I've got a number of AG (BIAB) batches under my belt now, and at least to my palate, they've all turned out quite good. I'm really curious about how water affects beer though. In other words, my beer is good, but would it be even better with a change to water? I just don't know. I still don't know enough about the flavors in beer to know what is coming from water, yeast, or even various ingredients. So for all I know, my "good" beer has some flavors in it that if I could control would make me say "wow!"
I'm just a little overwhelmed and don't know where to begin with the whole water thing though. I do have hard water, and have a softener, and I quite honestly can't recall if I've used the softened or hard water for my brews (cold water tap in the kitchen doesn't go through the softener, but hot does). Can anyone help me start to wrap my head around where I should begin? I've read many of the posts in the brew sciences forum, but I still don't know what to do with my water. Or, should I not do anything?
Here is a water report I saw that someone posted for water in the town I live in. Do I leave everything as-is, or do I need to change something to make my beer go from good to great? Also, do I use my softened water, or just the stuff straight out of the tap (which tastes fine)?
pH 7.7
Sodium, Na 13 ppm
Potassium, K 1 ppm
Calcium, Ca 78 ppm
Magnesium, Mg 46 ppm
Total Hardness, CaCO3 387 ppm
Nitrate, NO3-N 4.8 (SAFE) ppm
Sulfate, SO4-S 6 ppm
Chloride, Cl 36 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 <1 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 358 ppm
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 293 ppm
Fluoride, F 1.31 ppm
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01 ppm
I'm just a little overwhelmed and don't know where to begin with the whole water thing though. I do have hard water, and have a softener, and I quite honestly can't recall if I've used the softened or hard water for my brews (cold water tap in the kitchen doesn't go through the softener, but hot does). Can anyone help me start to wrap my head around where I should begin? I've read many of the posts in the brew sciences forum, but I still don't know what to do with my water. Or, should I not do anything?
Here is a water report I saw that someone posted for water in the town I live in. Do I leave everything as-is, or do I need to change something to make my beer go from good to great? Also, do I use my softened water, or just the stuff straight out of the tap (which tastes fine)?
pH 7.7
Sodium, Na 13 ppm
Potassium, K 1 ppm
Calcium, Ca 78 ppm
Magnesium, Mg 46 ppm
Total Hardness, CaCO3 387 ppm
Nitrate, NO3-N 4.8 (SAFE) ppm
Sulfate, SO4-S 6 ppm
Chloride, Cl 36 ppm
Carbonate, CO3 <1 ppm
Bicarbonate, HCO3 358 ppm
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 293 ppm
Fluoride, F 1.31 ppm
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01 ppm