Hobart Water

[BilBrewing]

Just out of interest has anyone had Hobart water tested or know of somewhere that can perform a test?

Currently i am filtering the brewing water with a Brita jug filter and using ph5.2 in my BIAB setup which seems to be working fine but as with anything i like to be able to obtain specifics rather than guestimate!

Cheers

unky

 

[brewtas]

Whereabouts in Hobart are you? I have the Goodwood numbers I asked for in November 2011 and Blackmans Bay numbers from last year.

I emailed Southern Water (as it was) and there was a bit of mucking around but they eventually got me what I was after.

 

[somnar]

I have Risdon Dam...

 

[BilBrewing]

I'm in West Hobart. I wonder if Southern Water would be able to provide them for my area then?

Brewtas, i see you add salts to your brews. Are you filtering your water at all?

 

[brewtas]

I was filtering but I haven't bothered in a while. The only reason I'd bother with that with our water is to remove chlorine but I haven't found it to be a problem in my finished beer.

Try to find an email address on the Southern Water website and tell them you're a home brewer looking for the water report for West Hobart. They were a bit funny about it before I said I was a brewer. All you really need is calcium, sodium, magnesium, chloride, sulphate and carbonate.

 

[Not For Horses]

You might find that Southern Water are no more. Try Taswater!

 

[BilBrewing]

TasWater were quick!

Here are my findings should anyone else want to use them.

Alkalinity CaCO3- 9mg/L
Calcium - 5.11mg/L
Calcium Hardness - 128mg/L
Chloride - 6.4mg/L
Magnesium - 1.08mg/L
Magnesium (Dissolved) - 4.4mg/L
Sodium - 3.89mg/L
Sulphate - 3.6mg/L

pH tests over the last fin year were performed 53 times with readings from 6.33 to 7.69 with an average of 7.0611.

Anyone know of any good software or calculator to use to calculate salt additions?

 

[Not For Horses]

Easy water calc works well for me. Pretty simple spreadsheet. DL from www.ezywatercalculator.com

 

[brewtas]

That's the one I use too

 

[manticle]

Your water looks amazingly soft. Even softer than Melbourne as far as I can tell at a glance.

Consider it a blank slate. I can see why Brewtas wouldn't be worried about filtering. definitely need to get some calcium in there but you can turn that into whatever you want. EZ calc or Brun water. EZ calc is easy (funny that), brun water is more comprehensive.

 

[BilBrewing]

Yeap,i've got a copy of Ez Calc and have had a bit of a play with numbers. Should be more than enough for what i need to do.

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[brewtas]

Consider it a blank slate. I can see why Brewtas wouldn't be worried about filtering. definitely need to get some calcium in there but you can turn that into whatever you want.

Yeah, the water is very similar to that all over the greater Hobart region. These days I always bump the calcium up to a minumum of 50ppm and noticed an immediate improvement in beer clarity and flavour when I did.

 

[Not For Horses]

Same as Launceston too.
When Boags say 'From the pure waters of Tasmania', they aren't kidding.
Too bad they turn it into snooze-worthy un-drinkable misery juice.

 

[spryzie]

Can I ask a stupid question? What do you add to bump the calcium up?

 

[brewtas]

Hi spryzie, that's not a stupid question. Add Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) or Calcium Chloride. A simple starting point is to add Sulfate for hoppy beers, Chloride for malty ones. Are you using EZ Water Calculator or something like that?

 

[spryzie]

Where do you buy gypsum (food grade?) around Hobart?

 

[brewtas]

No idea. I just ordered it from an online store. Less mucking around that way.

 

[hyjak71]

Home brew shop in Hobart has Gypsum, although the young girl in there had to ask Amanda what & where it was when I bought it.

 

[BilBrewing]

I just bought in bulk from grain and grape rather than chase the separate salts around Hobart!

 

[spryzie]

How much Gypsum should I add per litre of Hobart tap water for 50ppm of calcium?

Something like 1 teaspoon / 10 litres?

 

[Not For Horses]

I have a precise scale (.05g accuracy) for measuring my salts.
If you like I could measure out a metric teaspoon and let you know how much its weighs.
Then you can use ezy water calc (highly recommend you download and use) and figure out exactly how many teaspoons you need for various brews. It won't be highly accurate but it will be better than using none at all.

link for ezy water calc http://www.ezwatercalculator.com

 

[spryzie]

Google says 8g to a metric teaspoon.

Ezywatercalc says 4g should do me with my Big W pot size brews.

So half a teaspoon it is.

Thanks!

Oh, it says Hobart is a little low on magnesium - how big a deal is that?

 

[Not For Horses]

I checked google as well and found multiple pages stating 4g/teaspoon.

 

[brewtas]

Weighing it out is a much better option. A set of digital scales accurate to 0.1g is only $5-10 on ebay.

Don't worry about magnesium, there's enough in the barley itself.

 

[spryzie]

Hmmm, seems there are difference between crushed, powdered, pulverized and solid forms of gypsum when it comes to weight/volume - I'll go with what the homebrew forums say (I was looking at something more scientific without paying enough attention).

I'll go with a whole teaspoon from the looks.

I checked google as well and found multiple pages stating 4g/teaspoon.

 

[Lobby Lobster]

Great thread. I have been wondering about the Hobart water profile and couldn't find anything on the Tas Water website.
I'd better gypsum up! Thanks.

 

[bradmcm]

Yep, thanks for letting me know. I knew the water was soft but I've only done one full all grain since moving down here.

 

[bradmcm]

Oh, it says Hobart is a little low on magnesium - how big a deal is that?

None at all. Mg provides some use in metabolic activity during fermentation but there is enough Mg in grain to not be bothered adding it as a salt to the liquor.

 

[Foster]

Great thread. Thx

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Any idea of how to obtain this info for non-Hobart water?