Water help

[wtroyer01]

I am doing my first all grain brew soon and I have been using my well water. Now,my water tastes awesome but I gave one of my IPA's to a experienced brewer and he said that he could taste the well water. He recommended that I use RO water from the local grocery store and adjust the profile. I do have beer smith and he said to use distilled water as the base but I have no idea what target profile I should use for an IPA?

I realize that the theory end of this could get deep, but I am really looking for somewhere to start. Most of the posts I have read have been people adjusting tap water instead of using RO... Thanks!

 

[mabrungard]

'Taste the well water' ? I'm curious what that means.

The first thing in deciding where to go is to know where you are. Getting a water test is a very good idea, if you hope to use that water in brewing. Using RO water is a great alternative since it establishes what your brewing water is like (very low mineralization). However, that option comes at a cost.

 

[PurdyGood]

Check out the water chemistry primer sticky in the brewing science forum. It'll give you a starting point. It helped me! I have terrible water and just brewed a spectacular IPA thanks to some of the tips in that thread.