Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

In the May-June issue of BYO, p.27 BREWLAB from LaMotte out of Chestertown MD. The ad states 50+ tests for most factors, Digital pH Tester. I looked this up and it was $179.00. I was wondering if this was a little bit of overkill. I downloaded the instructions for the tests and it looks to be a fairly simple. Tests for alkalinity, calcium, sulfates, magnesium and total chlorine are available.
I would like to hear comments and if anyone might be interested in sharing if they felt it worth the money.
Talk amongst yourselves.

John,
I'd have to search on it to see what pH tested they include. But I'd say it's way overpriced. Would can get your water tested by Ward Labs for as little as $16.50 (Household Mineral Test), and you can get either a Milwaukee pH55 or 56 for between $50-65. Since you live in Marion you ought be able to the get water report for free from the city for free. I can help you interpret it and help you decide if you want to make changes.

From the very limited info they list on their website, they're only giving you 4 tests plus a pH meter. You are going to have to calculate everything else and that assumes you got accurate readings on the 4 included tests. They don't give you a way to test chlorides at all. Tehy talk about alkalinity but don't include that in the list of tests. You aslo do not get sodium or bicarbonate.

In my opinion it's a waste of money.

On 04/15/12 11:27, jjbuck wrote:

In the May-June issue of BYO, p.27 BREWLAB from LaMotte out of Chestertown MD. The ad states 50+ tests for most factors, Digital pH Tester. I looked this up and it was $179.00. I was wondering if this was a little bit of overkill. I downloaded the instructions for the tests and it looks to be a fairly simple. Tests for alkalinity, calcium, sulfates, magnesium and total chlorine are available.
I would like to hear comments and if anyone might be interested in sharing if they felt it worth the money.
Talk amongst yourselves.



Brother John Brewing
The Monk at the Marion Monastary

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Speaking of water....What do you Cedar Rapids guys do for adjustment? I am a total noob when it comes to water. I am in Fairfax and the water here is 100% crap. I have always used hyvee spring water for everything including cold top off water on extract batches straight from the gallon jug. Never had any infections or noticeable issues. I have done Dry Stouts to IPAs to Czech Pils with good results. It comes from a spring in Liberty, Illinois. What sucks is that it is generally about $1 a gallon. My plan is to get some 5 gallon aqua totes from Amazon and use water from a buddy on sw side of CR with campden tabs.So, is there any standard adjustment you CR guys make? Style adjustments? Use as-is for everything? Any advice would be much appreciated.PaulFrom: "carrisr" <brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org>
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:17:19 -0500
To: <brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org>
ReplyTo: brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: water testing kits

John, I'd have to search on it to see what pH tested they include. But I'd say it's way overpriced. Would can get your water tested by Ward Labs for as little as $16.50 (Household Mineral Test), and you can get either a Milwaukee pH55 or 56 for between $50-65. Since you live in Marion you ought be able to the get water report for free from the city for free. I can help you interpret it and help you decide if you want to make changes. From the very limited info they list on their website, they're only giving you 4 tests plus a pH meter. You are going to have to calculate everything else and that assumes you got accurate readings on the 4 included tests. They don't give you a way to test chlorides at all. Tehy talk about alkalinity but don't include that in the list of tests. You aslo do not get sodium or bicarbonate. In my opinion it's a waste of money. On 04/15/12 11:27, jjbuck wrote: : In the May-June issue of BYO, p.27 BREWLAB from LaMotte out of Chestertown MD. The ad states 50+ tests for most factors, Digital pH Tester. I looked this up and it was $179.00. I was wondering if this was a little bit of overkill. I downloaded the instructions for the tests and it looks to be a fairly simple. Tests for alkalinity, calcium, sulfates, magnesium and total chlorine are available. I would like to hear comments and if anyone might be interested in sharing if they felt it worth the money. Talk amongst yourselves. Brother John Brewing The Monk at the Marion Monastary Randy Carris Cedar Log Brewhouse CR Beer Nuts Event Coordinator
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If you are going to buy water from HyVee, which is what I do, buy a couple of the big 5 gallon refillable jugs. Buy the RO water that you fill at the self-serve station. It runs around 37 cents per gallon. They have the same stations at the Walmarts too.

Starting with RO water, a really simple set of guidelines will get you pretty close: for hoppy beers add 1 tsp Gypsum per 5 gallon, for malty beers add 1 tsp calcium chloride, for balanced beers 1/2 tsp of Gypsum and calcium chloride, for really dark beers such as stouts use 2 tsp calcium chloride or mash without the dark roasted grains. You can add the dark roasted grains at the end of the mash before sparging.

The above will get you to a pretty good starting point for most beers. When you are ready to take the next step and learn more, look at buying a pH meter and learn to use one of the water spreadsheets and you can dial in what you like.


On 04/15/2012 05:31 PM, prieff wrote:

Speaking of water....What do you Cedar Rapids guys do for adjustment? I am a total noob when it comes to water. I am in Fairfax and the water here is 100% crap. I have always used hyvee spring water for everything including cold top off water on extract batches straight from the gallon jug. Never had any infections or noticeable issues. I have done Dry Stouts to IPAs to Czech Pils with good results. It comes from a spring in Liberty, Illinois. What sucks is that it is generally about $1 a gallon. My plan is to get some 5 gallon aqua totes from Amazon and use water from a buddy on sw side of CR with campden tabs.So, is there any standard adjustment you CR guys make? Style adjustments? Use as-is for everything? Any advice would be much appreciated.PaulFrom: "carrisr"
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:17:19 -0500
To:
ReplyTo: brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org (brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org)
Subject: Re: water testing kits

John, I'd have to search on it to see what pH tested they include. But I'd say it's way overpriced. Would can get your water tested by Ward Labs for as little as $16.50 (Household Mineral Test), and you can get either a Milwaukee pH55 or 56 for between $50-65. Since you live in Marion you ought be able to the get water report for free from the city for free. I can help you interpret it and help you decide if you want to make changes. From the very limited info they list on their website, they're only giving you 4 tests plus a pH meter. You are going to have to calculate everything else and that assumes you got accurate readings on the 4 included tests. They don't give you a way to test chlorides at all. Tehy talk about alkalinity but don't include that in the list of tests. You aslo do not get sodium or bicarbonate. In my opinion it's a waste of money. On 04/15/12 11:27, jjbuck wrote: : In the May-June issue of BYO, p.27 BREWLAB from LaMotte out of Chestertown MD. The ad states 50+ tests for most factors, Digital pH Tester. I looked this up and it was $179.00. I was wondering if this was a little bit of overkill. I downloaded the instructions for the tests and it looks to be a fairly simple. Tests for alkalinity, calcium, sulfates, magnesium and total chlorine are available. I would like to hear comments and if anyone might be interested in sharing if they felt it worth the money. Talk amongst yourselves. Brother John Brewing The Monk at the Marion Monastary Randy Carris Cedar Log Brewhouse CR Beer Nuts Event Coordinator

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