IPA - hard or soft water

[gullarm]

Im thinking of starting an IPA at the weekend.

I brewed a Muntons IPA about 6 months back and was quite new to the brewing process, either way the IPA turned out ok-ish ( put it that way ).

Now I have been brewing lager for the past couple of months with really good results so Im looking at going back to the IPA.

I live in a really hard water area, I have been on the servern trent website to check the info.

Now is hard water good or bad, if so how do I lower the hardness can I just lob in a Campden Tablet when all the kit is mixed in or do I have to put that with the water first?

Cheers



Hardness Level Hard
Hardness Clark 16.45 Degrees Clark
Hardness 94 mgCa/l
Aluminium 6.5 μgAl/l
Chloride 25.44 mgCl/l
Chlorine 0.13 mg/l
Coliform bacteria 0 no./100ml
Colour 0.67 mg/l Pt/Co
Conductivity 461.94 μS/cm at 20°C
E.coli bacteria 0 no./100ml
Fluoride 0.04 mgF/l
Iron 7 μgFe/l
Manganese 1.5 μgMn/l
Nitrate 41.22 mgNO3/l
Odour 0 Dilution Number
Pesticides 0 μg/l
pH 7.41 pH Value
Sodium 10.88 mgNa/l
Taste 0 Dilution Number
Plumbing Metals
Copper 0.04 2.0 mgCu/l
Lead 1.61 25 μgPb/l
Nickel 1.34 20 μgNi/l

[Jim]

Try the 'Dry Pale Ale' target liquor here.

[Rookie]

When I lived in Portland, Oregon I had real soft water which was great for pilsner and even beers that are 'better' in hard water turned out good. I moved across the state line to Vancouver, Washington and the water here is a bit harder. Now to brew pilsner I mix filtered tap water with distilled water.