Help with water information and adjustment

[feedbag]

So, I am making the jump to all grain and the final piece of my preparation has been figuring out the status of my water and how to make the adjustments. I understand the basics on what to add once you know what you are starting with, however what I am starting with is where I am having the problem. I got my cities water report but it mostly shows the levels of any heavy metals and or toxic chemicals. It does show the PH, sodium, and sulfate levels but not much in the way of other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate. I called the water center and they were very helpful with giving me some info, but they stated that they do not sample for each mineral separately but rater measure alkalinity and hardness with a daily sample. The alkalinity and hardness both range from 12-18 ppm. He explained to me that hardness was mostly the calcium and magnesium, and bicarbonate levels were the alkalinity. Can I make adjustments with only this info?

 

[acidrain]

No, you need a real water report. Use a small water bottle to collect some tap water and send it to Ward Labs https://producers.wardlab.com/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=/

 

[khawk95]

Or get reverse osmosis water from the store and use this calc to determine additions. http://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/. There is a ton of info in the brew science section.


Roed Haus Brewery

 

[feedbag]

#1 I guess the real question I need to ask now is how important is it that I adjust my water. My water quality is very good and the water comes from a local river. Is it possible that I can make good beer without any adjustments? I really want to avoid dropping 30+ bucks on a water report right now, I'm trying to make this transition on a budget.

#2 If
I use distilled water from the store, do I assume that it has no mineral content and adjust it as my base water?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app

 

[mabrungard]

Based on the limited information available, it does appear that there is little mineralization. That is fine for some styles, but other styles can benefit from more mineralization. If you feel confident in what the utility told you about the hardness and alkalinity values, then you could assume the calcium content is around 5 ppm and the bicarbonate content around 20 ppm. Those are low values and with the other reported values, you could do a decent job.

That water could be similar to some RO waters.