Brewing Water – Hard or Soft?

[braukasper]

A nice little read on brewing water over at Beersmith
Brewing Water – Hard or Soft?

a bit on water profiles Water Profiles

and some general bottle water info from Poland Springs

[BigPapaG]

Here's what I'm saddled with as a starting point...

Makes pretty good beer...

pH: 7.7
Calcium (Ca): 91.0 ppm
Magnesium (Mg): 9.0 ppm
Sodium (Na): 11.0 ppm
Sulfate (SO4): 23.0 ppm
Chloride (Cl): 20.0 ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO3): 108.1 ppm

But who can tell me which way to adjust for:

Better Stouts:

Better Scotch Ales:

Better Pilseners:

Better German Lagers:

I'm lost...

[braukasper]

I am at the same point as you not knowing where to start. I went like this:
1. From the well. IPA's, basically any beer that was bitter
2. From the softener. Pilsners, any beer that need soft water
3. From the R.O. filter for diluting.

I am going to go the same route as Screwy. Distilled water and tailor it, to my needs. The cost of adding a separate R.O. line just for brewing is just to cost prohibitive for me right now.

[MadBrewer]

Here's what I'm saddled with as a starting point...

Makes pretty good beer...

pH: 7.7
Calcium (Ca): 91.0 ppm
Magnesium (Mg): 9.0 ppm
Sodium (Na): 11.0 ppm
Sulfate (SO4): 23.0 ppm
Chloride (Cl): 20.0 ppm
Bicarbonate (HCO3): 108.1 ppm

But who can tell me which way to adjust for:

Better Stouts:

Better Scotch Ales:

Better Pilseners:

Better German Lagers:

I'm lost...

First off I'm glad to see you understand that your water can be tweaked to make certain styles better. Actually your water is very similar to mine here in NW Indiana. Besides your much higher Calcium content (which is good) we have very similar tap water.

As is your water is probably pretty good for middle of the road beers such as Pale Ales, Ambers, beers that are in the 8-16 SRM range. Your Bicarbonate is an indication of your Alkalinity which is what we want to control and manipulate in our brewing water for certain styles. It's alkalinity that effects how your ph is impacted. Mash PH is really what we should be focusing on, the water profile is just a medium of how to better that ph in the mash. Your calcium is high which is good, Calcium helps hot and cold break, it helps the finished beer be clearer, calcium is good for the yeast during fermentation and Calcium helps to neutralize some of your alkalinity to help bring your ph in a better range.

Now to help with your questions of different beer styles. To make better water for ligher beers, Pilsners, Light Lagers, Kolsch, and very Pale Ales it would help to dilute your tap water with half distilled or RO water. This will cut your mineral content in relation to how much you dilute the tap water. Mostly this will help lower and neutralize the carbonate content (bicarbonate and in turn alkalinlity). High alkalinity keeps the mash ph high, makes for harsher bitterness and kinda rough flavors in ligher beers.

In contrast to light beers, for dark beers (Stouts, Porters, Scottish Ales) you might benefit from Calcium Cholride additions which will help round out the malt flavor and bring out some sweetness and smoothness to the beer. IF your ph is low when brewing darker beers, some Baking soda will help bring that back up.

For hoppy beers like Pale Ales and IPA's you could add some Gypsum, but you may not need to. You could add Calcium chloride and you may like that better even for hoppy beers. It's more a matter of preference.

Things to consider is your water profile doesn't mean much if you are not targeting and checking your mash ph...that is the whole goal. Also, you have enough calcium and mineral content in your tap water as is, so if you want to make adjustments, at this point they are "seasonings" to the beer. You can add your additions to the boil after you mash. Try small amounts, try a half tsp of Calcium Chloride per 5 gal batch for a malty beer, try the same amount of Gypsum for a hoppy beer again, to the boil. These are just ballparks, don't get hung up on getting an exact water profile, it's a waste of time. Just try different things with different batches and you will have to learn what you like. But check that mash ph, or dont' bother. Proper mash ph will make you better beer. Get some lactic acid to adjust mash ph if necessary. You want to target a mash ph of 5.2-5.4 Lower for lighter more fermentable beers, higher for darker fuller bodied beers. You will be surpirzed what that alone will do. Also make sure to carbon filter your tap water if you don't already and a Campden tablet split between strike and sparge water won't hurt to rid Chloromines from your tap water. If you are going this far and looking to make better beer make sure to ruin all your hard work with alkaline sparge water. You may need to acidify the sparge water with Lactic acid so the ph stays below 6. You don't want to pick up tannis from high ph. Just think of it this way, if you are or need to modify your mash water, why wouldn't you do it to your sparge water also...very important.

[BigPapaG]

Thanks for your response MadBrewer, and thanks to the OP for letting me hijack this thread!

Your answers make a lot of sense... The type and severity of adjustments, what they do and in reference to where I'm starting is all coming together for me.

Glad my changes would amount to seasonings as opposed to wholesale creation from scratch.

I also agree re: Mash pH and Sparge pH... Need to get a pH meter...

Carbon Filtering: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't... Water tastes pretty good most of the year and I find I only look to do this in mid-late summer when the water begins to carry an algae like quality... When I do, it's with a faucet mountable PUR Carbon Filter...

I do also have a PUR MineralClear cartridge that I have been playing with for darker beers with inconclusive results... Not sure how much mineral content it adds though... If any, or what type but I suspect it serves to harden the water a bit.

Chloramines... None here, our facility uses chlorine only...

And I don't generally add Campden (although I have a few times) because the average free chlorine level is only 0.77 ppm... Generally, by the time the water comes to temp the free chlorine has dissipated.

So, in summary, for my starting point, looks like I need to add the following to my brewing arsenal:

PH Meter
Distilled Water (for dillution, maybe 50/50 to start for lighter beers)
Calcium Chloride (for darker beers and hoppier beers)
Gypsum (at least for initial testing for hoppier beers as an alternative to Calcium Chloride)
Lactic acid (if needed based on pH testing)

Thanks again!

[MadBrewer]

Glad to help. Sounds like you got a good handle on things. If you can help it a carbon filter would really be good for anyone using their tap water. I know those faucet filters can take forever to fill a pot of water. Maybe upgrade to a larger under the sink cartridge filter. I have one I can hook up to the faucet but is only for my brewing water. These filters remove chlorine most importantly, but they also remove sediment, rust and odors which can be present especially in old piping like I have. All things you want for better brewing water, while it leaves your mineral content behind.