07:59 PM

That is pretty interesting looking at your report and comparing what is available on the austin city water page. Of course their info is based off the water coming directly out of the treatment plants near town lake. I am waiting for my tubes from ward labs so i can test my water (east austin) and see how far off it is.

Looking at the ezwater calculator, your base tap water isn't too bad aside from really low sulfate and low calcium.

chrisrush · 01-14-2010, 01:20 AM

Thanks Bobby. I'll get an order for some gypsum soon.

Ian, Leander water is much harder than Austin water for some reason. My water sample was using water post softener as well. I was hoping to use it pre softener, but I could never find a tap to take a sample from.

Let me know how your sample turns out.

chrisrush · 01-22-2010, 04:03 PM

So my next brew day will be a Munich Helles. From Palmers website, the ideal Munich water is as follows:

Ca - 75
Mg - 18
Na - 2
SO4 - 10
Cl - 2
CO3 - 148

If I use my water listed above, and add 4.1g of Baking Soda and 2.5g of Chalk, I will get the following:

Ca - 75
Mg - 19
Na - 63
SO4 - 10
Cl - 42
CO3 - 148

Obviously, my Na and Cl are way off the Munich profile, but unless I use straight RO water, I am very unlikely to get those low Na or Cl #'s.

Will this severely affect the taste of my Helles? Should I start with RO water and build up from there? Also, what concerns me is the SRM. With THs calculator, I get an RA of 119, which has a much higher SRM than what I am looking for.

snail · 01-22-2010, 05:15 PM

I think you will want to bring down your RA down alot. A Munich Helles has an SRM of 3-5 and with an RA of 119 you are looking at an SRM range of 15-20. Also a Munich Helles is more malty than bitter so you'll want your chloride to sulfate ratio to accentuate that. I'm new to adjusting water, but that's what I would do anyway...

**Bobby_M** · 01-22-2010, 05:40 PM

Munich Helles should actually closer to a Pilsen profile. What I'd do if I were on your water is dillute with 50% RO/distilled water and do this:

This page can be used for copying and pasting

Starting Water (ppm):
Ca: 43
Mg: 19
Na: 27
Cl: 42
SO4: 9
CaCO3: 161

Mash / Sparge Vol (gal): 5 / 4
Dilution Rate: 50%

Adjustments (grams) Mash / Boil Kettle:

CaSO4: 3 / 0
CaCl2: 3 / 0
MgSO4: 1 / 0

Mash Water / Total water (ppm):
Ca: 101 / 66
Mg: 14 / 12
Na: 14 / 14
Cl: 97 / 63
SO4: 114 / 65
CaCO3: 81 / 81

RA (mash only): 0 (5 to 10 SRM)
Cl to SO4 (total water): 0.98 (Balanced)

I made assumptions on your strike/sparge volumes but the basic idea is that you flood the mash with RA lowering salts and leave them out of the boil so that you get your mash pH correct but don't overload anything else. There's no point in using baking soda or Chalk in a light beer.

snail · 01-22-2010, 05:44 PM

I was wondering if that Munich target profile was right or not....

chrisrush · 01-22-2010, 06:42 PM

Thanks for the help Bobby and snail. I'll go forward with these suggestions.

Eric (Saccharomyces) told me the following:

I use gypsum for hoppy beers, calcium chloride for malty beers, a mixture of both for balanced beers, chalk for stouts, and treat my sparge water with lactic acid (about 2mL per 5 gallons).

and

SRM >15 I use straight tap. 7 < SRM < 15, I mix 1:1 RO-tap. SRM < 7 I use all RO and build up.

Since our water is similar, this is good information for me.

ian-atx · 01-25-2010, 11:18 PM

FYI,

Just got my ward labs report for my part of austin.

pH: 9.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est: 221
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: 0.37
Cations / Anions, me/L: 3.5 / 3.6

ppm

Sodium, Na : 26
Potassium, K: 4
Calcium, Ca: 14
Magnesium, Mg: 19
Total Hardness, CaCO3: 114
Nitrate, NO3-N: 0.2 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S: 12
Chloride, Cl: 44
Carbonate, CO3: 21
Bicarbonate, HCO3: 53
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3: 79
Fluoride, F: 0.78
Total Iron, Fe: 0.02