I finally got the info I asked for from Minneapolis Water! I compiled these two excel sheets from the data, and all numbers have been rounded. If information was missing from the original info, it is listed as "n/a". Total alkalinity was listed as CaCO3, and I have included HCO3 which I calculated using Bru'n Water's calculator, using the average pH for each month. Anyway, basically this is almost two complete years worth of data, broken down by month. This should give you some idea of the seasonal variations, and you can augment your water profile accordingly. I'm also including a link to the Excel file, so you can augment it as you see fit: 2012-2013 Minneapolis Water Profile
I suppose this report would be mightily similar to that of immediately surrounding suburbs? Like say Robbinsdale or Crystal?
If Robbinsdale or Crystal use Minneapolis Municipal water, then it absolutely should. I assume they do, but I don't know for certain.
I just moved to Crystal and haven't brewed in the new house yet. I just learned that Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, and Crystal all purchase their water from Minneapolis so these charts are super valuable. Thanks so much for posting them!
This is a topic that really interests me, I just haven't gotten around to being able to learn about it in depth yet. I think we have pretty decent water here in St. Charles, MO, but would someone that actually knows about it mind taking a look and letting me know if there are any glaring issues that I should look in to correcting until I am actually able to really sit down and educate myself more on the subject? Here is the link to my city's water report from 2012. http://www.stcharlescitymo.gov/Portals/0/Public Works/2012 annual water quality report.pdf I guess they have't uploaded the one from last year yet.
That appears to be some pretty decent water, I mean there are no glaring issues that I can see. Some styles may require you to cut with RO/Distilled. The problem with that report is that they're reporting everything as MG/L, which means some will need to be converted to PPM, before it's useable with water calculators. The other issue with that report is that it only reports the highest value, which isn't particularly helpful...other than showing that you should expect those numbers to be lower than reported. I did find this: http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/water-profiles/
I know next to nothing about water chemistry and treatment for brewing, need to get the book. All I know is that San Francisco water (from Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park) is supposed to be excellent. Anchor Brewing is 4 blocks from my house and they use municipal water, and don't treat it, which is a good sign. Which local agency do I contact to get a report?
Definitely don't try their new saison, it is awful. But yes, any slippage wouldn't be due to the water, they've been brewing at the same facility with the same water for a long, long time.
For me, I just called the number on the Minneapolis Municipal Water website. They directed me to one of the three water chemists they have on staff.
I don't know if you got lucky or I got unlucky. When I asked the municipal supplier at my old place, I got a run-around that eventually led me to someone whose final answer was essentially that they provide the minimum information required by the EPA, which doesn't include all the important brewing analytes.
