Water hardness an issue?

[marjen]

So I just got back my well water report:

pH 6.6
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 402
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm .67
Cations / Anions, me/L 5.9/5.6

Sodium, Na 42 PPM
Potassium, K 7 PPM
Calcium, Ca 56 PPM
Magnesium, Mg 14 PPM
Total Hardness, CaCO3 198 PPM
Nitrate, NO3-N 1.1 (SAFE) PPM
Sulfate, SO4-S 4 PPM
Chloride, Cl 149 PPM
Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0 PPM
Bicarbonate, HCO3 63 PPM
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 52 PPM
Total Phosphorus, P .01 PPM
Total Iron, Fe < .01 PPM

Up until my last brew I always used RO water. But I got a ph meter and saw that the RO was 7.9 ph. I have been getting some duller than expected flavors despite using tons of hops and it was suggested my ph was too high. I usually throw a teaspoon or 2 of gypsum and CACL2 in and thats about it with my RO water.

I have downloaded bru n water and ez water. Bru n water is giving me some weird errors. With ez water it looks like with this water profile I would be a little high on ph. Adding 8 oz of acid malt would seem to bring it down well and then a couple grams of gypsum gets all the other readings in place. Should I be concerned about the total hardness? Or any of the other values above? Just getting into trying to tweak my water.

 

[mabrungard]

That's not terrible water, but it does have high chloride and that would limit your brewing water profiles. You definitely don't want to ever add calcium chloride to that water. The alkalinity is moderate, but it is clear that some form of acid would be needed to brew pale beers.

What sort of error is Bru'n Water giving you?

 

[marjen]

Telling me its unbalanced. It happens after adding Potassium data. I dont have nitrite data in my report so not sure if thats why?

So it looks like I need to add either Acid malt or lactic acid to get ph down. I am assuming this would have been an issue with RO water as well as I only added a couple grams of gypsum and calcium chloride to my previous beers? This could explain why despite using 1 lb of hops in some NE IPAs they didn't have as much aroma or flavor as expected.

 

[mabrungard]

Its giving you that error message because the cation/anion balance is off. The water report that you've posted, says the same thing...5.9/5.6

That's the great thing about using a program like EZ Water, it lets crappy data be used and it doesn't even tell you. Caveat Emptor.

 

[marjen]

Are you saying it’s a bad report? I got it from ward labs and it is their brewers report.

 

[mabrungard]

It might be a bad report, but it also might not have tested for other ionic parameters that exist in your water. It could be worthwhile to have the water retested to see if the imbalance is confirmed or alleviated by new results.