Athens, GA H2O Report: How's It Look?

[thelorax121]

So I called up my local water authority, and after some struggle, I finally got on the line with someone from the lab who was very helpful. Here are the details he gave me, please let me know if there is anything I need to be concerned about, or anything that I can improve noticeably. Thanks HBT!

Ca 9.2ppm
Mg 2.0ppm
Na 4.6ppm
SO4 3.4ppm
Alkalinity: 20
pH: 7.5
Cl 1.71ppm

 

[keelanfish]

Athens, Clarke County has several water supply/water treatment facilities, so depending on where you live or which water supply they are currently using, you may find variability. I'm not sure how the information you found relates specifically to brewing, but I do know about water supply in Georgia because that's my profession. The annual water report is redily available at the following link, http://www.co.clarke.ga.us/documents/pdf/publicutilities/water_quality.pdf

 

[thelorax121]

Yea, I talked to the technician to make sure that he was giving me the correct report for my part of town, so I think I am good on that front. As for the water supply, I know that the local reservoirhas been well stocked from all our rain lately, so hopefully it will stay constant at least for the winter. Thanks for the input!

 

[scoppi]

ill bite.

your Ca levels are really low. palmer says the minimum accepted level for brewing is 50 ppm. without the calcium, some mash and yeast procedures cant perform properly. you can increase your Ca level with either calcium carbonate (chalk), calcium chloride, or gypsum.

your alkalinity level is pretty low. nothing wrong with that, but if your roasty beers are coming out how you'd like them, id look at increasing the amount of alkalinity with either calcium carbonate or baking soda.

you have about 2 times the sulfate then you do chloride. this means that you're beer will come out on the bitter side, so if you dont get quite the level of maltiness in your scottish ales or whatever, look at increasing your chloride levels with calcium chloride.

when looking at water, the three things to look at are: hardness (your Ca + Mg level), bicarbonates (your alkalinity level), and your chloride:sulfate ratio. getting the proper water profile for the beer you're going to brew is a balancing act between these three variables.

 

[Beerrific]

Pretty standard water for areas in North Georgia. Since all our municipal water supplies are from reservoirs/rain run-off it is basically a blank slate for any beer style. I would ask your water tech if they use chloarmines, if so, you need to make sure you get that out before you use it. My water is very similar to yours and they do not use chloarmaines over here in DeKalb county.

Best place to start with water stuff:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-1.html

 

[Bobby_M]

I also have 3 videos I did recently on how to use TH's spreadsheet which you can also find linked in my sig. Pilsen thinks your water is soft.

The only thing you can ideally brew, without salts, is a Pilsner.

 

[dfohio]

I would love to have your water! You basically have a blank canvas and now can manipulate it anyway you like. Not to mention you will never need to buy RO or distilled.