Sulfate with high ppm in tap

Hey all,

Just read my water report and it looks as though my sulfate count is averaging on about 180ppm (How to Brew says the target is 50 - 150ppm). All other elements are well within the desired range for extract brewing.

Based on your expertise and experience, will this slightly higher than desired sulfate count cause an ugly bitterness in my wort when reacted with the hops?

I'd prefer to not have to buy a RO system...but...

I have the same problem; I don't use my tap water. I buy Deer Park spring water in the 2.5 gallon jug size. After thinking about all of the water I've bought, a R.O. system would have paid for itself.
I don't know for sure what the sulfates will do, though. I just didn't want to risk it.

Sulfates do bring bitterness forward - there is a limit to the amount of sulfates you should have - but a bigger factor is the ratio of sulfates to other calcium (chlorides). How much calcium is in your water?

You could cut your water with RO, and add in calcium chloride to balance the ratio if needed. More chlorides make the beer malt forward, more sulfates in the ratio make it hop bitterness forward.

Thanks for the responses. The calcium is on average 63.8. Here are the two pdf files I'm looking at, which state a lot of other information as well:

(The Alvarado plant is what serves my area, FYI)

http://www.sandiego.gov/water/quality/pdf/tbl6.pdf
http://www.sandiego.gov/water/quality/pdf/waterqual08.pdf (look at page 3)

I'd cut your water with 50% RO. Then add 60ppm calcium chloride to balance the ratio. If you want a hop forward beer add a little less Cal Chloride. a Malt forward beer add something like 75ppm chloride. Not sure what else you might need to add to make up the profile.

I am no expert on this, but I have done a lot of reading lately because I have a similar issue where my hardness is like 300ppm.

Thanks for the tip, brrman. However with only that one reading (sulfates) being out of desired range, what if I were to simply get a brita faucet filter? That would mitigate the need to increase the Calcium Chloride ratio and put everything within desired reading, would it not?

...Unless of course the Brita faucet filter doesn't do well on sulfates? Been trying to find that info, but can't.

The problem: that one reading is a significant one. Brita filtering the calcium sulfates out will also filter out calcium chlorides and you are still left with about the same ratio. A Brita will not get all the minerals out either.

I suggest re-reading John Palmer's How to Brew, the water section is full of info that got me through most of my questions. Im sure you agree it can take a while to understand fully (I have read it a dozen times) but it even has charts to tell you what to do to fix your water. Also BrewStrong had a good podcast about water chemistry you should check out.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Understanding the Mash pH
(use the links on the upper right - the next/previous button links at the bottom seem to be broken in places)

BTW - calcium chloride is not really expensive... 60ppm is like 1.5 teaspoons.

I wouldn't be too concerned with the water chemistry just yet. You're still doing extract kits, so you have no way of knowing what mineral content the extract has, so any adjusting you do might be moot from the get go.

If you look at some of the famous brewing water profiles, our 180 ppm sulfate San Diego water is nothing...
Brewing Water Reference - Beer and Homebrew Water Table

You would probably be best served to cut the local tap water with 50% distilled from the store and call it good if you're worried about the water chemistry. Also, as tempting as it can be to help speed things up, avoid using your hot water as supposedly there can be a lot of build up in the pipes and water heaters.

Once you start on grain, you have much more control over the chemistry, though to be honest I haven't touched it in my first 4 AG brews. The one of those brews that has been consumed had no hint of extra bitterness, the other three are upcoming so we shall see...

Thanks for the replies. I realized that for our treatment plant Grymlyn1, it's actually bout 171ppm for the sulfates. That's not too bad, so I'll see how it tastes with my Blonde ale. However for my pumpkin spice, I think I'll buy 6 gallons of distilled water at the store and just use that...unless you'd all recommend to only do 2.5 gallons? (the extra gallon is to be sure I have 5 gallons worth, after boiling).