Got water test; now what?

[Closet Fermenter]

I have been noticing astringency in my beer, primarily my Irish dry stout. After doing a little reading on this forum, I decided a water test would be good.
Here are my results. What should I do?

 

[jdauria]

Wow, that is super low mineral water...a great blank canvas to start with. That is super soft water that would be good for say a Czech Pilsner and other lagers...but for most everything else you will want to add at least gypsum (for hoppy beers) or calcium chloride for malty beers. Download the free version of Download Bru'n Water enter your water profile, then before your next brew, enter the grain bill, pick the water profile you want to use (for example, black balanced, black full or black dry for your stout), then Bru'n Water tells you what profile to target....and you, through trial and error, put in amounts in grams per gallon to try to get close to those numbers. This may be a little outdated but here are some tutorials Bru’n Water Tutorials Oh, last thing...went entering your numbers, Sulfate listed by Ward labs is not the same as in Bru'n Water...you need to multiply by 3 to get SO4 from SO4-S. So your sulfate is really 15.

I should say though, this really only applies if you are an all grain brewer. If you are extract, the mash is already done for you, so you really adjust a mash profile, but you would still add minerals to the wort before the boil.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Wow, that is super low mineral water...a great blank canvas to start with. That is super soft water that would be good for say a Czech Pilsner and other lagers...but for most everything else you will want to add at least gypsum (for hoppy beers) or calcium chloride for malty beers. Download the free version of Download Bru'n Water enter your water profile, then before your next brew, enter the grain bill, pick the water profile you want to use (for example, black balanced, black full or black dry for your stout), then Bru'n Water tells you what profile to target....and you, through trial and error, put in amounts in grams per gallon to try to get close to those numbers. This may be a little outdated but here are some tutorials Bru’n Water Tutorials Oh, last thing...went entering your numbers, Sulfate listed by Ward labs is not the same as in Bru'n Water...you need to multiply by 3 to get SO4 from SO4-S. So your sulfate is really 15.

I should say though, this really only applies if you are an all grain brewer. If you are extract, the mash is already done for you, so you really adjust a mash profile, but you would still add minerals to the wort before the boil.

Hey, thanks, I really appreciate this. I should have mentioned, this is water filtered through a Berkey. Since this is what I was using, this is what I had tested.
I am no chemist, but surprised that the chloride was at 12ppm. I read that 3-4 ppm is typical treatment level for chlorine. I filter mainly because I abhor the taste of chlorine, and I certainly don’t want it in my beer! Am I misinterpreting this?

 

[MHBT]

Very soft water, plug this info into a calculator as well as your grain bill and go from there

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am no chemist, but surprised that the chloride was at 12ppm. I read that 3-4 ppm is typical treatment level for chlorine. I filter mainly because I abhor the taste of chlorine, and I certainly don’t want it in my beer! Am I misinterpreting this?

Chloride and Chlorine are not the same thing. You want Chloride in your beer (it helps with a fullness, that some call 'malty'). You do not want Chlorine (or Chloramine).

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

If you are extract ...

Some ideas on adding minerals to extract-based recipes are covered in chapter 8 of How to Brew, 4e. Bru'n Water Spreadsheet has some additional information.

It's probably wrong to use 'water chemistry' spreadsheets / sites for extract-based recipes. AFAICT, mineral ppm information for brands / styles of extract is not available - so additions are largely a 'season to taste' process with some reasonable starting points.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Chloride and Chlorine are not the same thing. You want Chloride in your beer (it helps with a fullness, that some call 'malty'). You do not want Chlorine (or Chloramine).

Ah, thanks for that. Chem 101 was many, many moons ago. The thing that threw me off was the “,CL” after “chloride” in the report.

Also, I should have mentioned that I am brewing all grain.

Really appreciate all the help here. My beer is decent, but I feel it could be better. (This coming from a guy that used to drink PBR.) I am excited about putting this information to use in my next batch!

 

[MHBT]

Ah, thanks for that. Chem 101 was many, many moons ago. The thing that threw me off was the “,CL” after “chloride” in the report.

Also, I should have mentioned that I am brewing all grain.

Really appreciate all the help here. My beer is decent, but I feel it could be better. (This coming from a guy that used to drink PBR.) I am excited about putting this information to use in my next batch!

Best of luck Enjoy