Water Confusion

I am getting ready to do AG number one. For my past extract batches I have been buying bottled spring water because the water here tastes bad. Since this would get very expensive with all grain I started looking into the local water profile and came up with this:

Ca = 3ppm
Mg = 0.7ppm
Na = 200ppm
SO4 = 9ppm
Cl = 54ppm
Bicarb = 459ppm

From what I have read this is pretty bad. Right now I don't have any salts about and there is no LHBS around, but I do have some 5.2 buffer in the mail with the grains. I was thinking of mixing RO water and the local tap water 50/50 for the brew and using the buffer during the mash.

Does anyone have some recommendations for what to do about this? I have done some reading on the subject, but am still not 100% on it and don't want to put off brewing this weekend since I am almost out!

You will need to add some Ca for yeast health. About a gram of gypsum per gallon should work.

944play said:

You will need to add some Ca for yeast health. About a gram of gypsum per gallon should work.

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Is gypsum something that can typically be found locally? I tried calling a couple water places, but none keep it around.

Dilution would be a good idea. Your Na and bicarbonate levels are high. Adding Gypsum could bring your water to a Burton profile if you are concerned about brewing to style. It would be a good idea to add gypsum if you plan on brewing anything hoppy.

First AG is a SMASH IPA, so I guess I should do a 50/50 tap/RO water and add 1g of gypsum per gallon? Now...I just need to find some gypsum by Friday .

Plaster of Paris is gypsum.

Thanks for the tip. Is that really food safe though?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=41323-000000068-10308&lpage=none

Graham Sanders is of the opinion that for the tiny amounts we're adding to beer, it's really not critical.

Gypsum is also found in things as common as chalk used in schools and drywall.

I know these things are not dangerous/hazardous to ingest is small amounts. I've personally ate chalk "won't go into details .. lol " while not very tasty it was harmless.

Another food for thought. Plaster of Paris = Calcium sulfate which is found in everyday foods such as bread.

Just checked out the MSDS from the DAP website. In that way the plaster of paris is fine, I was more concerned with the manufacturing process being a sterile environment.

One other question. Say I am making a hard lemonade or apfelwein from concentrate and I use 50/50 RO/Tap water. If I did 1g of gypsum per gallon the yeast will be happy and ferment well? Should I be concerned with anything else then? I would use just tap water, but it taste like chlorine pretty bad here.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Reading a Water Report
this would be some good reading. you might want to bite the bullet on this batch and go with the bottled water. I'm doing my first batch with doctored water tomorrow, tucson has pretty decent water for dark beer, but our bicarbonates are on the high side for a pale. yours look like they're out of the ballpark. I'm doing a 50/50 split with distilled water and adding gypsum, epsom salts, salt, and calcium chloride to bring the numbers into a decent range. I use beersmith, and it has a pretty good water profile tool in it to help find the numbers.

avaserfi said:

I would use just tap water, but it taste like chlorine pretty bad here.

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Boiling will drive off some of the chlorine.
Also, Camden tablets (potassium metabisulfite).

danimal40 said:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Reading a Water Report
this would be some good reading. you might want to bite the bullet on this batch and go with the bottled water. I'm doing my first batch with doctored water tomorrow, tucson has pretty decent water for dark beer, but our bicarbonates are on the high side for a pale. yours look like they're out of the ballpark. I'm doing a 50/50 split with distilled water and adding gypsum, epsom salts, salt, and calcium chloride to bring the numbers into a decent range. I use beersmith, and it has a pretty good water profile tool in it to help find the numbers.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have started reading that, but won't have time to fully comprehend the reading by my brew day, tomorrow. As far as using bottled water goes that isn't really an option. I have no idea of the mineral content in the water so it could be as bad or the same as tap water minus the chlorine flavor. The 50/50 split with the few salts I do have seems to be the best bet.

I have ruined 2 batches trying to use my terrible local water. $10 for good water is a lot cheaper than $40 for ingredients.

My local wal-mart has RO water for $.36/gallon refills. I would look into something like that. I mix the RO water with bottled spring water with good results.