My water report

[chuckthebutcher]

I just got my water report from ward labs and I was hoping someone could help me interpret it as I don't have much knowledge on the subject. Specifically what type of beer would this water be good for?
(Ppm)
Ph- 7.6
Total dissolved solids- 184
Sodium, Na- 4
Calcium, CA- 50
Magnesium, Mg- 10
Total hardness, CaCO3- 167
Sulfate, SO4- 2
Chloride, Cl- 4
Carbonate, CO3- < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3- 203
Total alkalinity,CaCO3- 167

Thank you for all the help!

 

[TheMadKing]

That looks almost identical to mine, works great for anything strong and dark! Stouts, porters, black IPA, etc.

If you want to make anything on the pilsner end of the spectrum you'll need to buy RO water and dilute the carbonates down. They will buffer the acidification of your mash and cause a high mash pH.

For a pilsner I use 100% RO water with 1/2 tsp of gypsum and CaCl each, and ~3mL of 88% lactic acid solution

 

[chuckthebutcher]

i am pretty far away from you but that's cool they are similar. I have used it on an ipa before and the ipa was pretty good, are there any additions that would make it better? I will definitely try it on my next stout recipe. Thanks

 

[TheMadKing]

Your sulfates and chlorine are pretty low. You can experiment by adding tiny amounts of CaCl or Gypsum to finished beers to see if they help the flavors. Sulfer accentuates hop bitterness and chloride accentuates sweetness in small amounts

 

[Qhrumphf]

Your sulfates and chlorine are pretty low. You can experiment by adding tiny amounts of CaCl or Gypsum to finished beers to see if they help the flavors. Sulfer accentuates hop bitterness and chloride accentuates sweetness in small amounts

I'm assuming that chlorine there was a typo. Just pointing that out since people often get them confused. Chloride is often good (within limits), chlorine is never good.

Also, that water looks like it would benefit from decarbonation via boiling. If I understand correctly, addition of calcium salts (gypsum and calcium chloride) followed by boiling would raise the chloride and sulfate levels, and the added calcium would assist in preciptating out all that alkalinity as chalk at the bottom of the kettle.

I've never done it (my water is much less alkaline) but there are instructions out there (I know you have to boil, allow to cool, and then rack off of the chalk precipitate, don't remember if there's any more to it), but with that water as is I'd be worried it's too alkaline even for fairly dark beers. If you're cool using a fair bit of lactic/phosphoric acid to drop the pH, it appears to be pretty neutral otherwise and you're good to go. But boiling it first would work too (albeit time consuming), or you could just use RO for the most consistent results.

 

[TheMadKing]

I'm assuming that chlorine there was a typo. Just pointing that out since people often get them confused. Chloride is often good (within limits), chlorine is never good.

Also, that water looks like it would benefit from decarbonation via boiling. If I understand correctly, addition of calcium salts (gypsum and calcium chloride) followed by boiling would raise the chloride and sulfate levels, and the added calcium would assist in preciptating out all that alkalinity as chalk at the bottom of the kettle.

I've never done it (my water is much less alkaline) but there are instructions out there (I know you have to boil, allow to cool, and then rack off of the chalk precipitate, don't remember if there's any more to it), but with that water as is I'd be worried it's too alkaline even for fairly dark beers. If you're cool using a fair bit of lactic/phosphoric acid to drop the pH, it appears to be pretty neutral otherwise and you're good to go. But boiling it first would work too (albeit time consuming), or you could just use RO for the most consistent results.

Yep thank you! meant chloride .

Boiling does work, but its a PITA with water this alkaline. I tried it exactly once and had a quarter inch of chalk on the bottom of my brew kettle. It's much easier to buy RO water and dilute if you need to reduce the alkalinity.

I can attest that this level of alkalinity does work for robust porters and stouts. I just made one 2 weeks ago using my tap water which has a similar alkalinity and my mash pH was 5.4 on the dot without any acid additions (only CaCl).

That being said, I would run your water and recipe through the Bru'n Water spreadsheet and check every time. Better safe than sorry!

 

[stpug]

To me, just some lactic acid to balance the alkalinity and pH, and brewing salts for those styles that need it, is all you need. But I'm no expert.

It looks like a really good base water to work from for almost any style of beer - just lactic for alkalinity and pH.

 

[chuckthebutcher]

Funny story. I brewed a best of show IPA with this water before I got it tested. Srm was around 8. I expected this water to have lots of sulfate because they say it makes ipas better. Was surprised when yall said the water was better for dark beers. If I can make a BOS IPA with this I am excited to see what it will do to a stout!

 

[Wreck99]

Here was my water report done a couple of months ago from Ward Labs, for help with comparison. I was told by some folks here and other forums that my water profile would hurt the flavor of lighter beers (lagers, wheat, pils, etc), but I have to be honest with you...I've tried using water profile ez-create spreadsheets and made some adjustments to my water with one beer, than brewing straight my water on another and I can't tell a difference. I'll probably continue to mess with the water profile on some brews anyway.

pH = 7.4
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) est, ppm = 530
Electrical Conductivity, mmho.cm = 0.88
Cations / Anions, me/L = 8.5 / 8.4

ppm
-------------
Sodium, Na = 32
Potassium, K = 2
Calcium, Ca = 97
Magnesium, Mg = 28
Total Hardness, CaCO3 = 351
Nitrate, NO3-N = 1.9 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S = 7
Chloride, Cl = 142
Carbonate, CO3 = < 1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 - 229
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 = 188
Total Phosphorus, P = 0.07
Total Iron, Fe = < 0.01