Advice on Water Modification

[worlddivides]

Hi guys,

I've been brewing for about 2 and a half years now, but I've never modified my water before. At my previous address, I just used the tap water and at my new address I've been using mineral water. This has worked perfectly fine for both extract and all-grain batches.

I will be moving again, though, in a few months, and I've been entirely unable to find out anything about the water profile of the place I'll be moving to. All the places I've lived in the past few years have had their water profiles online. And, although I've never done any water modification with brewing salts, I have always checked the profile each time I've moved.

Not being able to find any information has made me think about this for the first time.

Should I get a water test when I get there? Should I get an RO system and just use brewing salts from there? Or should I just not bother and see how the water tastes, and if it tastes fine, keep brewing without water modification like I've been doing so far?

Ever time I try to research this stuff online, it's a massive deluge of information without any clear direction at all and it just comes across as ridiculously complicated.

Not sure what to do, so I thought I'd ask.

 

[Sadu]

Start off with a small batch and see what it comes out like.

 

[Braufessor]

* I would definitely try to find out what your water profile is like in the new area. Three primary areas of concern with water that can result in beer that is not great, or even bad:
- Chlorine/Chloramine
- High Bicarbonate Hardness
- Water from a water softener

Any of those can really give you serious problems.

After that - the actual mineral levels of Calcium, Sulfate, Chloride, etc. can "fine tune" a beer..... but probably not a "make or break" type thing.

So, yeah - I think it is important to know what you are starting with.... and "tasting" good is not a guarantee of being good for brewing. My water tastes great - but it is very hard, and is terrible for lighter color beers.

RO water, from refill machines (using 3 gallon jugs) is probably the easiest/cheapest way to go if you need to dilute you water or if you need to avoid it.

Ward Labs does water testing and has a "home-brew" test. You may also be able to find a decent report locally, or even find a home-brew shop or local brewer who might know what the water is like.

Once you know what your water is like, and if you are starting from low mineral water/RO water - there are some easy things you can do that will put you in the ballpark of where you want to be that don't need to be confusing at all.

 

[worlddivides]

* I would definitely try to find out what your water profile is like in the new area. Three primary areas of concern with water that can result in beer that is not great, or even bad:
- Chlorine/Chloramine
- High Bicarbonate Hardness
- Water from a water softener

Any of those can really give you serious problems.

Thanks for the response. Yeah, my first place where I brewed had pretty decent, "average" water, but the place I live now has too high levels of chlorine, which is why I use bottled mineral water here.

After that - the actual mineral levels of Calcium, Sulfate, Chloride, etc. can "fine tune" a beer..... but probably not a "make or break" type thing.

So, yeah - I think it is important to know what you are starting with.... and "tasting" good is not a guarantee of being good for brewing. My water tastes great - but it is very hard, and is terrible for lighter color beers.

RO water, from refill machines (using 3 gallon jugs) is probably the easiest/cheapest way to go if you need to dilute you water or if you need to avoid it.

Ward Labs does water testing and has a "home-brew" test. You may also be able to find a decent report locally, or even find a home-brew shop or local brewer who might know what the water is like.

Once you know what your water is like, and if you are starting from low mineral water/RO water - there are some easy things you can do that will put you in the ballpark of where you want to be that don't need to be confusing at all.

Yeah, it does seem like Ward Labs might be my best option simply because none of the towns or cities in the area have water reports online. Well, one of them does, but it just lists the levels of contaminants and does not list the pH, alkalinity, sodium, magnesium, calcium, etc. Plus, that's a different water company than the one where I will be moving.

I've seen a lot of RO water filter systems online (usually for quite a bit of money), but what commercial RO water is there (i.e. not the systems, but the water itself)? Is Glacier RO water or just distilled water? Or... is there even a difference between regular distilled water and RO water?

I do think I'll probably want to use RO water from a local grocery store at first, while I'm getting my water tested by Ward Labs (or if the local place will specially send me a water report. I'll have to see, I guess).


EDIT: I just found out that, yes, Glacier is RO water and that there are two Glacier refill facilities within a few minutes of where I'll be moving, so I'll use Glacier RO water with brewing salts until I get the Ward Labs water report back. And, if the water report is too hard, has too much chlorine, or whatever, I'll keep using the Glacier RO water.

Thanks!