Can someone help me with my water report?

Below is my water report from 2007.



It appears with my limited knowledge from reading Daniels and Palmer, that I have fairly basic/neutral water. What I am hoping for is 3 things, first, am I reading this right, and I really do have neutral water? Two, is there a good tool for me to determine what water treatment modifiers I should use to build water to specific regional profiles? Can someone let me know what I would want to do to build water similar to London and Dublin, then let me know how they determined this.


I know this is a tall order, but I also know there are a lot of people on here smarter than me.

There are some excellent water profile softwares available on the cheap that can help you with just that. BeerSmith, ProMash, BeerTools Pro. All can be found and bought on-line and at least 2 of the 3 have a trial version.

As a bonus, they also include recipe builder tools, hydrometer conversion tools, alcohol calcualtion tools, bitterness calculators, and a who;e slew of other useful brewing calculators.

Each runs anywhere from $20 to $30.

This graph is a great tool, but your report is missing some key components (specifically, Ca and Mg). Also, don't confuse Manganese (Mn) with Magnesium (Mg).

Overall, it looks like very soft water that would likely be a good starting point for adjustment by brewing salts.

I am having a slow day today...I'll make up the profiles for you for London and Dublin...if you can find what your values for Ca and Mg are.

I'm doing it based on stoichiometry....read up on some basic chem or brew water chemistry. It's not that bad, it's just been covered a few times around the forums.

I think BTP has a built-in chemistry calculator...maybe I'll play with that a bit.

Yuri_Rage said:

your report is missing some key components (specifically, Ca and Mg).

Click to expand...

I have the same problem with reports on my water. They don't provide those numbers for some reason.

So, I have Pro Mash. If I go into the Water database, I can click the "Ca Hardness As CaCO3 and enter my CaCO3 average of 48 from my Alkalinity row (I noticed it says in parentheses that the unit is as calcium carbonate) and I get a calcium rating of 19.20.

Then click the Mg Hardness As CaCO3, and enter the CaCO3 value again of 48, and I get a Mg rating of 11.62

Am I doing this right? Yuri, are these the missing values, or did I just way over simplify this?

Ryan, that might work... I'm not sure how it's calculating Mg from CaCO3, but I'm not a water chem expert by any means. I just know some of the basics. Let's try out the nomograph with those values and see what happens.

Wow, thanks Yuri.

So assuming I am brewing an all base malt beer, and no modifications, I am best set up for a ~12 SRM beer?

That's what Palmer suggests. A little acidulated malt may help when brewing very light styles. For darker styles, you risk greater tannin extraction without adjustment with some brewing salts (gypsum would be a prime candidate).

Is there a simple formula, or application, that translates 1 gram of gypsum to X points of hardness? I know I am asking like 3rd grade questions, but the water is the last major brewing factor I have yet to mess with.

Ryan_PA said:

Is there a simple formula, or application, that translates 1 gram of gypsum to X points of hardness? I know I am asking like 3rd grade questions, but the water is the last major brewing factor I have yet to mess with.

Click to expand...

Answered my own question by reading the More Beer description of Gypsum:

Gypsum (2 oz)
WM10

Calcium Sulfate. Used to add permanent hardness (Calcium ions) to brewing water. 1 gram in 1 gallon changes the salt levels by 61.5 ppm calcium, 147.5 ppm sulfate and adds 153.5 ppm to the hardness.

Promash is a useful utility to calculate water salts.

Click to expand...

That's where water calculators or spreadsheets come in handy. The one you found in ProMash seems pretty solid. There are others available if you do some searching (BreWater, maybe?). BeerSmith also has one.

I would suggest using Calcium Chloride for most beers. Gypsum can lead to a harsh hop bitterness that isn't right for some styles. Though it is good for English styles and IPAs.

If you go to this link and download the Residual Alkalinity spreadsheet, you'll be able to treat your water to fit all the styles. You can even enter a custom SRM value and it will tell you what RA you need. Just enter your water profile into the top of the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was put together by one of my clubmates. It will make life much easier for you.