Water, Water Every Where But Not a Drop to Brew With

[brew-bandit]

I had my water tested by Ward Labs and below are the results. It seems my best option is to start from scratch (RO/Distilled). One question I have is that it seems to me alkalinity seems to be the most important for the mash but other mineral content can be added during of after the mash, is that correct? It seems during mashing pH is king.

One of my biggest concerns is the sulfate (261 ppm). To me it seems all my beers have a very harsh bitter bite to them even when the hops are modest. It could be my recipes but it starts to look like water may be a significant contributor.

Any insights from you all is much appreciated.

pH 7.9

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 642

Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 1.07

Cations / Anions, me/L 11.6 / 11.0 ppm

Sodium, Na 111

Potassium, K 5

Calcium, Ca 84

Magnesium, Mg 29

Total Hardness, CaCO3 331

Nitrate, NO3-N 0.4 (SAFE)

Sulfate, SO4-S 87

Chloride, Cl 89

Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0

Bicarbonate, HCO3 180

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 149

Total Phosphorus, P < 0.01

Total Iron, Fe < 0.01

"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit

 

[ajdelange]

I had my water tested by Ward Labs and below are the results. It seems my best option is to start from scratch (RO/Distilled). One question I have is that it seems to me alkalinity seems to be the most important for the mash but other mineral content can be added during of after the mash, is that correct?

Yes, that is for the most part correct recognizing that calcium (and to a lesser extent magnesium) do have a minor influence on the effective (residual) alkalinity.

It seems during mashing pH is king.

Also true. Bobble mash pH and it is very unlikely that you will produce a superior beer.

One of my biggest concerns is the sulfate (261 ppm). To me it seems all my beers have a very harsh bitter bite to them even when the hops are modest. It could be my recipes but it starts to look like water may be a significant contributor.

That's a lot of sulfate. Not as much as some like but enough to have a pronounced effect on you beers. Try some brews with it reduced to 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc. to see if that improves things.

 

[mabrungard]

Yep, you got it correct. Not a very good brewing water. RO will be your new brewing friend. However, you could use a portion of that tap water to provide alkalinity in the few brews that might need it.

 

[brew-bandit]

ThanKs for your thoughts and suggestions. I will try these out on the next batch.

Speaking of batches I brewed a simple witbier two weeks ago and checked th FG last night. The FG was spot on but the beer tasted AWEFUL. Bitter twang, salty for lack of a better description and had a sulphur smell/taste. In fact I wouldn't classify it as tasting anything like beer.... can water really have this kind of impact?

The recipe was 5 lbs flakes wheat, 5 lbs bel pale (Pilsner was sold out), 8 oz flaked oats, 0.75 oz Tradition @ 5.8% AA added at 60 min, 1 oz orange peel, 0.5 oz coriander, WLP 400 Witbier yeast.

I did a protein rest with oats, wheat and 1 lbs of pale for 20 min, sac rest at 152F for 20 min, added the rest of the pale malt and did a sac rest at 152F for 60 min... Then went to boil as normal. This is BIAB so no sparge, and a full vol mash.

Seems like a good opportunity to brew the same with different water to see if that helps.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Plugged the above recipe and water profile in Bru'n Water and predicted pH is 6! Probably not good.