Melbourne (Hawthorn) water profile

[Muz]

Hi,

I’ve never really played around with my water before but I think it’s time to start. I’ve been reading through threads on this forum and it looks like I’ll start by adding some calcium sulphate to the IPA I’m planning to make. This is based on reading this article:

https://melbournebrewers.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/key-concepts-in-water-treatment.pdf

I notice the water profile is from 2005. That seems old, is Melbourne’s water profile likely to have changed? Also, I’d imagine it could be quite different depending on where in Melbourne you are right? What water profile should I use being based in Hawthorn?

I’d love to add my water profile to BeerSmith2. Is there somewhere I can get this data or does someone have it and would be happy to share it with me?

Thanks.

 

[Midnight Brew]

This is a little outdated as I switched to rainwater shortly after this, now you also need to take into account the desalination connection that tops up the system.
EDIT: Not entirely sure which system/catchment feeds the Hawthorn area. Ring your water supplier and they can provide you with more in-depth details as well as which catchment/s service your area. Overall Melbourne is pretty soft water and will benefit from some calcium additions.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

In practical terms you can safely ignore the salts in the water supply in Melbourne and just add salts as appropriate for your brew.

As a base, I add 1 ml / l of 10% sulphuric acid and 0.2 g/l of CaCl2 to the mash, then 0.1 g/l of each of CaSO4 and CaCl2 plus 0.02 g/l of MgSO4 to the boil. I'd probably up these values for a hoppy IPA but I don't drink IPA so I haven't done so.

 

[timmi9191]

https://www.melbournewater.com.au/water/health-and-monitoring/drinking-water-quality