Geelong water

[sutho]

Hi guys and girls,
I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the quality of Geelong tap water in relation to brewing. Particularly Clifton Springs/Drysdale tap water.
Is it wise to use it?
Should I add anything to it?
Should I just use bottled water?

Cheers in advance
Sutho.

 

[fraser_john]

Hi Sutho,

Geelong water is generally pretty good brewing water, being nice and soft. If brewing a lager/pils the only thing you would probably need to add is a little calcium sulphate to help the hopping a little bit.

You could pm the member HoppinMad, he lives in Clifton Springs there, is an all grain brewer and is President of the club. I used to live in Drysdale but used rainwater for all my beers.

 

[hoppinmad]

Yes I have been brewing with Clifton Springs water for years and am very happy with it. As John mentioned, our water is very soft in the Geelong region and I have found that "taste wise" Bellarine water is particularly good... in comparison to say Geelong West and Torquay. I will always add salts to my mash to get the calcium levels up keep the pH down. Darker beers I will pretty much always add the roasted malts at mashout. For hop focused beers like APA, IPA and Czech pils I will add about 4g gypsum to the mash (and about 3g to the boil to compensate for our higher chloride to sulfate ratio). For maltier beers like english bitters and brown ales I will add about 4g chloride to mash. Saying all that though, I am sure you could still brew awesome beer without adding anything at all. Sometimes brewers do tend to try and complicate things

 

[hoppinmad]

Will post a recent Barwon Water report this arvo. Having trouble copying and pasting a table into the editor​

 

[sutho]

Thanks gents much appreciated I am new to brewing so I have heaps to learn. I hope it's not asking too much but next time your brewing HoppinMad do you think you might need an assistant? I'm also in clifton springs and I'm happy to do all the heavy lifting.

 

[hoppinmad]

2015 Jan
Highton


min
max
avg
Ca (mg/L)
6.1
6.8
6.4
Mg (mg/L)
4.4
4.9
4.6
Sulphate (mg/L)
6
7
6.2
Na (mg/L)
26 (wurd)
59 (Moor)
45
Alkalinity (mg/L CaCO3)
28
47
40.5
EC (uS/cm)
220
540
376
Chloride (mg/L)
46 (wurd)
120 (moor)
83.2
pH (pH units)
6.9
7.4
7.1
TDS (mg/L)
110 (wurd)
320 (moor)
207.

2015 Jan
Ocean Grove


min
max
avg
Ca (mg/L)
6.5
7.2
6.8
Mg (mg/L)
4.4
5
4.7
Sulphate (mg/L)
6
7
6.1
Na (mg/L)
26
28
45
Alkalinity (mg/L CaCO3)
28
30
29.4
EC (uS/cm)
220
260
237
Chloride (mg/L)
46
47
46.5
pH (pH units)
7.1
7.7
7.4
TDS (mg/L)
110
120
115

sorry for the retarded formatting... really not great at stuff like that :blush:

You will see the Ocean Grove report is the one most relevant to us so I would go by that.

happy for you to come around for a brew day. Not sure when I'll be brewing next but will let you know.

Hey and our club meets up tomorrow night in Torquay. We can discuss all things brewing and water related then if you like. Send me a PM if you are keen.

Cheers
James

 

[sutho]

Thanks James

 

[jc64]

That really is shit formatting James

 

[desitter]

Hi James,

Can I ask where you got these reports from? You mention Barwon Water, but the "Annual Drinking Water Quality Report" available on their website neglects reporting Sodium, Alkalinity, or Chloride levels. Have these been determined by an independent laboratory, or some form of test kit?

Edit: Also you mention that you add roasted malts at mashout. Can you elaborate on this a bit further? Do you find it easier than using carbonate additions to offset the additional acidification?

Cheers

 

[hoppinmad]

Sorry for the delayed response mate.

One of our club members is an ex-employee of Barwon Water and has contacts that are able to provide the more detailed report.

