SamuraiSquirrel
Well-Known Member
So I just got my water reports from ward labs and was wondering if I could get some help interpreting the results.
This is for city of Aurora (IL) water:
pH - 8.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est - 306
Electrical Conductivity - .51
Cations/Anions, me/L - 4.9/4.6
Sodium, Na - 58
Potassium, K - 10
Calcium, Ca - 11
Magnesium, Mg - 19
Total Hardness, CaCO3 -107
Nitrate, NO3-N - .9
Sulfate, SO4-S - 13
Cloride, CL - 73
Carbonate, CO3 - 9
Bicarbonate, HCO3 - 77
Total Alkalinity, CACO3 - 78
So I guess I have a couple of questions. In general does anything jump out that would cause problems in any style of beer using this water? Or in general is it good water to brew with given a few minor game day adjustments/additions depending on the type of beer being brewed?
I brew mostly pale ales and IPA's so if I plug all this info into the EZ water calculator 2.0 it looks like I just need to invest in some gypsum. So for an IPA, if I'm looking at it correctly for a five gallon batch I would want to add about 4 grams gypsum to the mash and another 5.4 grams gypsum to the boil which would put everything pretty much right in the middle of the target ranges given in the spreadsheet (they are pretty big ranges) and the PH seems to be in check as indicated at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Is there anything else I need to add or modify.
Would I use the same additions for a pale ale or would I lower the gypsum additions to 2 grams in the mash and 2.7 grams in the boil so the cloride to sulfate ratio falls in the "balanced" category?
Am I in the right direction with these adjustments or am I completely missing something? Please feel free to correct me if I'm way off.
This is for city of Aurora (IL) water:
pH - 8.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est - 306
Electrical Conductivity - .51
Cations/Anions, me/L - 4.9/4.6
Sodium, Na - 58
Potassium, K - 10
Calcium, Ca - 11
Magnesium, Mg - 19
Total Hardness, CaCO3 -107
Nitrate, NO3-N - .9
Sulfate, SO4-S - 13
Cloride, CL - 73
Carbonate, CO3 - 9
Bicarbonate, HCO3 - 77
Total Alkalinity, CACO3 - 78
So I guess I have a couple of questions. In general does anything jump out that would cause problems in any style of beer using this water? Or in general is it good water to brew with given a few minor game day adjustments/additions depending on the type of beer being brewed?
I brew mostly pale ales and IPA's so if I plug all this info into the EZ water calculator 2.0 it looks like I just need to invest in some gypsum. So for an IPA, if I'm looking at it correctly for a five gallon batch I would want to add about 4 grams gypsum to the mash and another 5.4 grams gypsum to the boil which would put everything pretty much right in the middle of the target ranges given in the spreadsheet (they are pretty big ranges) and the PH seems to be in check as indicated at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Is there anything else I need to add or modify.
Would I use the same additions for a pale ale or would I lower the gypsum additions to 2 grams in the mash and 2.7 grams in the boil so the cloride to sulfate ratio falls in the "balanced" category?
Am I in the right direction with these adjustments or am I completely missing something? Please feel free to correct me if I'm way off.