Water analysis

BrewMasterBrad · Post by **BrewMasterBrad** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:29 pm

I got my water analysis back from Ward Labs. Tell me what you think. All amount are in ppm.

Na 62
K 2
Ca 34
Mg 10
Total Hardness as CaCO3 127
SO4 19
Cl 71
CO3 3
HCO3 87
Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 76

Post by **brahn** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:33 pm

You should start using gypsum

Your calcium and sulfate levels are pretty low. The sulfate is really low. Those are the only things that jump out at me at a glance.

kevinham · Post by **kevinham** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:39 pm

I work at an environmental lab that does air, water, and soil analysis. How much does that place charge for all that? I will try to see if my boss can give anyone that wants the test a deal on it. We should be able to do all of those no problem.

BrewMasterBrad · Post by **BrewMasterBrad** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:45 pm

$16.50

BrewMasterBrad · Post by **BrewMasterBrad** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:52 pm

brahn wrote:You should start using gypsum

Your calcium and sulfate levels are pretty low. The sulfate is really low. Those are the only things that jump out at me at a glance.

I was playing around with Brew Water 3.0 to hit Munich and Dortmund profiles. Most of the additions were Epsom Salt and Chalk. Just a little Gypsum. I found that interesting.

kevinham · Post by **kevinham** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:02 pm

Yikes, nevermind. That is a good price, we won't be able to touch that.

I had a feeling though, after looking up the company. This is their specialty. We usually deal with more complex analyses.

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:08 pm

kevinham wrote:Yikes, nevermind. That is a good price, we won't be able to touch that.

I had a feeling though, after looking up the company. This is their specialty. We usually deal with more complex analyses.

Can your company do similar water analysis as Wardlab?

kevinham · Post by **kevinham** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:46 pm

Rezzin wrote: Can your company do similar water analysis as Wardlab?

Yeah we can do all those. But that isn't what we typically do, so our equipment is a little overkill, and thus our prices are much more.

We do environmental testing for petroleum products, metals, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, anything hazardous or toxic.

maltbarley · Post by **maltbarley** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:50 pm

Kevin, you aren't getting what we are after.

We would like to send in 3 bottles of homebrew with a tube of our water attached and get an analysis in return.

kevinham · Post by **kevinham** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:00 pm

maltbarley wrote:Kevin, you aren't getting what we are after.

We would like to send in 3 bottles of homebrew with a tube of our water attached and get an analysis in return.

Believe me you would have to give them much more than that. None of the chemists even drink beer anyways. One of them found out I like beer and brought me the rest of a 6-pack of Tsingtao that they had in their fridge for years (everyone I work with is Chinese).

My boss said he would give those analyses at the discounted rate of a mere $100. So let's stick with Ward Lab on this one. I told him their price, and his reaction was "$16? Wow, that's cheap."

Post by **brahn** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:15 pm

Brad, I've really never looked to try to hit the water of any particular region but if I did I think I'd be more interested in Burton-On-Trent than Munich or Dortmund. All three of those regions have more calcium than your water, but for Munich and Dortmund you don't want as much sulfate as for Burton, so you're getting the Ca from chalk instead of gypsum. It seems strange that they'd have you add Epsom Salt though, since that adds Mg and sulfate. This water stuff is mostly over my head, though.

BTW, chalk's tougher to add since it won't dissolve in water at all. You'll have to stir it into your mash after you've added the grain if I remember correctly.

Post by **brahn** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:55 pm

Ok, I took a little closer look and your bicarbonate is a good bit lower than mine too. According to Palmer your water should work well for beers between 8-13 SRM. To go darker, you would want to add bicarbonate either using chalk or baking soda. These will both adjust the mash pH up. To go lighter, you would want to add gypsum or calcium chloride to adjust the mash pH down.

That's strictly for the mash pH though and ignores the fact that you've got slightly low Ca levels and very low SO4 levels. For lighter beers you can just add gypsum and that should make everything work. To add sulfate or calcium without affecting the mash pH, you can just add gypsum to the boil. I do that a lot.

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:26 pm

Hey Brad:

Can you post a link for Ward Labs?

Thanks. Dan

Post by **brahn** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:50 pm

http://www.wardlab.com

Click on About Us, then General Information, then scroll down and find a link to Sampling Supplies. They will ship them to you for free, including a paid return shipping label to send the samples back to them.

The test you want is W-6.

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:53 pm

Thanks!

Dan