my water aint as hard as it used to be, vicar.

[i drink to forget]

So i just recently moved up to the bonnie north west of scotland and my tap water falls merrily out the sky, along the ground for a tiny bit then straight out the tap.
Its just a hose in a bucket in the ground basically. local authority water looks crazy soft like Ca3.5 Mg 0.6 CaCO3 11.5
Im guessing its fairly acid leaning too. I noticed everything seems overly hoppy and the bitterness more towards a sourish wine like dryness here. Pilsners seem good which i suppose is to be expected? Anyway it was just to get some suggestion for good water additions. mg looks to be a v low so would epsom be better to go with than gypsum? or not? how much? why? what do you mean read a book? this was supposed to be fun...

Anyhoo. i also got a few infections since getting here. is the water a likely culprit? obviously its untreated but i figured nothing should survive the boil. wondered if there were drips splashing off the immersion cooler...

 

[newmanwell]

You're pretty close to having RO/distilled water. It should be pretty easy for you to make adjustments. If you are having beers seem overly bitter/dry a few grams of calcium chloride should take care of that.

 

[Nosybear]

Water is likely not the source of your infection problems. As you mentioned, you're boiling it. If you're not adding water back into your beer without first boiling it, it isn't your problem. Likely there's some kind of wild yeast in the air exposing a flaw somewhere in your sanitation process.

As to the water as brewing liquor, the pH doesn't really matter, the dissolved minerals do. You don't have many so first off, you have to get the calcium content up to 50 ppm minimum for yeast health. Given its purity, you may have some trace mineral deficiencies, zinc, most likely. Make up for that using yeast nutrient. After that, sulfate or chloride, depends on the beer you want. If you want malty, chloride, if you want hoppy, sulfate, if you want balanced, some of both. You're getting good pilsners, some bicarbonate will be necessary for darker beers. The overly hoppy harshness is coming from the acidity of your mash.

Yep, sometimes we have to read a book. The Brewing Elements "Water" is a good reference and worth the read. Otherwise, keep brewing pale beers and enjoy!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

before guessing I would get a water report, also I would start off by using a Camden tablet to remove any chlorine, that can cause bitterness

 

[i drink to forget]

before guessing I would get a water report, also I would start off by using a Camden tablet to remove any chlorine, that can cause bitterness

aint no water report but the weatherman for me.