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You don't need an official water report if you can measure the alkalinity and calcium yourself. Once you take care of these the chemistry should go smoothly.

Almost all municipal water supplies in Ireland are deficient in calcium for brewing. In my last brew on Sunday I brought my calcium up to around 160 ppm with calcium sulphate and calcium chloride and my efficiency spiked into the 80s for the mash.

As for the effects on flavour, all the books I've read mention the sulphate/chloride balance as being significant, but it's a matter of experimentation to get it the way you want it. Either way you will add calcium which is beneficial.

I bought similar test kits a few years ago and find them very useful. They are very accurate too. I use them to double check the alkalinity and calcium after adding water treatments and they always give the predicted levels.

Good to know, I measured the alkalinity last night and it worked out at around 35 to 40, which roughly tallies with the values given in the Knowledge Base section for the Ballymore Eustace supply. I must get the calcium test kit now.

Good for pale beer so. Mine comes in at between 160-200 which explains why I am keener than most to figure out the specifics of water chemistry.

So you need to reduce the alkalinity regardless then.

In my case I presume adding a teaspoon of calcium sulphate to the mash and one to the boil should be a good starting point for pale ales/bitters in terms of improving calcium levels.

The next question would be how to raise the levels of alkalinity for a darker beer.

Incidentally I may have read the test results inaccurately according to this post on Jim's[/url:3uzfgzpv]

I use this one:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.aquariumguys.com/hardnesstest.html">www.aquariumguys.com/hardnesstest.html

Not sure if it's any better, but my values seem to tally after carbonate removal.

&amp;quot;Hendrixcat&amp;quot;:t9n7uc9n wrote: I use this one:[/quote:t9n7uc9n]

this one measures hardness, but not specifically calcium levels? should I also use a separate calcium test?

thanks