How do I lower the Magnesium Levels?

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RonRock

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Had my well water tested and it looks like the worst water ever! My Magnesium level is 112. I also got a copy of the local city water and that Magnesium level is at 61 which is still high according to the reading I have done. How do I lower the Magnesium level?

Here are the pertinent levels of my well water;

Calcium 272
Magnesium 112
Bicarbonate 360
Sulfate 48
Sodium 11
Chloride 2.0
Hardness 384
PH 7.51


You can see my Calcium level is off the chart also. Is there any way I can use this sludge to brew?
 
I am no expert, but perhaps you could cut it with Distilled. 1 to 1.

David
 
+1 on RO ... All my beers are done with RO and a small amount of minerals added back. Works great for me.
 
I have a Water Softener in my house for all but the hose bibs. The hose bib is where I got the sample, so that I would not have the salt in the test.
Would it be best for me to install a RO system in my water supply before the Softener and the un-softened line? Giving me RO water to all incoming water?

I know nothing about RO. Wouldn't even worry about it but it's all about the beer. But couldn't hurt to clean up my house water anyway.
 
A whole house RO system is extremely expensive and likely impractical. Get an under-sink model and either use it solely for brewing or install it in the kitchen and use it for your brewing needs.
 
And don't use water run through a softener.

+1 for an undersink (or small scale) RO/DI unit. For under $100 you could have on that produces many gallons per day.
 
Can you tell me what a RO system will do to my water? Will I need to have the RO water tested again to find out what needs to be added after RO? Are there different type and sizes RO Systems? I'd likely make it a part of my brewery and add it to the Brutus build. Maybe also put one in the kitchen to clean that up for drinking and cooking water.
 
There are many types and sizes of RO units.

RO water is relatively pure. Not distilled, but you can assume there will only be traces of whatever is left.

Less expensive RO units are not for 'realtime' usage. The one I had in Las Vegas was good for about 20 gallons a day. Looks like you can get a 3-stage 50 GPD system for ~$250. I paid much more for less, but that was 19 years ago.

If I was planning to put one in today, I'd get something about that size and add a second storage tank that was big enough to make 10 gallon batches of homebrew without waiting.
 
Thanks David, That helps. Sounds like a RO system will be more of a permanent fixture type system than I first thought. I envisioned something along the filter line where water flows through as needed.

This will take more thought than first anticipated.
 
If you do decide to dilute with distilled water, you should do at least 2:1 (two parts distilled) to get your Mg down. 2:1 would look like

Ca 92
Mg 38
SO4 16
Na 4
Cl 1
HCO3 122

You could add some gypsum (CaSO4), calcium chloride, or maybe table salt from there to fine tune.

Check out other dilution and mineral additions on this great calculator.
 
You can knock down Calcium and Magnesium with 5.2 buffer or starsan, Calcium and Magnesium phosphate are both very insoluble and are what make starsan solutions cloudy. The problem will then be that you don't know the new water chemistry. Best bet is to dilute with RO to whatever target level you want
 
I use 5.2 in my mash. Will that have an affect on the water profile I start with?

Maybe I have my thinking wrong. My plan was to prepare 14 gallons of water to end up with a 11 gallon batch of Centennial Blonde.

I picked up some Distilled Water. Plugged in the numbers to get the figures as hammacks suggested. Then figured I'd Mash with that water and 5.2 in the Mash, Sparge with the remainder of the prepared water.

Is this the "correct" way to prep and use water?

How do I pick a target level for Centennial Blonde? It is BierMuncher's American Ale Recipe.

Sorry for all the questions. I've brewed several batches now and none have been up to my expectations. It's time for a good one.
 
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Nottingham
Yeast Starter: Nope
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: Nope
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5 & 11
Original Gravity: 1.039
Final Gravity: 1.008
IBU: 21.6
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60-75
Color: 3.9
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 4 days at 68 Degrees
Additional Fermentation: Kegged, chilled and Carb'd for one week
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 Days at 68 Degrees

You aim for the SRM color of the desired beer. You will want a very soft water (low bicarbonates) for a light beer.

