Help with Water Report

[StAlphonzo]

Getting back into brewing after a 4 year hiatus, and it seemed like a good time to finally tackle water adjustments as I'm more settled in my location. I received my report back from Ward and it doesn't look great. I'm attaching the report, but the chloride level seems unmanageably high. Was hoping for some advice about whether my best bet is to dilute with purchased distilled water, look for an RO system to dilute, or start from scratch from distilled or RO. Also kind of curious if I can just plow ahead adjusting around the chloride level since the handful of beers I've made since returning to the hobby seem to be coming out reasonably well despite not adjusting the water at all. Appreciate any help people can give.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

The high chloride and sodium may make for some tasty malt forward beers, so I would not fault them or attempt to dilute them away. I would only suggest acidifying to drop the alkalinity as the beer style requires, and adding a tad of Gypsum to boost sulfate and calcium levels.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Sodium and chloride are both high. There has to be a reason. Is this a coastal water source? Is it a water source where salt is used on roads to thaw ice/snow? Could the Sodium chloride levels be a seasonal issue? Be careful with sulfate levels - I've read that high Sodium with high Sulfate is not good.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Be careful with sulfate levels - I've read that high Sodium with high Sulfate is not good.

I've read the same, and if there is validity to it (whereby I have no personal experience by which to validate it) I retract my advice to boost the calcium and sulfate levels via adding Gypsum. It seems from the OP's comments that he is making good beer with it. No way to fault that.

 

[StAlphonzo]

Thanks for the responses. The town water report shows that the supply comes from a number of sources that are processed through a town water treatment facility. We're not right on the ocean but we're coastal so that may contribute to the high sodium and chloride level. I can't say for sure if it's seasonal, but the report I got is reasonably in line with the yearly published town reports in the past. They don't report everything I need every year but they've reported even higher chloride levels in prior years. The sample was sent at the end of last month so probably not the direct result of salting the roads (although we do salt as a town).

I think our water tastes pretty good in a general sense. Is the move to just roll with it and only dilute when I feel like I need to add sulfate? I was looking at some of the big breweries in the area and what their water is like. While it's not right next door, Tree House seems to brew with even more chloride and they bang out some excellent IPAs.

 

[VikeMan]

I was looking at some of the big breweries in the area and what their water is like. While it's not right next door, Tree House seems to brew with even more chloride and they bang out some excellent IPAs.

If you know the post treatment profile(s) of Treehouse's water, I think a lot of people would appreciate you posting it.

 

[StAlphonzo]

If you know the post treatment profile(s) of Treehouse's water, I think a lot of people would appreciate you posting it.

You are correct in that I obviously don't know the post treatment water profiles for any of the beers at Treehouse. I had read the link below which I found pretty interesting. It references a benchmark %change calculation and is attempting to work back to starting water for Julius. I haven't the first clue whether that sort of calculation is actually reliable. The author also seems to reference starting water from some other beers implying some actual knowledge of those with chloride levels over 150. Without getting in too far in the weeds (and way over my head), what I was wondering was if brewing with a high starting chloride concentration is still viable in a more general sense since I'm stuck starting already over 150.

http://thirdleapbrew.com/technical/ward-labs-mineral-analysis-of-tree-house-julius/

 

[VikeMan]

Without getting in too far in the weeds (and way over my head), what I was wondering was if brewing with a high starting chloride concentration is still viable in a more general sense since I'm stuck starting already over 150.

Looking at your water profile... if it were mine, I would probably use it for big, full mouthfeel, malty beers (imperial stouts, wee heavy etc.), but would otherwise probably dilute and/or build up from distilled/RO. My own tap water isn't really very good for much of anything as is, so I almost always build from distilled.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Give me a malty beer and a dry beer and I will take the malty one every time. It's my personal preference. But don't triangle test me on it.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Give me a malty beer and a dry beer and I will take the malty one every time.

Similar, but slightly different for me. Give me multi beers over not-multi beers and I'll take multi beers every time!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Similar, but slightly different for me. Give me multi beers over not-multi beers and I'll take multi beers every time!

Who can turn down multi-beers! With age, I'm not quite as multi as I once was.