I've had a good look into this topic several times and I always come to the same conclusion. The water is very soft and contains very little minerals. I think any annual or season differences would be negligible.
As far as brewing is concerned, I add salts to my water and/or mash only when I have a reason to. I quite often add 1tsp of gypsum to the mash to increase efficiency, help make clear beer and add little hop crispness. Other than that, I only add salts to my mash for ph adjustment in dark beers and sometimes salts to my boil for very hoppy beers in an attempt to prevent astringency. And of course flavour.
Check out this web site for a simple calculator and some reading:
I spoke with one of the technicians who prepares the water reports and he has told me that while they don't show calcium (Ca) on the report that for the Te Marua supply one can comfortably use values between 17-19ppm and that magnesium (Mg) is approximately 25% of the calcium value. I've been using a value of 19 for bicarbonate (HCO3 ppm) as recommended by the water technician.
MrC
I've had a good look into this topic several times and I always come to the same conclusion. The water is very soft and contains very little minerals. I think any annual or season differences would be negligible.
As far as brewing is concerned, I add salts to my water and/or mash only when I have a reason to. I quite often add 1tsp of gypsum to the mash to increase efficiency, help make clear beer and add little hop crispness. Other than that, I only add salts to my mash for ph adjustment in dark beers and sometimes salts to my boil for very hoppy beers in an attempt to prevent astringency. And of course flavour.
Check out this web site for a simple calculator and some reading:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/
Jul 14, 2011
Chris Mills
http://www.gw.govt.nz/Chemical-analysis-Te-Marua-2
I spoke with one of the technicians who prepares the water reports and he has told me that while they don't show calcium (Ca) on the report that for the Te Marua supply one can comfortably use values between 17-19ppm and that magnesium (Mg) is approximately 25% of the calcium value. I've been using a value of 19 for bicarbonate (HCO3 ppm) as recommended by the water technician.
http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/
I've been using the metric water calculator at the above URL. It's pretty easy to work with.
Jul 17, 2011
Simon Cooke
This link has chemical analysis of each water plant (PAGE 24) and if you go to PAGE 2 you can see what water supply your area (should be) receiving.
Im also trying to dabble in a bit of water chem. :)
Nov 8, 2011