WATER?

Well water is in my opinion better than municipal water because you don’t have to treat for chlorine and chloramine BUT you really don’t know if your water is any good for brewing without having it tested. If your water tastes good it can be used for brewing but may not make as good a beer as possible. Check out Ward Labs. They have a brewers test that will let you know what’s in the water and then there are several downloadable programs that will help you adjust your water. I use and like Bru’n’water but there are others and I don’t know if one is better than another. Many people start with distilled or RO water and add what they need. What minerals you need will depend on what you are brewing. As an example if I am brewing something light in color I use my well water with a few minerals and some lactic acid added. If I am brewing a dark beer I will dilute my well water 50% with distilled water and add different minerals.
A book like How To Brew by Palmer can help with understanding the chemistry of it all.

 

Your well water may be perfect for stouts and the worst thing to use for IPAs, or the reverse. Have you noticed any differences in the quality of your beers when you compare their styles? It's best to get it tested so you'll know where you stand, or build your own profile using distilled or RO water.

P.S. Welcome to the BA site and to the Homebrewing forum. We're glad that you're here.

 

I use well water and pretty much as mentioned, I sent it off to Wards. I learned that my water is pretty good for brewing. It is pretty low in ion content. If you aren't sure about what to look for, there are lots of resources -- John Palmer's How to Brew, his Water book, the BruNWater spreadsheet, etc. But also, lots of people in this forum spend time thinking about their water, so feel free to ask questions.

Wells can have fairly stable chemistry, depending on variation in local hydrogeology, and probably a function of how deep the well is. I have only bothered to send a sample to Wards one time, and have assumed the chemistry remains sufficiently stable. Nothing about my beers would indicate otherwise. Still, if you are really curious, you could send your water in at different times of year, or during extreme conditions (extended rain, dought, periods of snowmelt) to see if there have been any shifts due to recharge or lack thereof.

 

I'll mention that if you have a water softener like I do, you will not be able to use your well water. You are fortunate if you don't in New England.

 

Well perhaps I have the one thing I really like about Maine. The water here is fairly neutral, and great for all kinds of brewing. I found out that most of Maine's Breweries that aren't on city water, don't make any water adjustments.

To the OP, I would say if you feel like it, get your water tested a couple time through out the year. Then if give a couple of adjustments a go. If you don't feel the adjustments really improved your beer, don't do them.

I came to these forums before I met my home brew club. I saw all of the water profiles and questions about water and thought that I had to go tweaking those to make better beer. Then in my home brew club, people said they rarely ever make any kind of adjustments, and have gone far in competitions. One guy won a regional competition with just his well water. Turns out my original thought, every brewery that used their well water, that everyone tries to mimic, is just like me using just my well water. I am not saying people who adjust their water is wrong, just that great beer can be made with out doing it.

 

Just going to make the observation that if you're brewing extract beers, your water is probably fine (barring some kind of contamination or very high levels of the "flavor ions": sulfate, chloride, and sodium). It is really when you move to all-grain that you worry more about the mineral content of your water, because at that point you are thinking about mash pH. If you are brewing all-grain, then I definitely think you should educate yourself on the basics of water chemistry (which are not nearly as hard as they first seem).

Even with extract brewing, you can make some water adjustments, it's just harder because you don't know what you're starting with in terms of mineral content in the extract. Basically I would consider it a very low priority for extract brewing.

[Edited to add: Eliminating chlorine and chloramine are essential for all kinds of brewing, extract or all-grain. I didn't think to mention it because you are using well water, but for others who might read this thread, please note that chlorine/chloramine elimination is a high priority for all brewers.]

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you're going to fix it anyway, then get it tested by Ward Labs and input the numbers into Bru'nwater and match water profile based on style.

Cheers.

 

All the legendary breweries produced their famous beers to suit the well water they had access to. So yes, your water is extremely important.

It's also one of the most complex and detailed subjects you can persue in brewing science. I'm not saying you shouldn't explore your water options but of the 100 things a new brewer needs to do, messing with water is around 99.

With one important note!
Cut your water with distilled water. As in, reduce the ions by a third. Or half. You do want to have an analysis completed but that is the easy way to obtain soft brewing water needed for Pils.
Cheers.