Yet Another Ward Labs Analysis...

Please feel free to comment on this analysis of my home's well water:

pH 5.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 29
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.05
Cations / Anions, me/L 0.4 / 0.6
ppm
Sodium, Na 2
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca 3
Magnesium, Mg 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 12
Nitrate, NO3-N 1.7 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S < 1
Chloride, Cl 3
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 24
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 19
Total Phosphorus, P 0.66
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

I'm a total noob to water chemistry, and homebrewing in general, having just 2 extract batches under my belt. I'm getting ready to try my first all grain batch soon, and I'd like to make sure I've got the water as good as I can. Any input you can offer is appreciated.

Thanks.

Very low ion concentrations. Will make it easy to create water fitting a number of styles. I recommend having pickling lime on hand to control mash pH as necessary when brewing darker styles or grists with high crystal malt percentage.

I'm surprised this water has ion concentrations this low if your location is Stafford, VA. The well must be located in non-carbonate rock or a sand & gravel aquifer. Very little Ca or HCO3.

Very low levels of minerals in this water. This gives you great flexibility in what you can do with it. For most beers you will want to supplement the calcium through the addition of the chloride or in cases where you want to emphasize hops, the sulfate. See the Primer (Stickies). More elaborate treartment is possible, of course. For most beers acid in some form will be required to lower mash pH into the proper range.

Thanks for the replies.

ajdelange said:

Very low levels of minerals in this water. This gives you great flexibility in what you can do with it.

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That IS good news!

mabrungard said:

I'm surprised this water has ion concentrations this low if your location is Stafford, VA. The well must be located in non-carbonate rock or a sand & gravel aquifer. Very little Ca or HCO3.

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I'm very surprised as well. Neighbors have mentioned their water being high in iron, and hard. For some reason, not ours. I'm very happy about that though. :rockin:

fxdrider said:

I'm very surprised as well. Neighbors have mentioned their water being high in iron, and hard. For some reason, not ours. I'm very happy about that though. :rockin:

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The water around here isn't hard - it's moderately soft i.e. total hardness of about 100- 110 is typical. Your level of hardness and alkalinity are not. As for iron - you can be free and your neighbor can have lots. Sulfate can also be quite variable. I have 27. A guy a few miles from here has 0.

How deep is your well?

ajdelange said:

How deep is your well?

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I'm not sure. I'm a renter. I'll check.

ajdelange said:

For most beers acid in some form will be required to lower mash pH into the proper range.

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Fortunately, this is not likely. With the apparently acidified American 2 row malts and even modest levels of crystal malts, no additional acid or acid malt is likely to be required to produce desirable mash pH. And as I mention above, as the roast and crystal concentration increases, alkalinity will be required to limit the pH drop.

Certainly every beer I brew requires some acid but my brewing is hardly the entire spectrum of beers. German brewing texts (Kunze in particular IIRC) state that most beers require acid. The use of CRS (an acid blend) in British brewing is well known. Every German brewery has its sauergut tank. Gordon Biersch uses sauermalz to set mash pH. So I guess it depends on one's definition of "most". But I suggest people don't take my word for it relying instead on their pH meters. If American maltsters are sneaking acid into their malts (and that would be a good marketing strategy - save the brewer the necessity of adding acid himself) then that only makes mash pH measurement the more important.