OMG, not another brewing water thread

[Mark3885]

My head is spinning trying to decide what to do with my well water . Here are my water test results. Straight from the well and after the softener. What is the better water to use ? Or would it be a good idea to use 50/50 well and softened? Which water and any recommended salt additions? Or scrap my water and use spring water or distilled? Not really into buying water , what to do? Thanks

 

[camonick]

The crowd in the Brew Science forum might be able to help answer your questions better. Maybe a mod could move this for you @Kent88 , @IslandLizard , @Yooper

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Use the well water pre the softener, but you will need to address the high alkalinity (which is not the pH) via acidification. Add some calcium chloride to it, and also a tad of gypsum to boost calcium, chloride, and sulfate.

 

[dmtaylor]

Your first water shown is technically "hard", but is still even softer than mine. Ideal for anything deep amber to dark in color -- porters and stouts will be great with it, with no adjustments required. For light color styles or beers without much specialty malts, you'll want to acidify. Dark roasted grains and crystal malts tend to acidify the mash which is perfect for your alkaline water.

Your second one, from Ward, might actually be a little worse, IMO, due to higher sodium, bicarbonate, and alkalinity, but still could make a passable stout, or anything if you add more acid.

 

[Mark3885]

The well water before the softener has an iron smell and has a metallic taste . I brewed a few batches before the softener was installed and was not happy with the off flavors. I have an Amber lager in the fermentor that I brewed with store bought spring water , just to see what a different water source will produce.

 

[McKnuckle]

The normal brewing ions (Ca, Cl, SO4, Mg, Na) are quite reasonable in your well water. But the manganese (especially) and iron are significant. That's probably why it tastes bad.

I'm not an expert in removing these, but a quick web search shows that it's possible, but not a totally trivial thing to do. The softened water is, as expected, very high in sodium and alkalinity, which pretty much exclude it as an option.

I'd consider an RO solution in your case. They make systems that attach easily to faucets if you're not committed to plumbing one in. I have done this in my house, where I also have crappy well water and a softener.

 

[dmtaylor]

The well water before the softener has an iron smell and has a metallic taste . I brewed a few batches before the softener was installed and was not happy with the off flavors. I have an Amber lager in the fermentor that I brewed with store bought spring water , just to see what a different water source will produce.

Oh, I missed that... yeah, your iron is shown to be double the recommended maximum. Yeah, not good. You'll need to use your softened water and acidify. Not a big deal, assuming the process also removes metals? Maybe it doesn't? Maybe you really do need RO, as @McKnuckle suggests. And if you stay with the softened water, don't ever use baking soda or add any sodium, as you're at the upper limit there already.

 

[Mark3885]

There is a state park not too far from me , where I hunt . The water there is from springs or wells within the park . I’ll look into what the water makeup is and bring back 15 gallons for the next brew day. The water always tasted good but I’m sure it is chlorinated. Then that will lead to all kinds of new names for my brews.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

In terms of using your well water in your house, you have very high levels of iron and manganese. These are two relatively common contaminants in well water. Both will cause staining and can clog your plumbing fixtures, and will make the water taste bad. Both are best treated with whole-house equipment – meaning it is best to treat the water as it comes in the house, rather than at the point-of-use. You also have moderate water hardness. Your levels of iron and Mn are high enough that they will likely ruin your water softener resin - with your water we'd typically use another piece of equipment, installed upstream of the softener, to deal with the Fe and Mn; then let the softener deal with what it is intended to remove: hardness. If you don't want to go that route, consider using iron out salt to try to prolong the life of your softening resin.

For brewing - neither water is suitable for most beers. The best route is to run the softened water through an RO system.

Russ