Just got my water report

[Al-Kaholik]

Nothing really appears to stand out too much.. maybe a little high on the bicarbonate and low chloride/sulfate? Not sure if that matters

Any thoughts?

 

[cactusgarrett]

It's stupid soft; I'd kill for this water. You can do any style with this as a base (no dilutions) and reasonable salt additions.

 

[Sammy86]

Very jealous! As @cactusgarrett said great water to use!

 

[tracer bullet]

Agreed, you can probably do just about any beer with it. Looks a lot like mine. You probably have a lot of rain water as your water source.

 

[Al-Kaholik]

Thanks for the info guys - I actually run it through a filter first so the original water probably isn't as good. I just wanted to check since my brew turned out a bit awkward tasting. It wasn't horrible - just had an awkward/cheap taste

 

[tracer bullet]

In my experience and from what I've read, the filter doesn't do much. It'll remove some interesting tastes perhaps, yes, and perhaps some chlorine and chloramine. But anyhow, as far as dissolved minerals - practically nothing.

 

[jambop]

Great starting point for almost all styles of beer... you are very lucky to have that water!

 

[jambop]

Thanks for the info guys - I actually run it through a filter first so the original water probably isn't as good. I just wanted to check since my brew turned out a bit awkward tasting. It wasn't horrible - just had an awkward/cheap taste

I have no idea what a cheap taste would be but did you adjust you water for mashing and boiling by adding salts ?
Have a look at this
www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/water.html

using this you can tailor your water to suit lots of different styles of beer.

 

[tracer bullet]

Agreed w/ @jambop you can use any of various online calculators to decide on some basic additions to meet certain beer styles - hoppy, malty, pH for your wort can all be affected by what you do or don't add.

You have a great starting point, but as you get further into the hobby you'll realize that you may need some additions for things to taste their best. The lucky thing is you'll probably only need additions, you won't be starting with "too much" of something you have to also deal with.

 

[jambop]

Just one point about that particular calculator the method of alkalinity reduction is by addition of a product called Carbonate reduction solution (CRS in the calculator) which is readily available in the UK but may not be in the US . This solution is a mixture of sulphuric acid and Hydrochloric acid which is perfect for the job as when used it reduces the alkalinity but at the same time increases the sulphate and chloride ion concentrations . The ratio for the mix is equal volumes of 2M sulphuric and 2M Hydrochloric acid . If you cannot get that you can reduce the alkalinity to the desired level with whatever acid you have available but be aware that phosphoric acid precipitates calcium so is not ideal for the job. I use Hydrochloric acid which works well.