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  • Water questions (report included)

    our city is supposed to have really good water, they have won statewide awards for best tasting water back to back.

    it makes great tasting beers but lately i have been noticing the hop character doesnt really jump out as much as i would like in our hoppy beers. Ive never been an expert on water... maybe time to start learning more.

    i called our water treatment plant and they gave me a short water report with some parameters i was asking about.

    145.5 ppm sulfate
    112 ppm total hardness
    84 ppm calcium
    28 ppm magnesium

    p alkalinity- 0
    mp alkalinity- 228

    pH- 9.2

    after our carbon and sediment filter we usually read a pH of 8.3, which still seems high.. the lady told me they adjust the pH high so that it doesnt leech/corrode metals in the city plumbing.

    Anyways, right now we adjust with phosphoric acid even for our IPA, (which is a copper/amber IPA) down to about 5.4 pH. Im going to start using some acidulated malt for our lighter beers across the board for the mash and adjust the sparge water with phosphoric acid.
    Should i add some calcium sulfate for our hoppy beers to negate some of that alkalinity? What can i expect out of this water?

  • #2
    Originally posted by WaterEng
    The tap water pH is not surprising and is not really a concern in brewing. The alkalinity is the parameter to concern yourself with.

    That water is fairly mineralized and the magnesium content is near the upper limit. Adding magnesium salts should not be considered. The sulfate content is modest for hoppy styles, but far too high for other styles. Dilution with RO or nanofiltration water would be appropriate when brewing lighter and delicate styles. Another approach would be to consider your water part of your 'terroir' and focus on brewing styles that benefit from the mineralization...hoppy and dry styles.

    Thanks for the response, sounds like i wont need to add any calcium sulfate after all for hoppy styles.. We're not really in to brewing lighter styles (lagers, blondes, kolsch) so staying away from that stuff wont be a problem.

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