Water Geeks Needed

[nediver]

I have well water and live on an old Indian Spring. My water is limitless and great tasting, but how is it for beer. Also missing seems my Bicarbonate levels.

Coliforms and Fecalforms= Absent

Turbidity= 0.35ppm
Color= 1
Odor= N.D.
pH= 6.8
Calcium= 20.7ppm
Mag=1.5ppm
Hardness=57.9 (CaCO3)
Nitrate=1.0ppm
Nitrite= 0
Sulfate=10.1ppm
Sodium=5.1ppm
Chloride= 4.6ppm
Copper= 0.12ppm
Iron= 0.02ppm
Mang= 0


So based on this I have water on the upper range of soft? If I am going to add gypsum for an IPA what # am I affecting?

 

[kanzimonson]

Man that's nice and clean water. You can brew any beer style with that. Even for very pale beers some people would add some calcium, chloride, and sulfate to your water.

Gypsum adds CA and SO4. A lot of people have made water calc spreadsheets for free out there. Hunt one down, start reading everything you can find about water chemistry, and eventually it will all click for you.

 

[nediver]

Man that's nice and clean water. You can brew any beer style with that. Even for very pale beers some people would add some calcium, chloride, and sulfate to your water.

Gypsum adds CA and SO4. A lot of people have made water calc spreadsheets for free out there. Hunt one down, start reading everything you can find about water chemistry, and eventually it will all click for you.

I found brew friend water calc. I am making a west coast ipa and it seems my water needs a bit of sodium, a bit of mag, and some calcium for bitterness.

My plan is to add 12 g gypsum to 7.3 g boil, 5g kosher salt, and 6g of Epsom for Mg.

This will give me Ca around 120, Mg 20, sodium 76, sulfates would end up at 337

According to the calculator this would result in very bitter. Should I dial these back, like less is more here?

I also use 5.2 buffer. Not sure how that affects things.

 

[a10t2]

Without your alkalinity/bicarbonate it's impossible to precisely target a water profile. A $10 aquarium test kit will get you what you're missing.

 

[nediver]

The Alkalinity or kH is CaCo3. Same as hardness in the above report. Thats not the same has bicarbonate. Bicarbonate is found by taking alkalinity and multiplying by 1.22 to convert CaCo2 Calcium Carbonate to Bicarbonate or HCo3

So my bicarbonate is 71.

Based on that what recommendation would you give that you could without that info?

 

[nediver]

Without your alkalinity/bicarbonate it's impossible to precisely target a water profile. A $10 aquarium test kit will get you what you're missing.

I maintained professional salt water aquariums as a side business for years. I have all these kits and tons of other lab equipment and filtration equip in the basement. While I am a water geek for fish, I am still learning the beer thing.

 

[a10t2]

The Alkalinity or kH is CaCo3. Same as hardness in the above report.

Alkalinity and hardness can both be given as CaCO3 equivalent, but they aren't the same. Alkalinity is a result of carbonates (primarily bicarbonate, HCO3 at relatively neutral pH) and hardness primarily comes from calcium, magnesium, and iron.

Without either alkalinity or the bicarbonate concentration, you won't be able to estimate the other.

 

[nediver]

Alkalinity and hardness can both be given as CaCO3 equivalent, but they aren't the same. Alkalinity is a result of carbonates (primarily bicarbonate, HCO3 at relatively neutral pH) and hardness primarily comes from calcium, magnesium, and iron.

Without either alkalinity or the bicarbonate concentration, you won't be able to estimate the other.

I think your right because if I recall the hardness in my report is just an equation of the calcium and magnesium added and divided by something.

I remember at one point working it back.

Ok I will grab one of my test kits and get the carbonate hardness.

 

[Yooper]

I found brew friend water calc. I am making a west coast ipa and it seems my water needs a bit of sodium, a bit of mag, and some calcium for bitterness.

My plan is to add 12 g gypsum to 7.3 g boil, 5g kosher salt, and 6g of Epsom for Mg.

This will give me Ca around 120, Mg 20, sodium 76, sulfates would end up at 337

According to the calculator this would result in very bitter. Should I dial these back, like less is more here?

I also use 5.2 buffer. Not sure how that affects things.

Your beer doesn't "need" sodium, and I wouldn't use that calculator. Unless you like salty tasting beer, and Epsom salts can be laxatative. I'd brew with the water as is, or add some CaCl2 if you feel you must add some calcium.