How long does it generally take Ward Labs to complete and make their report?
Brewing is a bit more interesting here in Michigan with well water. Not that I expected to have perfect water but its a big change from having more varieties of beer I could brew with the city water I had in Ohio. Its pretty much dark beers here that seem to do okay but I personally can’t drink stouts everyday… gotta mix it up a little, now I’m just wondering how much its going to cost me in minerals and how long it will take me to get the hang of using them. :-\
Ward Labs was pretty quick turning around my report. I think less that a week after they received it. The minerals are not that expensive and you shouldn’t need a lot to adjust your water. I bought what I needed at a local store (Baking Soda & Epsom Salt) and on-line at Midwest (Lactic Acid, Gypsum & Calcium Chloride). Palmer’s RA Spreadsheet is quite handy as well!!
A comparison of RO water purchased at a store in Wixom, MI and the tap water from my village’s water from wells in out gravel soil. You can see why I am using RO for the base water and adding salts as required by the beer style.
Both date sets are from Ward labs and it was about a week for the electronic reply, and a few more days for the mailed paper copies.
I just got my report from Ward Labs but I don’t really understand what it tells me or what I want to change or why. It seems to me that this is pretty soft water. Does that mean I can brew low SRM beers as it is, and would have to adjust to brew something like an Imperial Stout?
pH 7.4
Cations/Anions, me/L 1.1 / 0.9
Na 11
K <1
Ca 9
Mg 2
CaCO3 31
Nitrate 0.3 (NO3-N)
Sulfate 1 (SO4-S)
Cl 4
CO3 <1 Carbonate
HCO3 40 Bicarbonate
CaCO3 33 Total Alkalinity
Not quite; you’d probably want to add gypsum (for hoppy beers) or calcium chloride (for malty beers) - at least enough to get your calcium to 50 ppm. The only time you would have to dilute with distilled or RO water would be for something like a pilsner. For anything darker than maybe 10 SRM, you’ll need to add carbonates with chalk and/or baking soda.
Got my report from Ward last week. This is from my well here in West TN after passing through the whole house sediment filter. My pump inlet is 220 feet deep, in 100 feet of water within the McNairy-Nacatoch aquifer which is nearly 500 ft. thick at my location. I have all the water I’ll ever need!
As Bill Pierce would say, time to brew up a Czech pils! ;D
pH 5.8
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est 47
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.08
Cations / Anions, me/L < 0.1 / 0.1
ppm
Sodium, Na < 1
Potassium, K < 1
Calcium, Ca < 1
Magnesium, Mg < 1
Total Hardness, CaCO3 < 1
Nitrate, NO3-N < 0.1 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S < 1
Chloride, Cl < 1
Carbonate, CO3 < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3 6
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 5
Except for hopfenundmalz, they all seem pretty tame to me. FWIW I don’t think there’s anything magical about a SO4:Cl ratio. 20:10 won’t taste anything like 100:50. For that matter, mine is about 20:1 but hoppy beers don’t taste quite right without more gypsum.
Anyway, here’s mine. Lawrence, Indiana - we’re surrounded by, but separate from, metro Indianapolis water.
