Need some help interpreting my water analysis....Any experts?

[BrewHark]

Following is my Ward report from my well water with softener. I basically want to know if it is suitable for brewing all styles of beer (with the understanding that I will use salts) as required.

pH - 7.6
TDS - 384
Elec conductivity - .64
Cation/anions me/L - 7.5/7.3

Na - 3
K - <1
Ca - 87
Mg - 36
CaCO3 - 368
NO3-N - .1
SO4-S - 26
Cl - 8
CO3 - <1
HCO3 - 334
CaCO3 - 274
P - .62
Fe - .95

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[EvilDeadAsh]

I can't answer your question, however, this isn't really a "beginner beer brewing" post. If this is your first brew, you may find it beneficial to get your process down before jumping into water chemistry. That said - you will likely get a better response in the Brew Science forum.

 

[rhamilton]

I can't comment on the pH aspect (I'm still learning), but I can tell your Magnesium is out of Parmer's recommend ranges (probably no big deal) and your Chloride:Sulfate ratio is off.

You have 8ppm Chloride : 78ppm Sulfate so your ratio is 0.10 (enhanced bitterness). Based on EZ-Water 3.0, adding 2 grams of Calcium Chloride will give you 81:78, a ratio of 1.04 which is 'balanced'.

3 grams would 'enhance malts', 1 gram would 'enhance bitterness'.

 

[BrewHark]

Thanks - I will move the post. Nowhere near my first batch, BTW, but when it comes to water science, I'm a dummy.

 

[ludomonster]

Can you get water from the well without softening? Hard water benefits a lot of beers.

 

[mikemet]

is your tap water drinkable? Does it taste good?

If water EVER becomes a factor when im making beer, ill go bottled. 6 gallons is worth it to make consistent beer. Im lucky where I live to have some of the best tap drinking water. I am going to start reducing carbon and adding some salts to dial in some other countries water types when hitting the styles I want.