What's your water like?

[Vossy1]

It was quite interesting for me to see some of the posts with regards to different waters for different ales.

I'm barely competant at making kits, and without sitting and thinking about beer I wouldn't have considered the water issue. Thats one for me to read up on when I look into making beer from scratch.

Regards blank canvas, I new you were an artist DaaB, just not that sort of one

There are some very interesting sites on the internet with regards to linking chlorine with various cancers. I just don't like the taste and smell of it in my drinking water, thats what I told the wife, really I want my yeasts to have the best chance in life

[PieOPah]

Received my water report yesterday and am failry surprised to see a couple of things missing from the list....

Can't find
Calcium
Magnesium
Bicarbonate

Only specifically noted these as they are in the Water Profiles list for Beer Smith.

[jasonaustin]

I'm no chemist, but my understanding ...

Did you get a Schedule 4 report (at least that's what I had to ask for in Thames Water area) as not all reports include the data that we as brewers need.
The calcium and magnesium values are certainly useful, so I would certainly get back to them.
Not sure what you mean by bicarbonate. Do you mean Sodium Bicarbonate (eg, baking soda)? This can be used as part of the water treatment but AFAIK you don't need to know the value beforehand. Just had a look at Beersmith and the figures it requires for input (along the top in the water analysis screen) are Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Sulphate (SO4), Chloride (Cl) and Alkalinity (as HCO3).

[Immy's Dad]

This is mine off Severn Trent's website:

Hardness Level Hard No Standard Applies
Hardness Clarks 14.91 No Standard Applies Degrees
Hardness 85 No Standard Applies mgCa/l
Aluminium 44.8 200 ¼gAl/l
Chloride 28.8 250 mgCl/l
Chlorine 0.24 No Standard Applies mg/l
Coliform bacteria 0 0 no./100ml
Colour 2.34 20 mg/l Pt/Co
Conductivity 361 2500 ¼S/cm at 20°C
E.coli bacteria 0 0 no./100ml
Fluoride 0.18 1.5 mgF/l
Iron 81.4 200 ¼gFe/l
Manganese 8.09 50 ¼gMn/l
Nitrate 12.76 50 mgNO3/l
Odour 0 3 at 25°C Dilution Number
Pesticides 0 0.5 ¼g/l
pH 7.61 6.5 - 10.0 pH Value
Sodium 18.8 200 mgNa/l
Taste 0 3 at 25°C Dilution Number
Plumbing Metals
Copper 0.02 2.0 mgCu/l
Lead 3.8 25 ¼gPb/l
Nickel 2.4 20 ¼gNi/l
Key

mg/l
is equivalent to one part per million.
¼g/l
is equivalent to one part per billion.
Dilution number
is a standard method for detecting taste and odour. It is unlikely that anyone would be able to detect these below a level of 3.
Hazen
is a reference method for assessing the clarity of the water.
¼S/cm
measures the natural mineral composition.
Hardness Level
the three measures shown are the most common used by washing machine manufactures.
Less than
means that this is the lowest value that the high quality equipment can measure.
Typical Results
for most analyses are based on the average level during the last 12 months. The remainder indicate the normal levels expected in your area.

[crow_flies]

I emailed Thames water and asked for the CaCO3 measurement which from the brupaks website I understand is the total measurement of hardness=alkalinity. Mine is 279. I then used the calculations at the back of the CAMRA book on IPA which tells you roughly what to do in terms of adding CRS and DLS. I created a little spreadsheet for my water that shows me how much of each to add for a specific volume of water and a range of values that i want to attain - based on style of beer . I may be imagining it, but my latest beer definitely has more 'mouth' feel and is softer on the tongue..... If anyone knows their CaCO3 rate I'll gladly help them build similar.

[eskimobob]

Hi CF,
Right then, I've not bothered treating my water (apart from Campden tablets to remove Chlorine/Chloramine) in the past but that has to change.

I have details for my water but it doesn't mean much to me.

Is this what you mean?
Total hardness Min 11 Ave 18 Max 22 mg Ca/l

It seems a lot lower than your reading.

Edit: Totally lost on this so started a new thread in Brewing Liquor.

[tribs]

eb, your water profile is very similar to mine.

Its very soft water. I don't think Total Hardness is the same as Alkalinity as CaCO3 or the quantity of bicarbonates. I called up United Utilities to get that info. I had to wait a few days for them to get back to me.

With your water being very soft, it'll be low anyway. Supposedly this type of water can give problems brewing dark beer but I check mash pH and its always about right light or dark . I occasionally add some salts anyway but I don't really notice any difference.

[eskimobob]

Thanks Tribs, by the sounds of it I needn't do anything. Cool