Water report, helpful?

[baist111]

Long story short, I had my well pump replaced a couple of months ago and they tested my water for free. I've been an extract brewer, but I'm going to be doing some eBIAB batches shortly. I just got the results back, is any of this information helpful for brewing water?

Arsenic <.008 mg/L
Copper <.05 mg/L
Iron <.05 mg/L
Lead <.008 mg/L
Manganese .13 mg/L
Sodium 19 mg/L
Hardness (as CaCO3) 120 mg/L
Chloride 14 mg/L
Fluoride .3 mg/L
Nitrate-N .8 mg/L
Nitrite-N <.1 mg/L
pH 7.2

 

[masskrug]

Here are the minerals you need for the E-Z Water calculator:

Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Chloride, Sulfate, Bicarbonate (HCO3 ppm)

You can send a sample to Ward Labs for a detailed report.

 

[baist111]

Here are the minerals you need for the E-Z Water calculator:

Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Chloride, Sulfate, Bicarbonate (HCO3 ppm)

You can send a sample to Ward Labs for a detailed report.

Thanks for the links, it looks like I'm missing about 1/2 of the minerals. BTW, that spreadsheet seems quite a bit easier to follow than the other one that's linked around here so much, Bru'n Water.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the links, it looks like I'm missing about 1/2 of the minerals. BTW, that spreadsheet seems quite a bit easier to follow than the other one that's linked around here so much, Bru'n Water.

It is! The thing is, I've found that it always gives me a mash pH projection that is way too high, and inaccurate. Still, it's helpful to see the actual minerals and things from the additions but it doesn't really give a good pH predictions.

Bru'nwater, and Brewer's Friend (a bit easier than Bru'nwater) always match each others predictions, and also my actual mash pH, so I"d suggest to keep trying! Try Brewer's Friend and see if that is a bit easier to navigate but keep working on Br'unwater- you'll learn a lot just from learning to use the spreadsheet, I promise!

 

[ajdelange]

It is! The thing is, I've found that it always gives me a mash pH projection that is way too high, and inaccurate.

If I were you I'd run a bunch of grist/water combinations through both to see if the one you like better is consistently higher by the same amount than the others and, if it is, simply subtract 0.13 pH (or whatever the average error is) from its results. Your are simply removing a 'bias error'. This implies that the standard deviation in the differences you see is small relative to the mean (small coefficient of variation). If the difference is 0.13 ±0.03 then you have discovered a true bias error. If you see 0.13 ±0.2 then there is more random than systematic and you shouldn't do this.

Of course it is the author that should be doing this rather than you.

 

[Yooper]

If I were you I'd run a bunch of grist/water combinations through both to see if the one you like better is consistently higher by the same amount than the others and, if it is, simply subtract 0.13 pH (or whatever the average error is) from its results. Your are simply removing a 'bias error'. This implies that the standard deviation in the differences you see is small relative to the mean (small coefficient of variation). If the difference is 0.13 ±0.03 then you have discovered a true bias error. If you see 0.13 ±0.2 then there is more random than systematic and you shouldn't do this.

Of course it is the author that should be doing this rather than you.

Well, if I didn't get pretty accurate mash pH predictions from Brewer's Friend and bru'nwater, I might be inclined to do that. But since I can navigate bru'nwater, and Brewer's Friend is easy, and they almost always match up to each other and to my actual mash pH, it's just easier for me to not use EZ water (and to not recommend it based on my experiences).