If you have the right water for beer, you don't need to amend it.
 
Thanks Henry, That helps somewhat.

Now from what I have read it seems that there are several water profiles with known minerals that are used in calculating profiles. They seem to be Pilsen, Dublin, Dortmund, Vienna, Munich, London, Edinburg, and Burton-Trent. These are from Palmer's book and the calculator hammacks pointed to. So I'm guessing that they are somewhat a basis to start from. Trouble is none of them are Ale's. So I'm guessing again I'd start with a Pilsen? That seems to me to be the closest to a light SRM.

FWIW here is my water profile;

Calcium 272
Magnesium 112
Bicarbonate 360
Sulfate 48
Sodium 11
Chloride 2.0
Hardness 384
PH 7.51
 
As dark grains are added, the need for harder water rises.

Since you want a relatively light beer color, you want a low level of bicarbonates.

You need some of the other minerals, but the bicarbonates are your enemy.

Whether lager or ale yeast is used is irrelevant.
 
I'm still learning about this stuff but all of your levels seem high. I'd guess that just cutting your water 1:1 with distilled would be better than nothing for lighter beers. There's more to it than that obviously. It seems that if you wanted to brew a pils or any really light beers regularly, an RO/DI unit would be the only way.
 
Yeah it seems that an RO is in my future. But I'm still learning about them and I "need" to brew ASAP! The pipeline is empty, I'm drinking store bought 1/6 barrel's from my Kegerator. Have'nt brewed in a while, busy summer and I want to try some better water for my next batch. My first 10 gallon batch.

Good info about the yeast type. I'd of thought it did matter for sure.


Maybe I'd be better off with a Fat Tire or Sam Adams clone this time? Fatty is what I'm tapping now.
 
I have just spent the better part of two days on this very subject. I am planning on moving my brewery to an addition of the back of an existing garage on some land that has a well. The water you have is very hard and chalked full of minerals. I would simply get a holding tank....around 20 to 30 gallons and one of those RO systems that will give you the 20 gallons a day that way you can turn it on a day or two in advance. After looking at my well water and talking with experts I have decided that if this plan to move the brewery comes together it will follow this path.......well => green sand filter=> softener=> RO=> Holding tank.

The best way to remove the Mg and Iron is the green sand filter and those are fairly inexpensive. Do you have Iron in your water? if you you probably have Iron Bacteria which will plug the RO diaphram over time. The green sand will help eliminate that problem.
 
Less expensive RO units are not for 'realtime' usage. The one I had in Las Vegas was good for about 20 gallons a day. Looks like you can get a 3-stage 50 GPD system for ~$250. I paid much more for less, but that was 19 years ago.

75GPD is about the standard, and you can find good units for $150. Cheap units for under $80.

RO/DI, for all intents and purposes is about the same as distilled (from the store). Not semiconductor grade (unless you buy a good RODI unit), but better than we need.
 
A note about holding tanks. The 20 gallon diaphram tanks are like $200. The upside is that they maintain pressure so you can put them at ground level and still fill your HLT from there. An alternative is to use any old food grade barrel and feed it with a float valve in the sidewall. The downside is that you'll have to either pump out of it or mount it up high for gravity drain. The upside is $20 valve + sometimes free salvaged barrel...

Kent Marine Float Valve Only, Black ABS
 
Speaking of holding tanks, how long can I store water in a tank? If I was to get a food grade drum, haul water from the city water at work, fill the drum. How long could I leave it before it was bad? It would be either outside where the Iowa temperature swings or inside the garage, a bit more stable but still could get to 80*F +.

That would not be the ultimate solution, but would be a start in the right direction.

I appreciate all of the discussion here, very helpful.
 
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