Beer Forum

Does anyone use Ozarka Natural Spring Water to brew with? If so, do you treat it in any way or just use it straight?

Their website has the following analysis on the water. I'm just getting into learning about how to modify water and was wondering what y'all would do with the following readings.

*In mg/l or ppm

Calcium: 1.6-4.2
Bicarbonate: 0-14
Magnesium: 0-1.2
Sodium: 2.6-12
Chloride: 0.61-18
Sulfate: 0-4.7
Alkalinity: 0-14

pH units: 5.30-7.28

I do mostly lagers and certainly for a Pils I wouldn't do anything at all except perhaps add a little calcium chloride (about half a gram for evey 5 gallons treated). I tend to do eveything with soft water so all I would do for most other beers, if anything, would be to increase that calcium chloride to perhaps as much as 2 grams per 5 gallons which would get us up to 32 mg/L which should be plenty. But that's the way I brew beer. I do not rely on calcium to lower mash pH. If you intend to do that you would need lots more calcium.

Also I personally tend to avoid sulfate wherever I can because I don't like what it does to hops. But many British beers rely on high sulfate levels to give them exactly the hop character they are known for. If you wish to do that you will obviously need to add some calcium sulfate (gypsum) and/or magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts).

Great, thanks, I'll give your suggestions a try on my next brew and see what it does.