water additions without testing?

[fluketamer]

i am slowly venturing into water.

i see some recipes mention to add gypsum for example regardless of your water profile. i always add 4 oz of sour malt to my light grist beers .

i only test ph while brewing. i never got my water tested.

i have a water report from my zip code.

would it be worth going on this report in lieu (whos he) of testing?

General NYC Water Profile (unfiltered):

• Calcium (Ca²⁺): 10-30 ppm (low, soft water).
• Magnesium (Mg²⁺): 2-8 ppm (very low).
• Sodium (Na⁺): 5-15 ppm (low, acceptable).
• Chloride (Cl⁻): 10-30 ppm (low).
• Sulfate (SO₄²⁻): 5-20 ppm (very low).
• B/S Ratio: Undefined.
• Alkalinity (as CaCO₃): 15-40 ppm (low, minimal buffering).
• pH: 6.8-7.2 (near neutral).
• Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): ~50-100 ppm (soft, low mineral content).
• Chlorine/Chloramine: Present (0.5-1.5 ppm chloramine, used for disinfection).

like for example if i was to add lets say 3 grams of sulfate (gypsum) could it mess up the beer, if the sulfate is already high enough or it cant hurt?

does everyone test or do they go by there municipal report at all?

thanks in advance

 

[lumpher]

Without testing yours, I'd follow that report. Closer than just guessing. I follow my town's water report, and my beer comes out acceptable.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Most beer style have their own water profile some like Pilsner use very soft water whereas IPA and bitter have a medium hard profile. You water company’s profile says you have soft water so you could make a Czech Pilsner without any addition other than Campden tablets. However you need water treatment software to calculate additions for say IPA, I use Brewfather and it works fine.

 

[MaxStout]

You're fortunate. That's very soft water. You could use that as a base for about any beer. Just remove the chloramine with some campden.

 

[ncbrewer]

Once you're satisfied with your tap water chemistry, you might be interested in AJ DeLange's A Brewing Water Chemistry Primer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/

 

[worlddivides]

Since NYC is a very big city, I would expect differences in water composition from borough to borough. A lot of online sites allow you to search for a water report by your ZIP code. This makes it easier to get a pretty close estimate of your water without needing to request a unique water test of your individual tap's water from Ward Labs, for example. Though it sounds like you did enter your ZIP code somewhere and it only gave you a general overall NYC water profile, so it's possible they might not have the more detailed info online. Either way, I'd expect if to be pretty close to the "General NYC Water Profile" you have, so you could just make a beer based off of that info and see how it goes. It's probably not too far off, after all.

 

[fluketamer]

i entered the zip code the responce said that my area was the same as gerneal nyc because it is part of / uses same distribution systmem as nyc.
it obviously isnt accounting for my 110 year old pipes.

i have been brewing with it for 25 plus years and it always made good beer.

i am going to use this report the next time i make a hoppy ale and likely add some gypsum and epsom salt as per brewfather . thanks for the replies