12 replies to this topic

[neddles]

Ok so I got my results from Ward. Now I have some homework to do. Anyone have some preliminary thoughts about this water? It is from a well and is passed through a calcite filter in order to increase corrosively low TDS and reduce iron content.pH 8.7TDS 101Elec. Conductivity 0.17Cations/anions. 1.6/2.0Sodium 4Potassium >1Calcium 9Magnesium 11Total Hardness, CaCO3 68Nitrate .3Sulfate SO4-S 3Chloride 5Carbonate 23Bicarbonate 56Total alkalinity, CaCO3 84Total Phosphorus 0.36Total Iron 0.03

[SchwanzBrewer]

Put it in brewnwater.

[neddles]

Put it in brewnwater.

Yeah that will be part of the homework.

[SchwanzBrewer]

My first impression is that it's pretty soft compared to mine.

[SchwanzBrewer]

My total hardness is 231. Magnesium looks OK, You need calcium for your yeasties.

[neddles]

Im sitting in a Dr.'s office reading the brunwater info page right now. My initial thoughts were "maybe extract beers aren't that bad" but its starting to click a little better as I read on.

[SchwanzBrewer]

It's not that tough to use. It does all the work for you and all you have to do is plug in the numbers.

[TehFury]

My first impression is that it's pretty soft compared to mine.

And your water is probably soft compared to mine.

[neddles]

It's not that tough to use. It does all the work for you and all you have to do is plug in the numbers.

Yeah. I haven't dowloaded the application yet I'm just reading through all the info on water and brewing. There is a lot there.

[SchwanzBrewer]

And your water is probably soft compared to mine.

??? You on well or county water?

[Big Nake]

That's pretty nice water. I would have LOVED to see your bicarb number even lower which I thought it might be compared to all the other numbers but I would love to have that water. Your sulfate is expressed as SO4-S which means that "3" needs to be multipled by 3 to get "9". You will probably be adding some calcium chloride and/or gypsum to raise your calcium, chloride and sulfates... depending on style. What is weird is your "carbonate". I have 138ppm of bicarb but my carbonate is less than 1. Many reports I see have carbonate that is less than 1. Not sure what effect that has on the beer or if it's the same as bicarb and you can just add those two together. Pretty nice water, generally though. Cheers.

[TehFury]

??? You on well or county water?

Well. The water here is hard as a coffin nail.There's a ton on SO2 diffused in the water also

[neddles]

That's pretty nice water. I would have LOVED to see your bicarb number even lower which I thought it might be compared to all the other numbers but I would love to have that water. Your sulfate is expressed as SO4-S which means that "3" needs to be multipled by 3 to get "9". You will probably be adding some calcium chloride and/or gypsum to raise your calcium, chloride and sulfates... depending on style. What is weird is your "carbonate". I have 138ppm of bicarb but my carbonate is less than 1. Many reports I see have carbonate that is less than 1. Not sure what effect that has on the beer or if it's the same as bicarb and you can just add those two together. Pretty nice water, generally though. Cheers.

Thanks Ken. I have been familiarizing myself with the Brunwater spreadsheet this evening. Hopefully I am doing this right.I brew in a bag and have no sparge so I am just putting all the water in the mash calculator. Entering 0 gallons for the sparge. I don't measure the pH of my mashes at this time so I am going to rely on Brunwater to estimate it for me. Is this reliable at all?Should I adjust my additions to get my pH down to about 5.5? It says that with no adjustment my pH is too high but I've never had any mash efficiency issues with lots of varied grain bills.Also it says that sulfate should remain below 150ppm except for highly hopped beers. Are they talking bittering hops or aroma? Or doesn't it matter? For my next recipe (a hoppy APA) it's telling me that about 1.75g/gal. gypsum will get me a pH of 5.5, Ca of 117ppm and Sulfate of 261.Lastly my Na is 4ppm and my Cl is 5ppm. Brunwater calls this ideal range. Really? Should I add some kosher salt up to Na 40ppm/Cl 60ppm to enhance flavor?

Edited by ettels4, 31 January 2013 - 09:03 PM.