How to test and modify water

All,

The water in my area tastes good enough to drink, but I do think it can be a little hard. The beer that I'm currently drinking seems to be a little on the "harsh" side. Is there anything that I can do to help this on my next brew? I have calcium chloride pills that I've never used. I'm not sure what other things I can do - I've heard of gypsum, but I'm not sure this is needed for what I'm wanting to do.

What can I do to test the water? I have ph strips to test starsan, but will those work for testing water? How do I know what part of the water to "fix", and do most fixes get put into the boil or in the mash? Is there a "magic bullet" to fix all water? (I know there's not because a lot of people modify their water to imitate other locales, so there's a lot to it.)

Thanks!!

If you can't find your municipal water profile online (if you have municipal), you'll need to send a sample of your water off to Ward Labs.

There is no point in trying to augment your water without knowing your profile.

You can do various degrees of testing yourself though most homebrewers seem unwilling to undertake more than simple alkalinity and hardness tests. The subject of water treatment is a whole subject of its own. The Brew Science thread is the de facto Water Chemistry thread. Testing and treatment are discussed extensively there.

Thanks! My town has a report available online, but the calcium, bicarbonate, and other measures that are important aren't in the report because they're considered "secondary constituents", so their report doesn't help much.

I found that thread, and I've been reading it. I agree. It's something that I really don't want to have to deal with because it's complex.

I actually contacted my water company by email, and in 2 days I had a 5 page pdf with everything I needed. I agree the online info has very little application to brewing, it is more about health concerns and cleanliness. Try finding a number or email to someone in quality control or their lab.

Now that you have that info have a search online for 'bru'n water' spreadsheet. It's very involved and fairly complicated but comes with pretty detailed instructions so with time you'll pick it up. Basically you input your water profile, select the profile you want and tweak it to get the correct mash ph.


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