Chicago Water Analysis
We all know that water is one of the most important components of beer. When I started brewing I went out of my way to goto the local supermarket to pick up “spring” water. After a few batches I just said screw it and started pulling water out of my tap, using the old standby “If it is good enough to drink, its good enough to brew with”. Going into brewing for the summer I have decided to turn over a new leaf spend some time on water chemistry.
The first step in this process is getting a good water analysis. If you live in the Chicago Metro Area you probably get your water from Lake Michigan and were always curious of what your water composition looked like the city of Chicago does quarterly analysis for you for FREE! All of the latest reports can be downloaded from the water departments page for water analysis. The latest City of Chicago Water Report is here.
So, what do you make of the wide range of ph levels posted on the site. Not helpful at all ofr brewers to know that the ph ranges from 6.5 to 8.5.
I’m pretty sure that the the number that matters is the outlet number, which for me is 7.58. The range you refer to is the allowable limits I believe.