Water Chemistry

[NitsujNella]

Hey guys! I'm pretty new around here. I'm beginning the research phase of homebrewing (researching equipment, styles, kegging, etc.) and figured the first thing I needed to do was to check water quality. Attached is the water analysis from my water source. I live in the city limits of my town so i'm assuming the normal chlorine/chloramine is present as well. Any direction on anything i need to do would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Justin

 

[BMWillis]

Are you planning on starting out using extracts, or jumping in head first to all-grain?

If you'll be using extract, you wont need to worry about water chemistry just yet. As long as your water tastes good, you'll be good to go. Treat with campden tablets just for peace of mind and brew on!

If you're going all-grain, I highly recommend downloading the Bru'n Water spreadsheet and working through the instructions. You might need to find values for minerals I don't see on your report. Sulfate, chloride, carbonate, bicarbonate, and sodium look to be missing.

 

[NitsujNella]

Are you planning on starting out using extracts, or jumping in head first to all-grain?

If you'll be using extract, you wont need to worry about water chemistry just yet. As long as your water tastes good, you'll be good to go. Treat with campden tablets just for peace of mind and brew on!

If you're going all-grain, I highly recommend downloading the Bru'n Water spreadsheet and working through the instructions. You might need to find values for minerals I don't see on your report. Sulfate, chloride, carbonate, bicarbonate, and sodium look to be missing.

I'm planning on starting with 3gal BIAB All-Grain. Go big or go home lol

 

[NitsujNella]

To add to it, here's what they publish on their website. The first attachment was what they sent me after I asked.

 

[Yooper]

The low alkalinity is great.

You'll need more information though. You want to know the chloride, sulfate, and sodium content. If you call, they may have that available to tell you. You can also ask them if the source changes seasonally, just to make sure that you have the same content over the year.

 

[NitsujNella]

The low alkalinity is great.

You'll need more information though. You want to know the chloride, sulfate, and sodium content. If you call, they may have that available to tell you. You can also ask them if the source changes seasonally, just to make sure that you have the same content over the year.

I've sent in a request to see if they have the additional information. We'll see what they say. They should get back to me either today or tomorrow as they've been fairly quick to respond so far.

Thanks for the help so far!

 

[NitsujNella]

So the city sent me an email back stating that they sent someone out for a water sample from my spigot and are doing a full water test to get the variables i asked for originally. Said they should have the results in a couple weeks. Wasn't expecting them to do that and I didn't tell them what it was for so thought that was kinda cool.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

So the city sent me an email back stating that they sent someone out for a water sample from my spigot and are doing a full water test to get the variables i asked for originally. Said they should have the results in a couple weeks. Wasn't expecting them to do that and I didn't tell them what it was for so thought that was kinda cool.

That is really cool.

I had a lot of fun with the initial research phase...so much to learn and I love learning. If you're ready to start before you have a full report, you can always do the first batch or two with RO water and just build up the exact water profile you want. That's what I've been doing (somewhat because our city isn't so accommodating but more because it's easy and consistent).

I started with NEIPAs and I wanted a very specific water profile. The easiest way to get there was to RO + my own additions.

 

[Kent88]

I'm all for understanding your water and all that, but unless you are already a chemistry enthusiast I really think that tweaking water is something that should wait until after a couple batches are done and you know that this is something you enjoy, and that you have other processes figured out. If you are concerned about having bad things in your water you can always filter it and/or dilute it with store bought filtered or distilled water.

Not saying that understanding water and how to tweak it wont make a *huge* difference, that just doesn't seem like something that should be a higher priority than making sure you know how the mash, sparge, boil, cooling, sanitation, and fermentation processes work.