Water water water

[LesNichols]

For some strage reason i woke up this morning thinking about my water and how it effects my brewing. So low and behold it would seem that im not alone just a little behind that alot of you are looking into the same thing BUT i have found out that if i could remember the combo to my safe i would get my gun and pistol wipe myself. that would seem easier than trying to figure it out in 1 day. ok enough. So i called the local water Dept and talked to a lady that would seem to know all about water and whats in the water here. BUT it would seem that with all that knowledge she didnt know the Calicium or Mag numbers but she did tell that those numbers make up my water hardness and it she sys it runs from 60-90 depending on the time of the year and the weather, rain -snow. and that my BiCharbionate or as she called it Alkalinaty also runs around 60-90. but after reading -watching vid's and talking to her im worse than i was and still dont know crap.so here is the list as she gave it to me any tips would be great .
Sodium 7.0
Sulfate 12
cloride 3
PH 7.9-8.3 when it leave the treatment plant
Calicium + Mag =Hard water # of 60-90
BiCharbionate = Alky 60-90

Ok shoud we just treat the mash to get it to the right PH and forget about all the sicence? All i want to do is brew beer, good beer, Great beer. bad beer is still beer and i will still drink it!!!!!

 

[FromZwolle]

have you checked out the brew strong 4 part podcasts on water? very informative. for now, if the water tastes fine, go ahead and brew with it until you learn enough to start making adjustments.

 

[SenorWanderer]

who exactly is your water department? city, county, TVA? try looking it up online. you might be surprised what you find.

the numbers you quote, if i'm reading them right because you haven't labeled them, look like decent water. you might benefit from a gram or 2 of gypsum if you're brewing an IPA.

good luck