Water for all grain brewing

We just pulled the water quality report for Greenville, SC and I think we have pretty soft water. We are getting into all grain brewing and need advice. See attached link.



http://greenvillewater.com/pdfs/GWS_WQR_2010.pdf

So how have you decided to treat the G'ville water? I am still using bottled water but am ready to step up to 10 gallon AG batches and us tap water.

In addition to it being soft, there is also the chloramine to deal with.

Sorry, it took me so long to reply. We are going to try to brew with the Greenville water but had some extract kits to use first. I will post how the first all grain turns out.

I've been using Yooper's recommendation of 1tsp of calcium chloride per 5 gallons added to both the mash and sparge water with no change to my grain bill. I also add a pinch of potassium metabisulfite (or 1/4 campden tab, crushed) per 5g to neutralize the chloramine GWS puts in our water. I am not filtering.

I've brewed a Red Rye IPA and Centennial IPA (both AG) with this formula. Both turned out great, with no major differences from the Bi-Lo spring water I had been using (which is what was after).

Try downloading the EZ Water Calculator from this forum (you will need MS Excel). Works very well. You can manipulate your levels by salt additions (gypsum and epsom).

BTW, I'm jealous of your water. We have lots of alkalinity and hardness where I'm at, so I need to dilute with 60-80% Reverse Osmosis water from the grocery store (about $1.20/batch). And then add lactic acid to bring the pH down for most of the lighter brews.

I have been doing a flurry of research on this in the last few days, and the Brewer's Friend seems to have the tool that made it finally go ding! for me: Brewing Water Chemistry Calculator | Brewer's Friend We have soft water, so I'm excited to try my porter recipe with water that is actually hopefully suitable for it.

It gives a nice summary at the bottom that tells you what your water is good for, factoring in any adjustments. It really helped me get a handle on the SO4:Cl ratio. Plugging in the raw and adjusted numbers you get to Palmer's chart (How to Brew - By John Palmer - Residual Alkalinity and Mash pH) can do you worlds of good in conceptualizing the raw data.

Thanks for the great information. Got to get brewing!

First all grain batch has gone great! We used the calculator and added gypsum, calcium chloride, and some baking soda to get the ph right. So far so good.

I hope you avoided adding too much baking soda in your water. Too much sodium is bad for beer flavor. Pickling lime is better for keeping mash pH from dropping too low. Bru'n Water has the tools for figuring out mash pH and the proper additions to reach it. It also includes a good section on water knowledge so you'll know what your doing and why you're doing it.

Enjoy!