FWIW Mort, a few years back I asked my bottled water company for the analysis and they emailed it to me – no problem. It is reverse osmosis with added back minerals, which they listed in milligrams (and darn few of them, to boot). No chlorine (obviously) and the water originates from a deep artesian well. My water is as hard as can be (without a softener it immediately stains toilets, tanks, shower stalls, etc…), so I don’t even use it diluted.
Good luck Jim and good thread here!
Thanks. Today is my last WAG brew day. I’ll be working from my ward report from there on out.
So your next will be a SWAG brew day! Right on!
Not sure what that means.
WAG = wild ass guess
SWAG = stupid/silly/scientific/super/semi wild ass guess
I’m not sure which he meant 
Ok. I guess it was sarcasm. I would hope that getting a water test would remove the guesswork
It does and it doesn’t. Your water test is only a snap shot of what your water was like when you took your sample. How much it removes the guesswork depends on how consistent the mineral levels in your water supply are.
But I think it is better than nothing, I had mine tested and probably should again to see if it has changed. Any changes could be seasonal or year to year though, so it would really take constant testing to know for sure.
Makes sense. Its got to be better than knowing nothing at all though.
Around here SWAG refers to the free stuff we get for raffles and prizes.
There is one other option on the “S” that Gordon didn’t list, which is the one I originally learned. 8)
I often hear it used for “winnings” or jewelry too.
One of those words like FUBAR that have gotten many meanings over the years.
Paul
Standing there with the water analysis report in your hand, you can make a scientific wild-ass guess.
The only thing I’d add is, remember that Jim is on a well. I’m sure his water still changes, but not nearly as much as a public system.
It’s schwag, isn’t it?
Get yourself an inexpensive conductivity/TDS meter. Compare the TDS of your brew water to your report. That way you’ll have some gage of how much you water quality has changed since you sampled it for testing.
Well water (particularly deep wells) doesn’t change a whole lot. Surface water (rivers, lakes, reservoirs) can change radically, quickly, with changes in the weather.
Mine is 280’. In the spring I get a couple weeks of cloudy water during runoff from Mt Adams but then it clears up again. I used store water during that last year. Next time I’ll build from distilled.
Posted water results from before and after softener here… http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=1887.msg217182#msg217182
No wonder Gordon Strong uses RO Water. That is about as hard, and even more alkaline than mine!