First all grain/ water quality

[HatchetJack]

Preparing to start brewing all grain and I have a question. I used some
aquarium testing strips to check my water. I know a lot of brewers do
not worry with testing but my extract and partial mash batches have all
had a faint annoying dryness on the finish. Just kind of leaves me thirsty
sorta after drinking one. I use well water and always boil it and it tastes
great to drink. The results of the test reads on the bottom of the scale at
near zero on hardness and alkalinity with a PH of 6.2 so it's very soft water
and acidic if I read it correctly. Nitrates were zero also. Any thoughts?

 

[JuanMoore]

I reccomend reading these 5 pages that discuss water quality in relation to brewing. I don't know much about aquarium test strips, but I don't think they'll give you the information you need. If you're boiling the water before using it for brewing, you're dropping a lot of the bicarbonates out of the water, which might be why it's reading near zero for hardness. The "dry" taste suggests a possible excess of sulfates. The Ph of your water is mostly irrelevant, it's the Ph of the mash that's important, and that is dependent on what types of grain you're using and what the ion concentrations in your water are. You may need to send a sample in to get a proper water report. I think they run about $15-$20.

 

[HatchetJack]

Thanks, I tested the water out of my filtered tap not boiled. I have noticed
that my beers are hop sensitive. Even dryhopping or adding some hops at
flameout seem to put the dry bitter aftertaste over the top and I love hops.
The aftertaste is worse if I add a small amount of honey but still noticeable
with no added hops or honey. Any chance the "One Step" I have been
using to sanitize the bottles with could contribute to this dry aftertaste?
My first attempt at an all grain did not convert and I had to add dme but
I tried BIAB and although my temps were correct I think my grains were too
tight and maybe had nothing at all to do with the water.

 

[JuanMoore]

A harsh dryness sounds like tannin extraction, which can come from mashing or sparging at excessive temperatures, or from the mash Ph being off, or from chloramine or chlorine in the water. If you're filtering with a decent filter it should remove most of the chlorine/chloramine. My guess is that water chemistry is the culprit. If you don't want to get a water analysis done, you could try brewing a small batch with some bottled spring water to see if it fixes the issue. Or better yet, use RO or distilled water and build it up with brewing salts.

 

[HatchetJack]

Well they were extract batches and it's well water so no chlorine. And it's not
harsh just a little annoying probably because I brew lighter session type beers
mostly. Maybe I will just give all grain a shot and see how it turns out
before I start fixing something that aint broke. Just a little dry aftertaste that
lingers. Some people may love it, just not my thing.