My Water Report

I get my brew water from Eldorado Springs. This is the basic water analysis information from their website:

http://www.eldoradosprings.com/?action=analysis

pH 7.22
Chloride 1.1 mg/L
Sulfate 21
Bicarbonate 40
Calcium 12.4
Magnesium 3.85
Potassium 2.64
Sodium 6.4

From my research. I was thinking 5g of Gypsum and 1g of Epsom Salt would be benificial for a 5gallon batch, generally speaking. Does that mean I would add the 6g to my mash water? or in the brew kettle?

Any thoughts?

I'm also searching for a reason for my low efficiency. Could this be part of the problem? Right now this and the crush of my grain are my only suspects.

 

Your 'problem' is likely caused by failure to achieve good mash pH. See the Primer for some ideas on how to proceed for broadly defined styles using your water.

 

Thanks. I actually have a pH meter. I'm going to start testing my wort to make sure my mash is in the acceptable range and go from there.

 

I brew exclusively with Eldorado Springs Water now. I think all of our lower efficiency batches (as low as 40%) have been due to bad mashing. We are now hitting 65% and occasional 70% or 75% as we improve our mashing techniques.

Things that I think have helped us (YMMV):
1. Using our keggle as an HLT with a pickup tube to transfer water with less heat loss (old technique used pitchers out of a kettle).
2. Performing rests in the beta range and the higher alpha range.
3. Tightening the grind on our mill
4. Dampening (lightly!) the grain before milling to keep the husks more intact.
5. Lengthening our mash
6. Pulling more liquid off the mash (I think we previously ended it too soon). We don't use gravity or sweetness but just wait until the wort coming off starts to include tannic flavors that we don't want. Then we switch it to another kettle for an end run beer.
7. Milling much slower than before (drill RPMs).

I might try mill width, milling rpm, and adding a beta rest.

I don't think the Eldo water is to blame.

PS: Some people tell me they get 85% efficiency. I'm not sure I'd believe them if they aren't doing RIMS/HERMS unless you are looking at their math...