With regards to why I add dark grains at the end of the mash... it just means I don't have to add chalk to my beer... which is a personal preference. The only reason you would want to add carbonates as far as I can see is to keep the pH from getting too low during the mash. If you add your roasted grains at the end, low pH does not become an issue. Not only that but I am finding the roasted profile is a lot smoother using this method. You still get the colour, flavour and roasty character, but none of the unpleasant astringency. Perhaps the shorter length of time the dark grains are exposed to high temperatures results in less extraction of the bitter tannins in the grains which are created during the roasting process.

Cheers

 

[bearded_beer_guy_]

I'm new to brewing but I was told by my Brew supplier who is a champion at keg brewing that "if you can drink the tap water safely then its fine to brew with" If you wanted to go to the next level and boil it before adding ingredients then that's the best option although a timely one, if you're concerned.

 

[benju63]

Does anybody have a water report for the Torquay area? Or suggestions to treatment of the water? Thanks in advance.

 

[yankinoz]

2015 Jan
Highton


min
max
avg
Ca (mg/L)
6.1
6.8
6.4
Mg (mg/L)
4.4
4.9
4.6
Sulphate (mg/L)
6
7
6.2
Na (mg/L)
26 (wurd)
59 (Moor)
45
Alkalinity (mg/L CaCO3)
28
47
40.5
EC (uS/cm)
220
540
376
Chloride (mg/L)
46 (wurd)
120 (moor)
83.2
pH (pH units)
6.9
7.4
7.1
TDS (mg/L)
110 (wurd)
320 (moor)
207.

2015 Jan
Ocean Grove


min
max
avg
Ca (mg/L)
6.5
7.2
6.8
Mg (mg/L)
4.4
5
4.7
Sulphate (mg/L)
6
7
6.1
Na (mg/L)
26
28
45
Alkalinity (mg/L CaCO3)
28
30
29.4
EC (uS/cm)
220
260
237
Chloride (mg/L)
46
47
46.5
pH (pH units)
7.1
7.7
7.4
TDS (mg/L)
110
120
115

sorry for the retarded formatting... really not great at stuff like that :blush:

You will see the Ocean Grove report is the one most relevant to us so I would go by that.

happy for you to come around for a brew day. Not sure when I'll be brewing next but will let you know.

Hey and our club meets up tomorrow night in Torquay. We can discuss all things brewing and water related then if you like. Send me a PM if you are keen.

Cheers
James

 

[yankinoz]

James, many thanks for posting now and a couple years back those reports, which have Cl, Na and alkalinity data not on the Barwon Water website. In southern Belmont I've been using the data for "Highton," Both are in Barwon's "Pettavel catchment area." I regularly hit mash pH close to Brewers Friend predictions.

To anyone, there is wide variation within the "catchment areas" supplied by Barwon. For example, west of greater Geelong some areas get water with high sulphate levels, and hardness also increases a little in the northwest suburbs.

 

[DU99]

https://www.bay939.com.au/news/local-news/102945-melbourne-geelong-water-pipeline-to-be-switched-on

 

[benju63]

Absolute legend thanks mate.

 

[poacher]

Does anybody have a water report for the Torquay area? Or suggestions to treatment of the water? Thanks in advance.

Contacted Barwon water 2 weeks ago for Torquay water quality so very recent.

PH: 7.2

Calcium: 18 mg/L

Magnesium 19 mg/L

Sodium 29 mg/L

Sulphate 5 mg/L

Chloride 49 mg/L

 

[benju63]

Spot on cheers mate!

 

[citizensnips]

You might want to check if they still use chloramine to treat Barwon water, they did when I was last down there a few years ago. Unfortunately most filters won’t remove it. Campden tablets will do the trick though.

 

[bassmfb]

Hey Guys,

Received the Belmont VIC water report today that confirmed the following:

Calcium (Ca) 15 mg/L

Magnesium (Mg) 18 mg/L

Sodium (Na) 29 mg/L

Bicarbonate (HCO3) 36.5 ppm (estimated)

Carbonate (CO3) 0 ppm (estimated)

Alkalinity (CaCO3) 30 mg/L

Sulfate (SO4) 5 mg/L

Chloride (Cl) 46 mg/L

pH 7.2 pH Units