Water Test Results

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callisbeers

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Any thoughts on the following water report? I have been brewing for 5 years now and would like to make some incremental improvements in my beers as well as expand my brewing knowledge.

pH 7.2
Sodium 19
Potassium 2
Calcium 21
Magnesium 7
Total Hardness 82
Sulfate 7
Chlorine 43
BiCarbonate 31
Total Alkalinity 26
 
Is there anything in there that seems high or low? Any general adjustments?
pH 7.2
Sodium 19
Potassium 2
Calcium 21
Magnesium 7
Total Hardness 82
Sulfate 7
Chlorine 43
BiCarbonate 31
Total Alkalinity 26

This should help: http://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/

But from one amateur to another your soft water is best suited for blonde and pale beers which means you can pretty much brew any style just by adding brewing salts.

So you approach amber beers you would need to increase your Calcium using either calcium chloride or calcium sulphate depending on whether you prefer sweeter (chloride) or more bitter (sulphate) although you can still use both anyway as with these 2 minerals whats more significant is their balance at a ratio of 1:1 ppm.

An increase in bicarbonate is also important for when brewing darker beers which can be done using calcium carbonate.

So if you were brewing an amber ale it might end up looking something like this:

Calcium 50
Chloride 30
Sulfate 30
Sodium 30
Bicarbonate 100

For a stout it might look something more like this:

Calcium 100
Chloride 70
Sulfate 70
Sodium 70
Bicarbonate 250

A general maximum for the minerals would be 150 ppm (although you would never need to go that high). For Bicarbonate 0-50 is best suited for pales, 0-150 suited for ambers and 150-250 for porters and stouts.

Chloride is generally considered good as it accentuates the flavour of the beer which can be then balanced with the sulfate depending on how you like your beers or on the style (i.e. more sulphate for IPAs, more chloride for stouts).

The same with sodium as its meant to rounds out the beer flavours and bring out the sweetness of the malt.
 

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