I need some help interpreting my water report. I ready through some of the water primer in the sticky, but wanted to make sure i was understanding things correctly. Long story short i've been brewing for about 3 years now and I have had the occasional really good beer but most have had a certain taste i can't seem to get rid of. I have evaluated most parts of my brew process and believe them to be good. I should also mention that i'm brewing all extract beers. I have tried ro water, distilled water, my well water, water out of my softner and combinations of those. I have mixed and matched so much that i finally decided to try to understand the water I was putting in my beers, so I sent off for a water report. Here is my water report.
pH 7.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 400
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.67
Cations / Anions, me/L 7.6 / 7.8
ppm
Sodium, Na 8
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 95
Magnesium, Mg 30
Total Hardness, CaCO3 363
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 18
Chloride, Cl 3
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 403
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 330
Total Phosphorus, P 0.55
Total Iron, Fe 1.85
Now me looking at it thinks that I have problems in the Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfate, and the Total Alkalinity. In fact reading this I think the Total Alkalinity is completely out of wack. I'm not looking to fine tune this water to any particular styles but just want something as a base that I can make a beer for once that is consistently decent. Should I even try to keep using my well water, or should I start with ro or distilled water and build some type of basic water.
pH 7.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 400
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.67
Cations / Anions, me/L 7.6 / 7.8
ppm
Sodium, Na 8
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 95
Magnesium, Mg 30
Total Hardness, CaCO3 363
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 18
Chloride, Cl 3
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 403
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 330
Total Phosphorus, P 0.55
Total Iron, Fe 1.85
Now me looking at it thinks that I have problems in the Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfate, and the Total Alkalinity. In fact reading this I think the Total Alkalinity is completely out of wack. I'm not looking to fine tune this water to any particular styles but just want something as a base that I can make a beer for once that is consistently decent. Should I even try to keep using my well water, or should I start with ro or distilled water and build some type of basic water.