Pittsburgh water report

Hi everyone,

I've gone from just using my water as-is for years, to filtering and treating with Campden tablets... and now I want to take it to the next level with water treatments to optimize brewing issues like mash pH, alkalinity for style, and so on. I honestly don't know much about all the factors, but I have the Bru'N water spreadsheet and have been reading other resources. Regardless, I thought I would share my local water report in case anyone in the area has interest. Squirrel Hill area, for any locals who are curious. Sorry for the formatting, I didn't know how to use tabs to line things up.

Ward Labs water analysis report
5/8/15

pH 8.1
Na 20
K 1
Ca 27
Mg 6
Total Hardness as CaCO3 93
Nitrate NO3-N 0.2 (SAFE)
Sulfate SO4-S 12
Cl 46
CO3 <1.0
HCO3 44
Total Alkalinity CaCO3 36

Pretty good starting point. None of the ions are excessive. I expect that your slightly darker beers came out just fine with that water, untreated. A little acid would help the pale beers.

Thanks for the feedback, Martin. And for your fantastic spreadsheet!

This helps me a lot. I have been looking for sulfate levels for a week and nothing is publised. Thank you.