Water report

[seabrew8]

Hey folks, i'm looking at my local water report from close to a year ago.

Here are some numbers:

pH 4.7
Calcium 2ppm
Sulphate 5ppm
Sodium 8ppm
Chloride 19ppm
Magnesium 1ppm
Hardness 9 - not sure temporary or permanent

Can anyone tell me what i can do with this information - i'm a total noob about water for all grain brewing!

Edit: Well i'm watching a palmer vid on youtube i guess my water is pretty soft and i probably should be using gypsum - he said a minimum of 50ppm Calcium!

Wow looks like our pH is really low!

Last edit: Apparently gypsum lowers pH - in the wiki....

 

[BigEd]

Your water is practically distilled and that's a good thing. What did you do, melt an iceberg? Because it is so low in ion content it will be quite simple to add small quantities of brewing salts to profile the water for various styles.

 

[gotbeer74]

That seems like an extremely low ph. What area are you from?

 

[PeteNMA]

I don't believe that your water is pH 4.7. Looks like a typo for 7.4. I've had acidic well water in the past and that clocked at 6.5

 

[seabrew8]

I double checked yeah its 4.7 on the report. So i guess i should avoid salts thats decrease pH?

The main styles i'm trying to master for my "house beers" is - ESB, Irish Red Ale and some kind of blonde ale for the BMC folks and myself actually when i want to drink a good amount of beer.

I live in a small town on the south east coast of Newfoundland, an island on the east coast of Canada - Its surface water.

Maybe i should look into it, might be a mistake on the report before i play around with brewing salts!

 

[PeteNMA]

Report from where? Your water company? Ward Labs? And where does your water come from? Are you on a private well or are you on city water of some description?

4.7 is roughly as acidic as finished beer and I would guess that it would make for exceptionally unpleasant drinking water. Also, brown vinegar has a pH of about 5. Does your water taste like vinegar?

Whilst it's not an enforced standard, the EPA suggest that water should be between 6.5 to 8.5pH.

If your water really was at pH 4.7 it would be rapidly destroying any metal in comes in to contact with, especially at higher temperatures such as your water heater, dishwasher, washing machine etc.

If you are just going off a year old report from your water supplier then you should just get your water tested by Ward Labs. There is clearly a terrible error on the report you have (again your water is not pH 4.7) so it would be worth getting numbers you can trust before you try and adjust your water chemistry otherwise you're shooting in the dark

 

[seabrew8]

Yeah i think your right - our water tastes fine out of the tap - its a local dam, 2 actually. This is something i will put on the back burner for now. I'm new to AG brewing!

Thanks for all the advice folks.

 

[PeteNMA]

Whilst water adjustments are definitely a powerful tool for brewing, you definitely need to know where you're starting from. Either buy using RO water or having accurate knowledge of whats in your existing water.

Given that you say that your water comes from a local dam, it may be the case that it's mainly rainwater runoff in which case the mineral content will be very low.

 

[Gavin C]

Hey folks, i'm looking at my local water report from close to a year ago.

Here are some numbers:

pH 4.7
Calcium 2ppm
Sulphate 5ppm
Sodium 8ppm
Chloride 19ppm
Magnesium 1ppm
Hardness 9 - not sure temporary or permanent

Can anyone tell me what i can do with this information - i'm a total noob about water for all grain brewing!

Edit: Well i'm watching a palmer vid on youtube i guess my water is pretty soft and i probably should be using gypsum - he said a minimum of 50ppm Calcium!

Wow looks like our pH is really low!

Last edit: Apparently gypsum lowers pH - in the wiki....

Best water ever. It's effectively RO water. You can build profiles very easily with a few very cheap minerals and a little homework.

Start here

I am very envious of your water. Is it glacial in origin?

Happy brewing, friend.

 

[seabrew8]

Best water ever. It's effectively RO water. You can build profiles very easily with a few very cheap minerals and a little homework.

Start here

I am very envious of your water. Is it glacial in origin?

Happy brewing, friend.

:

Nope i don't think so. Its a 2 dam system the "2nd dam" is a natural pond and then they build/dug the "1st dam" about a few km's downstream.

Kinda ironic we call the natural pond/dam the "2nd dam". Never thought of that before.

Just to add the report is from the provincial goverment - state goverment - its free online and all the annual reports are in the 4-5 range pH levels.

 

[seabrew8]

Whilst water adjustments are definitely a powerful tool for brewing, you definitely need to know where you're starting from. Either buy using RO water or having accurate knowledge of whats in your existing water.

Given that you say that your water comes from a local dam, it may be the case that it's mainly rainwater runoff in which case the mineral content will be very low.

Yeah its rainwater - and we have very very little farming here. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Newfoundland is called "The Rock" by Newfoundlanders and Canadians.

 

[PeteNMA]

Ok. Your profile says you're in Newfoundland. Whereabouts? I'd like to see those reports

 

[BigEd]

The pH of the water, while low, is not really a big issue. The mash pH is what you are concerned with. Since this water has extremely low ion content with very low residual alkalinity the pH will be easily corrected with a touch of brewing salts and the actions of the mash.

 

[PeteNMA]

I looked up your water report. Looks like you guys have been getting steadily worse acid rain over the last few years.

However the good news is that you have very low hardness and alkalinity, so the water itself doesn't have a lot of buffering power.

If you haven't already, download brunwater and punch in the most recent numbers from your report.

Then use the calculation sheets to calculate gypsum and calcium chloride additions, targeting your desired chloride and sulfate levels.

100ppm of each is not a bad place to start for most beers, if you are brewing something hoppy then maybe double the sulfate to 200ppm, if you want to try the more recent Northeastern US hoppy styles then double the chloride to 200ppm.

Get yourself a suitable pH meter and start measuring your mash pH. There's a rather long thread on this topic active at the moment, the basic upshot of which is that if you can afford it then buy a Milwaukee MW102.

It's likely that your mash pH will be on the higher end of the target range or possibly even above it. Get some lactic acid or acid malt and add it to the mash and see where your pH ends up. This way you can dial in your preferred pH level.

Once you have a better handle on your water and how it behaves with the various mineral additions then you can start pre-adding acid malt into your grain bill and you should be on target with no adjustments needed.

 

[seabrew8]

Would you guys recommend using just gypsum? I don't have any calcium chloride. I'm going to email my LHBS but i don't think they have it..

 

[PeteNMA]

Really with your water you need both. Your LHBS should be able to order you calcium chloride even if they don't stick it. Get them to get you a 1lb bag of the stuff, you'll need it

 

[PlinyTheMiddleAged]

If the LHBS doesn't stock calcium chloride, try a grocery store. Look for Ball Pickle Crisp if your grocery store carries canning supplies. I found some at my local Orchard Supply Hardware store.

 

[seabrew8]

Really with your water you need both. Your LHBS should be able to order you calcium chloride even if they don't stick it. Get them to get you a 1lb bag of the stuff, you'll need it

They might have it i will have to check. Not everything is up on there website.