Can someone help me with my water report?

[mjap52]

I think this is the report that I need to figure out my water profile. So far, this is what I came up with, I'm not sure if it's correct, so if anyone has any pointers, any help would be greatly appreciated!

http://www.ecwa.org/pdf/AnnualWaterQualityReport//110_2011 Annual Water Quality Report.pdf

Ca: 91
Mg: 8.6
Na: 14.1
SO4: 21.3
Cl: .75
CaCO3: 91

 

[Pie_Man]

I don't claim to be a water expert, but your water seems fairly average. If you're brewing all-grain, and you like your beer, I wouldn't fiddle with it much.

For more info check out howtobrew.com, http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html. Also, Brewing Network did a four part podcast about water that's pretty informative.

If you're wanting to make adjustments, I would use either the EZ Water Calculator spreadsheet, or the Bru'n water spreadsheet. They're both free online.

 

[tagz]

I brew with erie county water and have found that it helps to use acid (phosphoric or lactic) to adjust your mash and sparge water. Otherwise your pH might get a little high; I had an astringent batch and started looking into it. My pH was pushing 6 with no adjustment. High pH and low sulfate levels can also cause poor hop flavors. So you might want to look into adding some gypsum for pale ales and IPAs. On the other hand, my brown ales tend to come out pretty well, because they favor lower SO4 and the dark malt helps to lower the pH.

I would start reading up a little on pH, SO4, and chloride. Don't worry about the other stuff at this point. If you check out Brun Water, input your profile, and start playing with the levels of lactic, gypsum, and CaCl you might add, you'll find you can match the suggested profiles with minor additions.

 

[tagz]

Oh and before you do any of that, make sure you are treating the chlorine. You can either use a charcoal filter (I use one of those Pur filters that attaches to your faucet), or add a small amount of metabisulfite. If you use the water as is, you will get chlorophenols when the water reacts with the malt... creates medicinal and plastic flavors.