Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

My water here in RI is very soft - 13ppm Ca, 1.0ppm Mg, 28ppm Na, 6ppm SO4, 43ppm Cl, 56ppm HCO3. In general, New England is a giant lump of granite so no much dissolves into the surface or groundwater supplies.

 

My water in VT comes from Lake Champlain and is pretty close to what Pegli posted. I primarily use RO water from the local co-op, though.

 

I'm in Boston and my water is basically low double digits, very soft. A blank slate. All that granite around here.

 

The water in the east is generally good. The one above has some higher Na and Cl levels, maybe from road salt runoff. It can vary a little from place to place, but it is still better than the midwest water.

Mic, what are you researching?

 

I'm using well water in MetroWest Boston:

Na 4
Ca 9
Mg 2
Total Hardness, CaCO3 31
Sulfate SO4-S 4
Cl 3
CO3 <1
HCO3 28
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 23

 

Below are some Ward Labs results from Southern NH. Sample 1 is my public water supply and Samples 2 & 3 are friend's private wells.

Sample #1 #2 #3
pH 7.4 7 8.2
TDS 145 283 293
Sodium, Na 31 61 6
Potassium, K 1 2 1
Calcium, Ca 6 41 63
Magnesium, Mg <1 3 26
Total Hardness, CaCO3 19 115 266
Nitrate, NO3-N 0.5 2.9 1.3
Sulfate, SO4-S 3 4 14
Chloride, Cl 25 86 17
Carbonate, CO3 <1 <1 9
Bicarbonate, HCO3 46 116 235
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 38 95 208

 

The low alkalinity is a plus for a light colored beer. Of course there are exceptions, like the ones above. Check out the maps in Brunwater.

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge

 

This is most likely the case...

 

Can you explain why the above waters aren't good for light colored beer ? I've had great success with just CaCl2 additions.

 

I can tell you that water in VT is highly variable. Surface water sources are all good. Wells are all over the place; there is limestone next to granite intrusions,water coming up through a total mess of metamorphic constituents, high sulfate near old mining areas, etc. Hill Farmstead water is a great example. It comes from fractured granite and is pristine brewing water; just add what you need (often not necessary). Wells less than 3 miles away are hard as hell, barely fit for drinking. This pattern holds over most of the state (but most of our water is very good). Most of our 'good' well water is also well endowed with trace nutrients, which I think makes a positive difference.

Most VT breweries have good sources, hardness 100ppm or less, TDS very low, a blank slate for making any beer you want.

 

Post number 8 has #2 with an alkalinity of 95 and number 3 with an alkalinity of 208. For many beers the rule of thumb is to have the alkalinity <50 ppm.

 

Hardness is not the issue. 100 ppm or even some above that is fine for a lot of beers. Alkalinity, however is the most important part of the water profile, and there high is bad and action must be taken.

 

I have been following Martin's Bru'n Water guidelines, with good results so far:

Yellow ~50-60 alkalinity ppm
Amber ~90-100
Brown ~130-140
Black ~180-190

One exception, I followed the Pilsen profile for a BoPils and diluted my water 2:1 with distilled in order to get alkalinity down into the teens.