pH 7.7
Na 14
K 1
Ca 22
Mg 7
Hardness 84
N03-N 0.1
S04-S 11
Cl 16
Carbonate <1.0
Bicarbonate 57
Alkalinity 47
I already knew my pH and that I was low in Ca and Sulfate so I have been already treating my water with gypsum and calcium chloride with good results. Any observations that I should be aware of?
That’s a good base to brew with. Low sodium, and like you said, you can build up with gypsum and CaCl.
I will need to start addressing pH. It appears that my lighter beers (kolsch) have a predicted pH of 5.8 with the existing water and about 5.7 with my average amount of additions.
Is Lactic Acid (88%) the preferred method for acidifying the mash? How do you measure it? I have those small plastic 10 mL syringes that I have used to give my son medicine. Will something like that work?
Yes, for the minor amount of alkalinity that this water contains, lactic acid is very acceptable. Using a syringe or graduated medicine dropper or graduated pipette are all fine for acid additions.
Thanks! I never thought I would be so excited to treat my water. I guess it’s the feeling of progress…
One last thing, what would be a good water profile for a Kolsch? Yellow balanced?
Yep, yellow balanced for me.
+1
FWIW, if you are using small amounts it can be difficult (at least it was for me) to see. i started weighing it for higher degree of confidence in what i was putting in. 1ml 88% lactic acid = 1.21 grams .
I weigh mine, too. I think I found that in an MSDS sheet.
Hi Everyone, Being new I have been using RO water to do my brewing. On advise from a fellow brewer I started to add 1 gallon of my well water to my 5 gallon extract brewing. People who have tasted have reported better tasting beer so was a good step.
My question though, were do I get a water analysis done. Tried looking at the local water reports via the county and my rural area does not have one available.
Thanks all,
Michael
Best place I’ve found id Ward Labs…www.wardlab.com. Get test W-6.
That’s exactly what I just did. I had some issues getting the kit but it ended up being a postal service issue.
My water company had some good information but apparently my water comes from 2-3 sources which complicated matters. I am fairly concerned that my water may not remain unchanged in the future…
well water can fluctuate also…moving target. mine was so high in sodium and bicarb, I had little choice so installed RO system. another reason I weigh lactic because doesn’t take much to move the needle in RO.
you were my source on weight on another post last year ;D
Oh, cool !
I did the Ward labs test but found my water comes from 7 different areas throughout the year. It was high bicarbonate anyway so I began buying distilled. Recently though I picked up a gallon of Glacier water from the dispenser at my local Walmart. I tested it with a recently acquired TDS meter and got a reading of 10ppm, compared to my tap water’s 240ppm. Distilled reads 0 of course, but the cost savings of using the RO water are substantial, not to mention I don’t have to deal with all the plastic waste from buying distilled as I can refill the jugs.
The last 2 batches of RO I have purchased came from 2 different Krogers. The first read at 14 TDS, and the second where I usually buy, measured 3TDS this past Friday. Each unit had stickers on them confirming they had been serviced/tested within 2 weeks of my purchases. I am very happy with the hand held TDS meter I purchased after reading about it on here.
Great purchase, Frank. I love mine. I don’t like bad surprises (like, the RO wasn’t as RO as I thought it was). Nice to be able to avoid that !
Thanks Jon, the purchase was based on your suggestion. What should I have expected difference wise between 14&3 TDS? I assumed really nothing g and did nothing to account for it, just wanted to kick myself for buying from a different location. The one here in SE Indiana has always been less than 10TDS when I remember to check it: very consistent
Between 14 and 3 - nothing. I’ve seen many references for drinking water (including RO) being sub-50ppm dissolved solids, high end. The RO machines I use read between 12 and 17ppm TDS. I think sub 25ppm TDS, no worries in terms of adjustments.
I can buy RO for $0.44 a gallon that has beer measuring 3 ppm TDS, pretty nice, and that is used for light lagers. The other source is $0.27 a gallon, and is 45 TDS, so that is used for ales. Some of the difference is the feed water, the second being on a city with wells, and the other would be the RO system filters life cycle point.
The local brewpub has let me get nano filtered water at 13 ppm which is pretty good!