Water Analysis suggestions/help

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Sherpa FE

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Hello all, I just got my results back and would like some help making sense of it all. I sampled both my house and my well water to see which would be better for brewing, or if one is better for brewing a certain type of beer versus another.
Suggestions, and help would be greatly appreciated
I know nothing about this part of brewing, and I know even less when it comes to science, so don't feel bad about dumbing it down for me, I won't get offended.

HOUSE RESULTS

pH: 7.9
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) : 198
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: .33
Cations / Anions, me/L. : 3.6/3.5
Sodium, Na. :7
Potassium, K: <1
Calcium, Ca : 59
Magnesium, Mg: 4
Total Hardness, CaCO3 : 164
Nitrate, NO3-N: .9
Sulfate, SO4-S : 4
Chloride, Cl : 10
Carbonate, CO3 : <1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 : 174
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 : 143
Total Phosphorus, P : .39
Total Iron, Fe: <.01

WELL RESULTS
pH: 7.5
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): 142
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm : .24
Cations / Anions, me/L: 2.3/2.2
Sodium, Na: 6
Potassium, K: <1
Calcium, Ca : 37
Magnesium, Mg: 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 : 97
Nitrate, NO3-N: <.1
Sulfate, SO4-S : 3
Chloride, Cl : 13
Carbonate, CO3 : <1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 : 103
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 : 85
Total Phosphorus, P : .41
Total Iron, Fe: .02

Sorry for the long post, but thanks again for your patience and help.
 
Your waters are close. The well water is a little "softer". Is there any difference in taste. I would use the best tasting as they are very close. If making some lagers, I would use 1/2 distilled water.
 
Bob,
I brew all kinds, stouts, porters, IPA's, wit's.....everything.

What shows you what makes your water soft? Is there a particular beer this beer is already best suited for brewing? If I can I would like to use the house water, it's fed by an on demand water heater, so I use less propane, I do step mashes, my water is already at the first step when it comes out of the sink.

Thanks for the help.
 
Hardness is defined as the contributions of the Calcium and Magnesium ions by the water treatment community. Hardness is also due to any other divalent metal ions in the water, but they are typically at really low concentrations in any water you'd be willing to drink. So the official definition is close enough.

It appears that either water will serve as a good starting point for brewing. All the flavor ions (Na, Mg, SO4, Cl) are at low concentrations. The bicarbonate concentration is modest and can easily be tamed with a minor acid addition when brewing lighter colored beers. Bru'n Water has the tools needed to guide you with respect to calculate the acid additions needed for brewing.

The well water is softer, but not significantly so. The tap water has higher alkalinity and may serve as a better starting point for darker styles or grists with higher crystal malt content. You are set.
 
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