Water Profile... Does it matter to you?

[FxdGrMind]

Ok.. so you use your filtered tap water... or you don't or you use bottled water or even Distilled.

Do you Care .... water is water right. Or are you intrigued by it ... trying to filter to get your best out of what you have... Or are you MAD and take Distilled and add what you need to get the specific profile you "DEMAND" (nut case....)

Then with that in mind... how is your beer? Bad? Drinkable? Good? Great? GOLD MEDAL WINNER!?

I'm trying to figure out what it's worth to me. Right now I'm struggling with my AG transition and just haven't gotten the results I expected from the change. So I'm thinking maybe it's in my water profile, but before I jump into that while trying to fix my AG... (Too many variables) I'm trying to figure out what the impact would be to the final product (worth my time or not).

So please take the Pole and then reply with your level of careing and sucess.

Cheers

 

[Daddymem]

What beers and what were the results that you aren't happy with?

I ask because I was a bit perplexed on my own experiences. I was getting off flavors for various beers and others were awesome. Then when I used TH's spreadsheet, I found that my bare water was good for malty beers and not good for hoppy beers....the exact issues I was having. My hoppy beers (eg IPA) had a weird flatness off flavor but my malty beers (eg Altbier) came out great.

My water comes from a well and is pretty sparse of minerals. What tipped me off on the water was a group brew we did. We had the same recipe done at one buddy's house who is on city water and the difference between that and the one we brewed at my house was incredible. Since we split the batch into four 5 gallon batches and fermented with different yeasts yet all had that same flatness...it had to be the water. And it was!

None of your options on the poll fit for me. I use unfiltered tap water but I adjust it for the beer I am brewing.

 

[Edcculus]

None of the above. I treat my tap water for chlorine and add salts to get my desired profile. I'll cut with distilled if the style dictates since Cleveland's water is moderately hard.

 

[Yooper]

"none of the above" for me. I use a mix of RO and tap water. My tap water is very hard, but has a good SO4/Cl balance. So, I use 30-50% RO (depending on the recipe) and the remainder in tap water and then adjust the calcium, sulfate and chloride with salts as needed.

Adding the RO water dilutes my high carbonate water, but it also reduces the calcium content to where I need to add some back for most of my APAs and IPAs. It also helps to reduce the mash pH, too.

For stouts, though, I use 100% tap water. I have great water for stouts!

Edit- FXD, I see I'm not the only "none of the above". Do you want that added as an option to your poll?

 

[nealf]

I treat my water from the tap with salts like Edcculus; however, my water is fairly soft so so I don't need to cut it with RO in most cases.

 

[david_42]

None of the above.

My water does not require any adjustments.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

I use filtered water AND distilled water and adjust using Palmer's spreadsheet. Checked off distilled here on the poll. Not enough options.

 

[Jumbo82]

I had our well water tested by a lab a couple years ago. The water is very soft, so I often make additions to get to a target profile. None of the options applied to me either.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

Also, it depends on the beer for me. I just brewed a Dry Stout without any adjustments. Filtered the water, sure, but not salts at all. I have huge bicarbonate here, 386 ppm, and these very dark beers are the only ones I make without any adjustment. Brewing a RIS next, and same thing, won't adjust the water at all.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

There's brewers down the street that make great beer and use the same water that comes out of my taps and do nothing more than filter it to get rid of some of the chlorine. If it's good enough for them, then it's good enough for me.

 

[zinger084]

I am about to taste my first batch using my tap water and a filter system. I hope it's on par with taste because I am so sick of buying gallons of water and I know I don't want to build my own water...

 

[Hoppus_Poppatopolis]

I'm waiting to hear from Ward Labs so, yes, my water is important to me.
I'm testing it pre and post softener.

 

[Bobby_M]

My answer would actually be a combination of 1, 3 and 4 depending on what I'm brewing. Almost everything I brew can be done with additions to my tap unless I'm brewing a pils or munich helles.

 

[sp1365]

The mineral content of my water is fairly balanced so I tend to not adjust it. I might start looking at that once I get my process more dialed in, but for right now it does the job. The pH of my water is fairly high so I use 5.2 stabilizer for my mash.

 

[Homercidal]

I started adjusting my water for the beer that I'm making. I haven't brewed enough to have conclusive results, but I like to think that I'm at least not hurting my beer.

The value make show up later this year when I start brewing for competitions (for the feedback).

The only recipe I think I've adjusted my water for was Janet's Brown Ale, and that turned out pretty good IMO, although a bit stronger than I thought it would be.

 

[shortyjacobs]

I add pH5.2, but only cuz it's a buffer, so it can't HURT...other than that, I'm too lazy to get it tested, and it tastes pretty good, so I'm happy...

 

[SkewedBrewing]

I use tap water for mash/boil and top off with chilled, bottled spring water.

 

[Diablotastic]

I just buy Poland Springs and don't look back

 

[TechyDork]

I have just started AG and am still focused on my process, but i do plan to start looking at my water profile in the near future.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

With filter, campden, and monthly report in hand I adjust my water now to cater to the beer style I am most closely brewing to.

I never nmatch profiles nor do I intend to but, I do balance my water to emphasize the character i want highlighted in the beer.

 

[Homercidal]

With filter, campden, and monthly report in hand I adjust my water now to cater to the beer style I am most closely brewing to.

I never nmatch profiles nor do I intend to but, I do balance my water to emphasize the character i want highlighted in the beer.

Yeah, I adjust my water to the "beer style", not a location, like lots of the equations are designed for. I could not care less what kind of water Burton on Trent has.