# Water Profile - Perth WA SOR



## lukasfab (12/2/17)

water profile for Harrisdale area in Perth southern suburbs

now what do i do with it,hahaha

View attachment WQ Data Sheet.pdf


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## manticle (12/2/17)

Only other things I'd want to know would be zinc level and whether it's chlorinated or chloraminated.

When you brew with it unadulterated, does it turn out ok? My limited experience of perth water is that drinking wise is horrible but if chlorine is removed, it's possibly good for brewing.

What you do know is input relevant values into a spreadsheet like brun water or EZ water calculator. Adjust salt additions until you get the profile you want.

In the mean time read about the whys.

In a nutshell: excessive minerals or high temporary hardness should be removed (at a glance from a hospital bed on a mobile, yours looks ok).

Chlorine reduced/removed. Heating will reduce chlorine, boiling will remove, boiling will reduce chloramine. Chloramine can also be effectively removed with charcoal filtering. RO water units give you a blank slate. 

Get calcium levels right. Above 50 ppm (your report is mg/L but the values are 1:1) for ales (upper limit around 150 from memory) but more like 40 max for lagers.

Calcium will affect pH of the mash which is important. Measured at room temp (~20 deg), mash pH should ideally be between 5.2 and 5.5. Temperature changes pH value. Measuring actual mash pH is a good idea before playing too much with adjustment telying on spreadsheets.

Grist will also affect recipe - grain is acidic and darker the grain, the more acidifying effect.

Once you have recipe inputted and calcium levels where you want, lower pH further (if needed) by adding acid like lactic or using acidulated malt. If it's too low (eg a stout), there are alkalising agents like slaked lime, or you can set dark grain aside and add when the bilk of the mash is done.

Final thing is to adjust flavour ions which are in the form of calcium salts.

As a very general rule - hoppy or bitter paler beers benefit from more sulphate (so use calcium sulphate or mainly CaSO4/gypsum) while maltier beers benefit from chloride so Calcium Chloride is your friend. You can use a shade of aodium chloride if sodium levels are low - obviously this won't affect calcium and you want to avoid high sodium levels.

This is for mash. Once that's sorted, you can add flavour salts to the boil and acidify sparge water depending on pH of the water (avoid alkaline sparge water).

I can link an article with more detailed breakdown but the brun water knowledge page and braukaiser pages are excellent too.

Sounds complex but eventually becomes as simple as seasoning.


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## manticle (12/2/17)

Oh and for zinc - look at a good quality beer yeast nutrient and you should be fine.

Malt supplies some calcium and usually all the magnesium you'll need. Magnesium sulphate is a possibility if you need more sulphate but no more calcium. Don't go overboard on any of it but especially magnesium (laxative) or sodium (yeast toxicity).


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## lukasfab (12/2/17)

thanks Manticle

recently done a beer with 350g hops for 20l and its not exactly shining with hops so hence why im looking at water.

i have been running my tap water through one of those simple under bench filters that we use for drinking water, i assume this just gets rid of chloride ?

ive had beer taste good just straight from tap.

this is what i get

Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 HCO3-
20 1.6 28 46 4.3 57.8

from what i see the sulphate stands out as way to low? hoppy beers asks for min 150 ?

EZ water says PH of 5.7 with my grain bill so thats to high


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## manticle (12/2/17)

I don't know what filter yours is - does it use ionic softening techniques or just physical filtration? You're aiming to get rid of chlorine, not chloride. Same element, different form. Physical filtration is good, ionic softeners can add unwanted minerals back into the water (elevating sodium levels for example).

Calcium and maybe lactic acid or acid malt to drop pH a bit is desirable but remember to measure and check that what software tells you reflects reality.

Sulphate can definitely make hop profile punchier and cleaner and accentuate bitterness.


So looks like gypsum additions are in order.

Probably no need to pre-boil mash liquor if you've had no chlorephenol trouble previously.


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## lukasfab (12/2/17)

i would say its just physical filtration but will need to check this

will need to check PH next time, i have a cheap one never used it

i full volume biab, so checking PH once mashed in yeah?


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## manticle (12/2/17)

Yeah mash in and let sit a bit. Cool sample to room temp, measure.


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## lukasfab (12/2/17)

A1000 brita filter, seems just to remove chlorine


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## manticle (12/2/17)

All good then.


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