Medford MA Water Report?

[RockfordWhite]

Hey all, I just moved to the Medford MA Area and was gonna brew up a quick batch of my Mild to get my system and everything tuned up... While i know it's an experimental batch, I'd like it to turn out good... Anybody have a general water profile I can use as a base?

 

[obie]

Welcome to Massachusetts! Here in Shrewsbury we have ridiculous hard water, I just end up going to either Market Basket or Price Chopper and buy gallon jugs of the spring water. Seems to work fine!

 

[RockfordWhite]

Do you just use it with no adjustments? I looked at poland springs and it looked crazy soft from their reports

 

[theheroguy]

Medford MA water is VERY soft I can get you the exact numbers I came up when I get home but I remember its around

7 S04 9 cl 6.3 Na .5 Mg 4.4 Bicarb

 

[theheroguy]

Calcium: 2.10 ppm
Sulfate: 4.10 ppm
Magnesium: 0.50 ppm
Chloride: 9.00 ppm
Sodium: 6.30 ppm Bicarbonate: 4.40 ppm

 

[mkeckjr]

I also live in Medford; are you sure those are the right numbers? Those look like the numbers that come from the raw water out of the Quabbin. We don't get it quite that soft; we get it after it travels from the Quabbin through the Carroll Treatment Plant, I believe, then it hits the Boston Metro area system. The June water report from MWRA is here:

http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/monthly/wqupdate/pdf/cy2015/072015.pdf

The numbers still indicate soft water, but not quite that soft.

Bicarbonate: 40 ppm
Ca: 4.4 ppm
Cl: 26.5 ppm
Mg: .95 ppm
Sodium: 32 ppm
Sulfate: 6.5 ppm

Either way, the Ca in the water is far too low for a good mash, so to the OP, I'd suggest trying to get the Ca in the mash at least up to 50 ppm using CaCl or CaSO4. That, and brew a lot of Bohemian Pilsners

If you're new to the area, I'd also suggest looking into the Boston Wort Processors, a local homebrew club in the area that meets once a month, usually in Medford/Cambridge/Somerville. Where are you moving from?

 

[Melana]

Guys... please come to the BEST brewing party in Massachusetts. Informal, fun, and informative. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=538618

 

[RockfordWhite]

Thanks for the advice... For the time being, until i can get an accurate water report for my house, I grabbed some bottles of poland springs and going to build it up how I want... If the water is as bad as it sounds, it might be easier to just keep doing that, but we'll see... I'm def planning on checking out the brewing scene, i've been here for all of 2 weeks, so just getting my feet under me

 

[RockfordWhite]

I'm moving from Dayton, Ohio. We were spoiled there, our water was near perfect for brewing, only very slight adjustments were necessary. So far been very meh on the IPAs in the area. The sours and darker beers have been good, but compared to the Midwest, so far I haven't found any big hoppy beers that can hold a candle to what we had there

 

[moreb33rplz]

I'm moving from Dayton, Ohio. We were spoiled there, our water was near perfect for brewing, only very slight adjustments were necessary. So far been very meh on the IPAs in the area. The sours and darker beers have been good, but compared to the Midwest, so far I haven't found any big hoppy beers that can hold a candle to what we had there

Jack Abby Mass Rising
Gray Sail Captain's Daughter
Heady if you can get it!

 

[theheroguy]

Jack Abby Mass Rising
Gray Sail Captain's Daughter
Heady if you can get it!

Trillium
Wormtown