The Return of the Water Reports!

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SkiNuke

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
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Location
Boulder
I am a bit lost when it comes to water and brewing. I live in Colorado and the water here is amazing, tap water is better than any bottled water! As such I have been just brewing and not dealing with water reports. I have been operating under the assumption that you can make good beer as long as your water tastes good.

However, I was bored today and found a water report for the town next to me (they use the same lake for their water as we do). I tried comparing it to a couple ranges I have found from palmer's book and some posts around here, but I just don't really know what it means. If I had to venture a guess, I would say I have pretty soft water, but it looks like I am below the minimums on some of the ranges I have found. Does that mean I am limited in the style of beers that I can brew?

I probably won't attempt to change my water's composition for a while regardless of what people say, but I am curious what I can accomplish with my water. What styles can I attempt, and what styles should I stay away from?

Attached is the water report.

Water Report.jpg
 
That's really pretty useless, as the ranges they show are so huge that it's not the least bit helpful. I guess you can assume the alkalinity tends to be low, but even a range like 35-89 is too large of a range to be helpful
 
I have the same type of general water report where I live. I emailed the water department and asked for a detailed report and they sent me a report a much more detailed than what was on their website.

By the way - Boulder is a great city, grew up in Denver and used to go up there all the time.
 
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