LHBS impulse shopping trip yielded BIAB kit.

bru n water and Im sure others allow you to input the data from your report. Welcome to the club, I love BIAB.

 

If the pH stabilizer is mixed in then I suppose it can't hurt. It may not help, but who knows. The issue with your water report is the date. It's old. Have you brewed with your straight tap water before and if so, how did that turn out? I brew with tap water most of the year but I stop using my tap water (and drinking it) between March 1 and May 1. During March there is some kind of treatment and you can smell it and taste it in the water. So I just buy spring water.

Do you have a BeerSmith? You can plug your numbers in and see if there are any serious adjustments, but again, that's a 2013 report so I'm not certain it's going to be 100% accurate. With that IPA kit, you may just want to go spend a few more bucks on spring water.

 

That report doesn't have all the important brewing ions that you will need if you want to calculate expected mash (or steep) pH or plan for their flavor contributions. If you want to do that, ask your water provider for...

Ca
Mg
Na
Cl
SO4
Alkalinity as HCO3 or CaCO3

If they can't/won't give you the information, you can get your water tested at Ward Labs for less than $30 IIRC.

 

I do build from distilled. But all my water profiles are different, depending on style and sometimes also on goals within a style.

 

They probably don't want you to undo what they see as the "ideal" condition the yeast were in just before drying. I haven't used dry yeast often, but I always rehydrate. If you don't, you'll lose about half the cells due to the shock of introducing the dried yeast directly to the wort.

 

This link has some examples of water recipes: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Various_water_recipes

Cheers!

 

I use dry yeast almost exclusively. If a yeast is marketed as direct pitch or has direct pitching instructions I don't rehydrate. I have no noticed any appreciable decrease in beer quality. I use yeast nutrient and aerate my wort by shaking/stirring A LOT once it is under 80* F. You should be fine direct pitching.

 

So...you were just sauntering through the LHBS and you bought a BIAB kit...was it next to the cash register? .....yeah, right : )

 

Your Water company should be able to provide you with a water report including mineral content for the water you receive (based upon the source they use for your house/neighborhood). My water company mailed one to me, the report was titled Laboratory Report. I called my water company and asked to speak to a water scientist and he arranged for me to receive a copy of this report.

Your other option is to send some of your tap water to Wards Labs and have them test it for you. Go to: https://producers.wardlab.com/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=/ and click on the Homebrewers tab.

Cheers!

 

The good news is that with some modification (dilution with RO/distilled and/or salt/acid additions), you can build water from that starting point for just about any style/recipe. Many people aren't so lucky. Really, you could use that water "as is" for many recipes, but for the most control over mash pH and flavor, you'd need to modify.

Have you read the water knowledge pages at the Bru'nwater site yet? I'd recommend reading those, followed by @utahbeerdude's white papers. And if you're not already using a brewing tool that includes water calculations, I'd look into that.