Water testing w/ softener system

I'm getting my water tested in the near future. I have a whole house water softener system and I'll be testing one batch after I run it through that just for general knowledge. My other option for brewing is to bypass that system, however that will also bypass the filter. So my options are testing unfiltered water, buying a brita system and running it through that, and what else? Any other suggestions for making good water for AG without a big up-front investment (not an R/O system)? Thanks.

I would bypass the softener and have that water tested. Check your outside spigots for the hoses, many times those are not connected to the softner.

I have not had good luck with water that has gone through my softner for brewing.

RO systems are great, but I understand wanting to avoid the cost.

Using a softener might make your water too "soft" for brewing, meaning a little hardness might actually be better for you mash and final flavor. I'd recommend looking up your most recent municipal water quality analysis (assuming you don't have well water) and plug your numbers into the EZ Water Calculator:

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/

That should give you some idea of what you want to do with your water. Good luck!

rancidcrabtree said:

Using a softener might make your water too "soft" for brewing, meaning a little hardness might actually be better for you mash and final flavor. I'd recommend looking up your most recent municipal water quality analysis (assuming you don't have well water) and plug your numbers into the EZ Water Calculator:

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/

That should give you some idea of what you want to do with your water. Good luck!

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More importantly, the softener would probably add far too much sodium.

I've been studying water chemistry lately. While I'm just cracking the surface, I know that water softeners make bad brewing water due to the salts used. The only things that I can imagine being worse, would be tons of chloramine, or a RA so high that it turns your bittering hops into bile flavor.

Just say no to water softeners.

Hardness is not a problem in brewing, alkalinity is. Softeners take out hardness and leave the alkalinity the same. This is a bad combination for brewing water. Ion-exchange (salt) softeners are not suitable for brewing water treatment.

Hardness --> good
Alkalinity --> bad

I have a reverse osmosis softner on my house and that is the only water I have ever used to brew. My beer comes out great.

Doed said:

I have a reverse osmosis softner on my house and that is the only water I have ever used to brew. My beer comes out great.

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Reverse Osmosis water and water run through an actual water softner are completely different.

You are right though, RO makes great water for brewing with a few additions.

Don't use softened water. I did a three consecutive batches with my tap water like that and they came out crappy. I can't use my unsoftened water because it has a lot of iron in it even after filtering. I'm just going to buy water or use city water from a buddy until I get something else figured out.

Heh, softened water will most likely make for a super salty beer. I can attest to this from personal dumb experience ;-). The beer is fine when you first taste it, then the saltiness from the sodium hits you and WOW, like you just hit a salt lick!!! Get some RO water and some chemicals, you'll be happy you did.

Using RO (or distilled) water and adding in minerals is probably your most consistent bet.

You could pick up water from the store, at least you don't have the up front costs of a home system, plus home systems don't do as good a job as the big commercial ones. That'd add about $5 per batch of beer.

That's what I do and it's working well for me.

cyclonite said:

Heh, softened water will most likely make for a super salty beer.

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I've never noticed a salty flavor to my beer.

I may have my water tested from the sink and from the outside spigot that comes directly out of the well.

I brewed yesterday and decided to do a 50/50 mix on 8 gallons. I used 4 gallons of soft water and 4 from the outside spigot. We'll see what happens. Currently bubbling away.

Doed said:

I've never noticed a salty flavor to my beer.

I may have my water tested from the sink and from the outside spigot that comes directly out of the well.

I brewed yesterday and decided to do a 50/50 mix on 8 gallons. I used 4 gallons of soft water and 4 from the outside spigot. We'll see what happens. Currently bubbling away.

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The sodium content of ion-exchange softened water is dependent upon the starting hardness of the water. Very hard water = high sodium content in softened water, moderately hard water = modest sodium content.

If that unsoftened water tastes OK, you are probably better off brewing with it than mixing it with the softened water. If you want to dilute the spigot water, use a water like distilled or RO water. That will make a difference in your results. Use a program like Bru'n Water to figure out what sort of dilution you might consider for your various brews. Plug those water report values in and you are on your way.

I hope this isn't too much of a threadjack but if someone answers this it may help the OP too.

I have a similar issue as the OP. I have hot water heat and the way my house is plumbed I'm pretty sure all the faucets are dispensing softened water. I have a utility sink downstairs but I can't determine if it is softened or not. Is there any way to determine the Na content of my water? I'd rather not have to buy my water or adjust RO water manually.

An aquarium hardness or calcium test kit will give you an indication of if there is any calcium in that water sample. You should also get an alkalinity test kit if you aren't going to pony up for a regular lab test from Ward.

mabrungard said:

If that unsoftened water tastes OK, you are probably better off brewing with it than mixing it with the softened water. If you want to dilute the spigot water, use a water like distilled or RO water. That will make a difference in your results. Use a program like Bru'n Water to figure out what sort of dilution you might consider for your various brews. Plug those water report values in and you are on your way.

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The unsoftened water tastes fine. I mixed it just as a simple test. The next time I brew I might mix it 50/50 with distilled water.

I guess if I want to be sure I should just have Ward test the unsoftened water. I have had this done before but it has been years and I have no idea where that report might be.