Hi all. Everything I have read tells me I should not brew pale beers without treatment. I do not treat my water and brew excellent Pilsners and Pale lagers. I am hoping that there is someone on this site that can help with this riddle. My report is from Ward Labs. pH 7.6 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est,ppm 347 Electrical Conductivity,mmho/cm 0.58 Cations/Anions,me/L 5.7/5.9 ppm Sodium,Na 90 Potassium,K 2 Calcium,Ca 19 Magnesium,Mg 9 Total Hardness,CaCO3 85 Nitrate,NO3-N < 0.1 Sulfate,SO4-S < 1 Cloride,Cl 81 Carbinate,CO3 < 1 Bicarbinate,HCO3 215 Total Alkalinity,CaCO3 176 Total Phosphorus,P 0.91 Total Iron,Fe 0.07 Thanks for taking time to look at this.
Excellent in that you like them? Or excellent in that you consistently score 40+ and medal in BJCP competitions? Your alkalinity is much higher than optimal for pale grists, and calcium is well below optimal levels. Your best course of action would be to add calcium in the form of gypsum or CaCl2 to reduce residual alkalinity and get Ca into the 50 - 150ppm range, and add some acid (lactic or phosphoric) or saurmalz to bring the pH down further. You really need at the very least narrow-range pH strips or ideally a pH meter with a 0.01 tolerance to know exactly the effect of these additions. You may find that your pale beers get even better with a proper water treatment.
Almost looks like Lake Huron water but the Alkalinity is too high, and maybe the Na and Cl are higher. If you local utility uses surface water, they will lime soften it and get numbers like you have posted. That is what Ann Arbor does, and their number look like yours. I made lagers that scored in the mid 30s. Going to RO water and adding salts for the styles got me into the low to mid 40s. You say excellent, how do they do in competitions?
That is some big time alkalinity. If you are brewing excellent pale ales with it, you'll be brewing world class pale ales with lower alkalinity (thus lower mash pH), more calcium, and some sulfates. As an aside, I don't think I've ever seen a natural water profile with essentially no sulfates.
I think I have seen a few, mainly in areas of granite geology, but that ain't lower Michigan. In the PNW many reports have 0 for many minerals, and Pilsen water looks hard by comparison. West TN has mineral free water also. Edit - check this sticky thread out. Mine is on the first page. Hacker is in TN. https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=1887.0
Look farther in, some from the Seattle area and Portland are just as good. Gordon Strong talked at the Seattle NHC, and when he got on water for brewing, he called out the locals and said, "I hate you" with a big smile on his face, as his water is more alkaline than mine.
All I've got to add is that I use this for adjustments: http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/ . . . and that I've very green as your waters seems to require a lot less adjustments than me.
I have never entered one in a compition. I do drink alot of pilsner and my friends and fellow homebrewers say its good. I am pretty harsh on my self when determinating if my beer is good or somthing needs to be different.
I am on a well. I am going to bring a keg of my Pilsner to my homebrew clubs winter party wherwe there are tons of certified judges including master and national level. Fred Bonjour usualy attends this party and does not hesitate to point out faults. He is a good guy though.
Fred is on our club too, he should give you good feedback. You have a few other judges that know German beers well. Beers folks in our club have done with out looking into the water can be good, but finish "muddy" from the alkalinity. They lack the crispness that is a hallmark of a Pilsner.
“They lack the crispness that is a hallmark of a Pilsner.” Jeff, what are your thoughts on German Pilsner vs. Bohemian Pilsner as regards a crispness ‘factor’? Cheers! Jack
They are both fairly bitter, and lack the "muddy" flavor I taste with high levels of alkalinity. Bo-pils has a nice rounded bitterness that goes neutral quickly? German Pils has a sharper more assertive bitterness that lingers and finishes dry. That is the difference in low/no sulfate water in Pilsen vs, the water with more sulfate in much of Germany. I will say that some around Bavaria are delicate, probably lower bittering hops and lower sulfate levels. The local lager craft brewery has done a fine Czech Pils in the past. One of the brewers friends trailered in 600 gallons of distilled water for the first 2 batches. The last one had a lingering bitterness, and was a little muddy. I assume that they could not get the water trucked in, and used tap water instead.
“Bo-pils has a nice rounded bitterness that goes neutral quickly? German Pils has a sharper more assertive bitterness that lingers and finishes dry.” Jeff, that is very consistent with my experiences/viewpoint. My favorite German brewed pilsner is Jever Pils and that beer has a dryness/crispness to it that I enjoy. A Bohemian Pilsner like Pilsner Urquell has a bit softer aspect to it; I would not describe that beer as being ‘un-crisp’ but I wouldn’t specifically employ the descriptor of crisp for that beer. I also agree that Bavarian Pilsners (e.g., Mahr’s Pilsner, Weihenstephan Pilsner) have a somewhat softer aspect to them in comparison to Northern German Pilsners. I enjoy drinking beers like Mahr’s Pilsner & Weihenstephan Pilsner but I view them differently from Northern German style Pilsners (e.g., Jever Pils, Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, etc.). Cheers!
