Using Walmart jug water (primo) do I need to worry about profile?

[mcfire12]

So I've recently started doing all grain. My buddy helped me on my last brew and he added some chalk, and other white substances to my water, checked my ph while mashing and I believe it was 5.2 which he said was perfect.

Anyway, I use the ro water from walmart in the big blue jugs because i'm on a well here at home and it's not the greatest stuff. Do I need to get a water report from this stuff and really get into what all these chemicals do? I'll be brewing by myself this weekend. I'm sure I can get a good beer out using just the RO water, but I guess i'm wondering if I need to be doing more. I'm totally new to these water adjustments and understand basically nothing with it. I'm going to read everything I can on it on Howtobrew.com just figured I would post something here to see what kind of response I get, if it's even worth my time to read into all of this or not. Thanks in advance!

I should add that I found this. Purified water,minerals added - sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride and magnesium sulphate.

 

[ajdelange]

So I've recently started doing all grain. My buddy helped me on my last brew and he added some chalk, and other white substances to my water, checked my ph while mashing and I believe it was 5.2 which he said was perfect.

Never use chalk in brewing. I won't go into the reasons here but you can look them up.

5.2 is OK for mash if measured at mash temperature. Measured at room temperature ( where on should do it) 5.4 - 5.6 is good.

Anyway, I use the ro water from walmart in the big blue jugs because i'm on a well here at home and it's not the greatest stuff. Do I need to get a water report from this stuff..

If it is straight RO and they assure you they are not adding anything back to it (which some machines do the remove the flat flavor of largely deionized water) then no. You just assume all ion concentrations are 0.

..and really get into what all these chemicals do?

Again, no. Check the Primer at the top of this topic. If you do decide to become a serious all grain brewer you will, at some point in time, have to understand what all these chemicals do.

I'm going to read everything I can on it on Howtobrew.com just figured I would post something here to see what kind of response I get, if it's even worth my time to read into all of this or not. Thanks in advance!

Well that stuff is a bit archaic unless it has been updated. We've slaughtered quite few sacred cows (e.g. the chalk mentioned above) since that material was originally published.

I should add that I found this. Purified water,minerals added - sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride and magnesium sulphate.

You must then either find out how much of each was added, send a sample off to Ward Labs for analysis or find a source of straight RO.

 

[mcfire12]

Thanks for the real reply. I found the details on the water I use. This YouTube clip shows the profile. Not sure if I need to get into this yet or if I should concentrate on my process and efficiency for now

 

[MattyIce]

Which YouTube video?