Water Analysis

[bf6621]

Would like some opinions on the tap water in my community. Below is the link. I find all the talk on water to be very confusing and I am curious if my tap water is good to brew with or if I need to make an additions. Thanks for your help!

http://mattoon.illinois.gov/sites/d...chments/Consumer Confidence Report 2014_0.pdf

 

[JonM]

Maybe I missed it, but it doesn't list calcium, chlorides, sulfate, or magnesium, which are some of the big things you need for brewing.

 

[McKnuckle]

Agreed. The report is focused solely on drinking safety - contaminant levels - and is useless for assessing the water for brewing purposes.

 

[DerbyshireNick]

The best thing to do for a first step is to get a Salifert test kit (there may be alternatives in the states but this is how we do it in the UK).

This will allow you to understand the alkalinity of your tap water. This is the most important part of getting your water right IMHO as mineral additions gets into the subjective world where as a correct mash PH which is derived from your alkalinity and grain bill is objective.

A salifert kit will give you the alkalinity of your water in Meq/l. Use something like my tool here http://brewingtoolbox.com/simplewatertreatment.html to convert the Meq/L reading into ppm or mg/l (same thing).

You can then use this figure in any calculator of your choosing to suggest water additions. If someone is just getting into water though my advise is "Get the alkalinity right and stick with a teaspoon of Gypsum in the mash and boil for now"

Worry about ratios etc later.