Help with water test results

[brewhaw]

I am attempting to adjust my water content for the first time on my BIAB this weekend. here's a copy of the 2011 water quality report in my county with minerals found. Is this enough to go on and adjust with chlorine tablets or something like that? All advice on how to proceed is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much. UPDATE!!!
See a few pics below for my Counties water bill. Thank you very much

 

[brewhaw]

Chlorine is 4ppm. Thanks

 

[Yooper]

That's not very helpful for brewing. For brewing, you need calcium, sodium, magnesium, sulfate, choride, and alkalinity (bicarbonate).

Can you get those from your water provider? I couldn't, so I sent a sample of my water to Ward Labs and for $16.50 I got a full report that listed what I needed.

 

[brewhaw]

Thanks ill dig a little deeper

 

[dstranger99]

That's not very helpful for brewing. For brewing, you need calcium, sodium, magnesium, sulfate, choride, and alkalinity (bicarbonate).

Can you get those from your water provider? I couldn't, so I sent a sample of my water to Ward Labs and for $16.50 I got a full report that listed what I needed.

Yoop, look at mine attached. I see I have Sodium & Chloride, but none of the other's, can I buy these additions at my brew store ?

 

[afr0byte]

Yoop, look at mine attached. I see I have Sodium & Chloride, but none of the other's, can I buy these additions at my brew store ?

Yes, you can get Gypsum and Calcium Chloride, though Calcium Chloride may be less available.

 

[Yooper]

Your sodium is pretty high, and I'm not sure how to guestimate the magnesium and calcium from the hardness- but the water gurus probably can help with that if you want to start a new thread in the "Brew Science" forum where people much smarter than I am hang out!

 

[dstranger99]

^

And this may sound odd, but I keep fish, so I have an aquarium freshwater master test kit, there are tests in there for hardness, acids, etc. The tests are designed to keep fish water healthy, but If I knew what the beer numbers should be I could probably adjust my water with 80% accuracy with the aquarium kit tests by adding Gypsum, calcium, etc.... ???..........Or am I just off my rocker ?........

 

[brewhaw]

Found this. What you would y'all do to optimize this water bill? thank you.

 

[brewhaw]

i just plugged in my results into the brewers friend calculator and these are the results. Where do i go from here?
sorry #'s dont line up straight
Mineral Levels in mg/l (ppm):
mEq/l
cations (+) anions (-)
Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 HCO3- CO32- ion balance
13.3 7.6 7.6 1.5 2.3 18.000 0.015 1.24
▲ less detail
ppm as CaCO3 pCO2 CaCO3
GH GHp GHt Alkalinity RA pH atm ppm
64.5 49.7 14.8 17.1 3.2 7.3 0.00107 0.0

 

[Yooper]

^

And this may sound odd, but I keep fish, so I have an aquarium freshwater master test kit, there are tests in there for hardness, acids, etc. The tests are designed to keep fish water healthy, but If I knew what the beer numbers should be I could probably adjust my water with 80% accuracy with the aquarium kit tests by adding Gypsum, calcium, etc.... ???..........Or am I just off my rocker ?........

Well, I know about GH and KH, and those ideally are pretty low. If you could put the numbers you know into a brewing water spreadsheet (I like Bru'nwater), that might help out.

 

[Yooper]

Found this. What you would y'all do to optimize this water bill? thank you.


View attachment 104290

Looks like a nice water to brew with!

If you have chlorine it the water (or chloramines), you'll need to treat for that. The easiest way is to use one campden tablet per 20 gallons of water, stirring it in well once it's crushed.

Otherwise, ideally you'd get your calcium to about 50 ppm, give or take, and then adjust the sulfate and chloride based on the beers you're brewing.

 

[brewhaw]

This is the report from Brewers friend calculator which I have no idea how to interpret

 

[brewhaw]

Above is the numbers plugged into Brewers friend calculator which I have no idea how to interpret

 

[Yooper]

I've never used that one, so it's not familiar to me.

I really like bru'nwater, and I like all the water information on there that is very helpful for water beginners.

In general, you want to get your calcium to 50 ppm or so, and then make sure other things (like the pH) line up ok with your grainbill.

 

[dstranger99]

Well, I know about GH and KH, and those ideally are pretty low. If you could put the numbers you know into a brewing water spreadsheet (I like Bru'nwater), that might help out.

Thanks Yooper, I'll look into this more, I'd like to figure this out within the next month before I do another batch. Always something !!........