Water Report Question

[30_Ounce]

Got my water report back and my limited knowledge tells me this is a bit too hard. How would you treat this water for brewing?

pH 8.0
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 211
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.35
Cations / Anions, me/L / 3.84.1
ppm
Sodium, Na 9
Potassium, K 2
Calcium, Ca 41.0
Magnesium, Mg 19
Total Hardness, CaCO3 182
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.8 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 1
Chloride, Cl 6
Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 212
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 175
Total Phosphorus, P < 0.01
Total Iron, Fe < 0.01

 

[huckdavidson]

Your water isn't very hard per se (high Ca/Mg), it does however have high alkalinity.

Waters with high alkalinity resist change in pH and tend to keep the mash pH higher than desired.

The excess alkalinity in your water needs to be neutralized with an acid such as phosphoric or lactic.

That will allow the mash pH to come down to where it needs to be.

High alkalinity water can sometimes be beneficial if brewing a beer with dark roasted grains (stouts, porters, etc..) as those grains are acidic and might lower the mash pH to (or even below) an ideal level.

Use one of the water calculators (i.e. "Bru n Water", "Brewers Friend", "BrewFather", etc..) to determine how much acid (or alkalai) you need to use to obtain an ideal mash pH for the recipes you wish to brew.

There are advanced techniques such as pre-boiling and lime-softening that will reduce the calcium and bicarbonate but your water just doesn't have a lot of ca/mg hardness and the alkalinity is moderate so acid is your best bet.

 

[VikeMan]

Your water isn't very hard per se (high Ca/Mg), it does however have high alkalinity.

Total Hardness (as CaCO3) above 180 is categorized as "Very Hard" (the highest category). But if you mean that 182 is "not too hard for most brewing purposes," I agree.

 

[huckdavidson]

182 is "not too hard for most brewing purposes,"

a la or hence "per se (high Ca/Mg)"

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Got my water report back and my limited knowledge tells me this is a bit too hard. How would you treat this water for brewing?

One of the challenges with brewing with tap water is trying to account for the mineral levels already in your water. I agree with the comment that the levels of Calcium and Magnesium in your water is decent for brewing. You have very low Sulfate and Chloride levels. The most common way to boost those is with adding Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) or Calcium Chloride. Those additions might push your Calcium up higher that is ideal. And the fairly high Bicarbonate level is a challenge for pH adjustment.

I am not sure how I would treat this for most styles. My gut says it will make fine beer for many styles, but you might not be able to get it to match any of the "recommended" water profiles. Probably adding a little Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, and Sodium Chloride (Table Salt) would work for most beers, and an acid addition to lower the pH for Pale to Amber beers.