Ward Labs Water Report

There has been a lot of buzz recently in regards to water profiles in brewing. My guess is since the new water book is being released by John Palmer and Colin Kaminski, a lot more people have taken notice to this very important ingredient in beer. One valuable resource to a homebrewer is their local water report that is provided by their water supplier. Although they provide readings in ranges, this will get you fairly close to your water profile. one major issue with water supplier reports is that your water source may change due to weather patterns or time of season; its never going to be very accurate. 

Luckily the good people at Ward Labs provides us with a cheap way to test our H2O by sending off for a water report. To submit a water sample, download the order form from here:

http://www.wardlab.com/images/SampleForms/HomeBrewer.pdf

I sent my sample in a thoroughly rinsed plastic vodka bottle that fit perfectly in a USPS flat rate box. Ward Labs will perform the analysis and email you the results along with the invoice for payment. They accept credit cards over the phone or you can pay by mail. 

Below is my water report:

My water is on the soft side with not a lot of sulfate. Ward Labs does measure sulfate as sulfur so you will need to convert this to the actual mass of sulfate per liter (just multiply the SO4-S by 3; it will get you close enough). Another thing to note is my pH level which is a bit high. 

A great resource to tweak your water profile, based on your grain bill, is EZ Water Calculator:

http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/

Download the spreadsheet and you will be able to plug in your water profile (don't forget, multiply Sulfate by 3), and your grain bill and it should give you a fairly accurate report. I would still advise to check your mash pH with a properly calibrated pH meter just to be on the safe side.