Marion Water Report

whitedj · Post by **whitedj** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:24 pm

I obtained a detailed water report. Plugging this into bru'n water confirms my experimentation... beer is better if diluted with ~80% RO, will definitely supplement next batch with some CaCl and epsom salts.

Report date Aug-2009
alkalinity (CaCO3)=344 at 7.3 pH

Ca=61.2 ppm
Mg=31.3
Na=66.1
K=11.8

HCO3=252.1 (calculated)
CO3=0.2 (calculated)
SO4=148
Cl=8.7

Ions don't quite balance but I think that just means something else is in the water... other notable chemicals in the report are .77ppm ammonia, .5 boron, 1.5 Fluoride, 8.5 silica, 1.1 strontium.

beerguy2009 · Post by **beerguy2009** » Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:45 pm

So I have a friend who just started brewing and lives in Marion. Is brewing with Marion tap water a bad idea?

whitedj · Post by **whitedj** » Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:03 pm

For the most part, yeah. The water is too high in sulfate and carbonates to brew most lighter beer styles.

I build my water from RO. Sometimes I will add 1 gallon of tap water to the mash if I only have 5 or 6 gallons of RO on hand and have an amber beer.

beerguy2009 · Post by **beerguy2009** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:14 am

I forgot to mention he is extract brewing. Will that still have an affect on the beer?

whitedj · Post by **whitedj** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:58 pm

From what I've been reading with extract use naturally soft water if available, or RO with no modifications. There is no mash chemistry to be concerned about, and sufficient nutrients for the yeast within the extract.

I guess if you wanted to do a hoppy beer you could add some sulfate to the boil or other 'water salts' to make the water harder for a bitter.

I only did 4 extract batches all with marion water, first couple I attributed off flavors to chloramines (resolved with campden) and the couple others I think was a massive hop over utilization (harsh bitterness) due to the hard water.

BrewHound · Post by **BrewHound** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 9:06 am

beerguy2009 wrote:I forgot to mention he is extract brewing. Will that still have an affect on the beer?

As an extract brewer, I would suggest he use distilled water or RO, reason being is the process that is used to make extracts starts with a real mash then is taken down to liquid or dry extract. So the extract itself already contains proper amounts of nutrients and minerals already. So if you use regular spring water or tap water you are doubling up on the nutrients and mineral content.