City of Muncie Water Analysis Report and Brewing Update

I have been awful in keeping up with this blog. For this, I apologize. Lots have been happening in my brewing life. To summarize:

1) I am now an all-grain brewer;
2) I am utilizing the "brew in a bag" method;
3) I have three all-grain beers under my belt -- an American pale ale, a Saison, and a light summer ale;
4) I have been very pleased pleased with all three beers;
5) My next beer will be a New Zealand Pale, utilizing some New Zealand hop varieties; and
6) I can never see me moving back to extract or partial grain brewing.

Muncie City Water

One of the big differences between all-grain and extract brewing is the importance water plays in the process. Water composition and chemistry can greatly effect the efficiency in which sugar is extracted from the malted barley and other grains during the "mash". To simplify (probably too much) water with high alkalinity (hard water) can inhibit the extraction of sugars and create an astringent final product. While there are a number of things a brewer can do to adjust the water before brewing, it is important for an all-grain brewer to get a good read on water chemistry prior to brewing.

One of the brewing message boards (Home Brew Talk, I believe) suggested Ward Laboratories out of Kearney, Nebraska as the place to get water tested. So, I forked over $16.50 to get an analysis of Muncie's water.

Since you can't simply attach a pdf to this blog, I had to upload the water report onto google docs. Additionally, I created a "tiny url" which, with any luck, opens up the water report for your use. Lets see if it works:

http://tinyurl.com/6g4o67o


If it works, then I hopefully just saved you $16.50 and gave you a solid foundation to make your brewing water adjustments to suit the type of beer you are brewing.

In the next couple of weeks/months I hope to gradually get my millions of readers up to speed on my brewing adventures.

If anyone is in the Muncie area and are interested in "Brew in a Bag" and would like to see the process in action, just drop me a message and I will let you know when I next intend to brew.