Holt wrote:Here is my water profile according to the averages posted in the most recent report.
Given that the data are averages it is not at all unusual to see this level of imbalance. Not to mention that nitrate is not listed nor is fluoride ...... So don't worry about the quality of the report. It is better balanced than many! And you aren't going to get a "better" one unless someone does everything (i.e. all the ions) on the same sample on the same day. Even then things like escaping CO2 can throw the balance off somewhat (though a good analyst knows how to minimize that).
This water is fine for brewing a wide range of beers from export to stout. The exception would be those beers for which production with soft water is an important part of the style (helles, Bohemian pils). For those beers this water can be diluted 4:1 or 5:1 with RO or DI water. Undiluted the RA is a bit high so more acid will be required (nearly all beers require some acid for mash pH adjustment) than would be the case with a less carbonaceous water. Dilution is a great way to "get rid of" bicarbonate. Diluting 1:1 cuts it in half.
The best way to handle this is to obtain a pH meter, check the pH of the mash and add 1 % sauermalz (acidulated malt) per 0.1 pH lowering desired. Thus if mash pH comes in at 5.8 with water right out of the tap and you want 5.4 (a reasonable figure) you would add 4% sauermalz and then, of course, recheck pH after that addition. This is the way continental brewers would procede (though they might use lactic fermented wort called 'sauergut' rather than saermalz). British brewers would add CRS (Carbonate Reducing Solution - a mix of food grade hydrochloric and sulfuric acids which is not available outside the UK to my knowledge).
You might want to have a look at the primer at
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewin ... er-198460/.
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