Ward Labs report

[wyowolf]

Finally got around to doing this...now that i have it. what does it mean? is it good? bad? marginal?

pH 7.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 52
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.09
Cations / Anions, me/L 1.0 / 0.8
ppm
Sodium, Na 9
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 9
Magnesium, Mg 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 27
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.2 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 5
Chloride, Cl 7
Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 14
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 12
Total Phosphorus, P 0.19
Total Iron, Fe 0.02
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[wyowolf]

First page, on Bru N Water... line 15, its supposed to be 27, but has its own value of 13? it wont let me enter that.

 

[mabrungard]

Typical Chattahoochee water. Great starting point.

Cells that are yellow are calculated values.

 

[wyowolf]

On the adjustment side, it basically says to add nothing??
I see on adj page it says desired calcium 41, actual is 9, but below under adjustments, it says all zeros?

 

[PlinyTheMiddleAged]

On the adjustment side, it basically says to add nothing??
I see on adj page it says desired calcium 41, actual is 9, but below under adjustments, it says all zeros?

It doesn't tell you; you tell it what to add. Try typing something in there and see what changes. I suggest typing something in either the calcium chloride or the gypsum cell (or both) to see how the calcium levels are affected.

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

 

[wyowolf]

It doesn't tell you; you tell it what to add. Try typing something in there and see what changes. I suggest typing something in either the calcium chloride or the gypsum cell (or both) to see how the calcium levels are affected.

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

hmmm so I do this on the Water Adj page? so how do I know what to add?? I do see that adding 1 to the CaSO4 does push the mash PH from 5.7 yellow to 5.5 Green. But how I am supposed to know which to add?

So If i am trying to replicate say Munich water, I would add something to get the values listed in that column?

 

[PlinyTheMiddleAged]

Yes, you make additions on the Water Adjustments tab. Just make a guess - you're not going to hurt anything. Bru'n Water will show you what anions and cations each salt brings to the table. Simply guess and see where that lands you relative to your goals. Guess again if you are far off the target. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Really! And don't worry about getting things to match exactly - just get in the ballpark. Finally, don't add chalk and don't worry about the bicarbonate target.

 

[wyowolf]

Ok, I can play around with the numbers... can get the PH where I need it. but none of the other cells ever turn green? are they supposed to? "Mashing Water Profile"... I can get the numbers in limits, but the cells dont turn green, stay yellow.

 

[Sbe2]

YouTube knows all

 

[wyowolf]

here is a screen shot

 

[wyowolf]

YouTube knows all

watched a few, they are the older versions i believe... different inputs

 

[Sbe2]

I am by no means an expert on it. But, if you input your water profile and grain bill, you may have to input your "salt" additions into the mineral section to get your desired pH. Also, there is an option for adding acid to adjust your pH.

I am not sure if you use Beersmith, but this video I thought was very informative:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLoySzJ3CZ_a21LOCXd1YcNq1m2Zxd21Dd&v=Q0baxAHXmQU


Skip past the first to get to bru n water

 

[wyowolf]

I can input my min additions...and the numbers change. But they never turn green like in videos...

 

[wyowolf]

Ok, after watching the video I found beersmith was super easy... however no matter what I do to the additions, they NEVER turn green on mashing water profile part??

 

[wyowolf]

After watching a few more videos I am fairly certain that the Mash Water Profile NEVER turns green on this version, on past versions it did which is what threw me off...

 

[BrewRunning]

After watching a few more videos I am fairly certain that the Mash Water Profile NEVER turns green on this version, on past versions it did which is what threw me off...

I believe you are correct. I'm also a rookie Bru'n Water user and I've never seen those fields turn green or, any other color.

The important thing for me, and probably most challenging, was figuring out which additions add what. Once you have that down it actually gets a lot easier.

 

[BrewRunning]

Ok, after watching the video I found beersmith was super easy... however no matter what I do to the additions, they NEVER turn green on mashing water profile part??

After looking at your latest screen shots I offer some advice that I have learned (other more experienced members can chime in as well since I'm still new at this). My understanding is that you shouldn't be adding an acid and a base. You'll probably want to remove the baking soda and make other adjustments.

 

[wyowolf]

I believe you are correct. I'm also a rookie Bru'n Water user and I've never seen those fields turn green or, any other color.

The important thing for me, and probably most challenging, was figuring out which additions add what. Once you have that down it actually gets a lot easier.

I guess all i need to focus on is getting my numbers to match up with whatever the selected profile is. I got most all my numbers to match up exactly and it never changed color... only the Mash PH turns green that I can see...

and here's another question, is there a good "generic" water profile to use? at least for "most" styles of beer? ie IPA, Pale Ale, Lager etc?

 

[wyowolf]

After looking at your latest screen shots I offer some advice that I have learned (other more experienced members can chime in as well since I'm still new at this). My understanding is that you shouldn't be adding an acid and a base. You'll probably want to remove the baking soda and make other adjustments.

I was kind of wondering about that too... took it out...

 

[wyowolf]

I believe you are correct. I'm also a rookie Bru'n Water user and I've never seen those fields turn green or, any other color.

The important thing for me, and probably most challenging, was figuring out which additions add what. Once you have that down it actually gets a lot easier.

hmmm here are the instructions on the front, it says they DO. But they never did for me...even when the numbers are EXACTLY the same...

"Using the minerals the brewer has on hand, add quantities of those minerals on a trial and error basis within the program until acceptable agreement between the Target and Actual Water adjustments is achieved. For most ions, the Mashing Water Profile cells will turn GREEN when the concentrations are close enough to the Desired Water Profile. "

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Perhaps in the free version of Bru'n Water the salt additions section does not turn green when targets are achieved as for the pay version?

 

[mabrungard]

Oops! You are correct. The color coded alert feature was removed from the free version to further simplify that version. I just revised the instructions to remove that erroneous statement. Version 1.18a is now posted.

 

[wyowolf]

Oops! You are correct. The color coded alert feature was removed from the free version to further simplify that version. I just revised the instructions to remove that erroneous statement. Version 1.18a is now posted.

why? personally I liked it better, at least I could tell that I was on target, I know i can just see the numbers and match them up, just curious.

 

[wyowolf]

Oops! You are correct. The color coded alert feature was removed from the free version to further simplify that version. I just revised the instructions to remove that erroneous statement. Version 1.18a is now posted.

I also have another question on water inputs.

Ca is listed on my report as 9

Total Alkalinity CaCo3 as 12?

Total Hardness CaCo3 is 27 , I see below the converter, should i use that?
confused about which one to use...If i use the converter number of 27 --> 10.8 for Ca??

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

A one or two ppm difference in the Ca++ content isn't going to change anything.

 

[mabrungard]

Although both items are reported in "as CaCO3" terms, they are not the same. One is alkalinity and one is hardness.

 

[wyowolf]

Although both items are reported in "as CaCO3" terms, they are not the same. One is alkalinity and one is hardness.

ok this is how I entered the values.. just want to make sure they are correctly inputed.

 

[stpug]

Just to clear things up, the last version where the cell changed color was v1.16. The newer version 1.17/1.18 do not change colors; so you are not going crazy

When starting out with Bru'N Water, you should focus on the 'color-fullness' categories (yellow-balanced, yellow-full, yellow-dry, etc) or the PaleAle/MildAle/AmericanLager categories. Disregard the city profiles until you better understand the implications of trying to match those profiles, as well as the caveats (i.e. we don't know how breweries in those cities adjust the water once it enters their breweries therefore matching those number may be futile).

Edit: You should also enter your potassium value in Bru'N since you have it.

 

[wyowolf]

Just to clear things up, the last version where the cell changed color was v1.16. The newer version 1.17/1.18 do not change colors; so you are not going crazy

When starting out with Bru'N Water, you should focus on the 'color-fullness' categories (yellow-balanced, yellow-full, yellow-dry, etc) or the PaleAle/MildAle/AmericanLager categories. Disregard the city profiles until you better understand the implications of trying to match those profiles, as well as the caveats (i.e. we don't know how breweries in those cities adjust the water once it enters their breweries therefore matching those number may be futile).

Edit: You should also enter your potassium value in Bru'N since you have it.

thank god I found some newer videos or I would have...

yeah i just stuck with pale ale for this one since its the last thing I brewed...

ok, thank you fixed that, are the alkalinity values correctly done? I got confused since there are 3 different things

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Looks like you have things entered properly.