Brewing water
Munich water
Moderately hard and notably alkaline, with high bicarbonate that historically favoured darker malt over pale.
Munich, Germany
Read this as a reconstruction. Figures are the widely-reproduced historical analysis, stored as a range because the underlying supply varied by well, by season and over time. Treat them as an indication of relative character, not as a specification to dose water against.
Munich Helles was introduced in 1894, half a century after Bohemian pale lager, as a direct competitive response. Getting it right required working around the same alkalinity that had made the city’s dark beers so good.
Mineral content
| Ion | mg/l | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Calcium (Ca²⁺) | 60–110 ppm | Lowers mash pH, supports enzyme and protein behaviour, aids yeast flocculation and clarity. Close to flavour-neutral itself. |
| Magnesium (Mg²⁺) | 10–25 ppm | A yeast nutrient in small amounts. Above roughly 30 mg/l it begins to read as sour or metallic. |
| Sodium (Na⁺) | 1–10 ppm | Rounds and accentuates sweetness at moderate levels. With high sulphate it turns harsh rather than full. |
| Chloride (Cl⁻) | 1–10 ppm | Tends to accentuate malt fullness, body and roundness. A tendency in perception, not an additive sweetness. |
| Sulphate (SO₄²⁻) | 5–20 ppm | Tends to accentuate hop bitterness and drive a drier finish. At high levels it reads as harsh and minerally rather than simply more bitter. |
| Bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) | 120–200 ppm | The alkalinity that resists mash acidification. High bicarbonate needs dark, acidic malt to balance it — which is why alkaline-water cities brewed dark beer. |
Overall hardness: moderately hard. Balance: balanced (chloride:sulphate roughly 0.44:1). The ratio is a shorthand the trade finds useful for describing whether a water pushes a beer toward crispness or fullness. It is not a formula, and two waters with the same ratio at very different total concentrations do not behave alike.
Historical context
High bicarbonate raises mash pH, which produces harshness in a pale beer but is offset by the acidity of dark malts. This is a substantial part of why Munich Dunkel long predates Munich Helles — the water suited dark beer, and brewing a good pale beer there required either treatment or technique.
Styles associated with this water
Association, not causation. Brewers selected recipes that worked with the water available to them; the water did not design the beer.
Other water profiles
- Balanced reference profile — moderately hard, balanced.
- Burton-on-Trent water — very hard, strongly sulphate.
- Dortmund water — hard, sulphate leaning.
- Dublin water — hard, sulphate leaning.
- Edinburgh water — hard, sulphate leaning.
- London water — moderately hard, balanced.
- Pilsen water — very soft, balanced.
- Vienna water — hard, sulphate leaning.
Last reviewed 2026-08-15.
Evidence
What BeerHQ knows about this, and how. Every statement carries the state of the evidence behind it rather than being presented flatly as fact.
Chloride tends to accentuate the perception of malt fullness and roundness, in the same way sulphate accentuates bitterness and dryness — a tendency in perception rather than an additive flavour.
Backed by a source
Sources: Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers — print; Tasting Beer (2nd edition) — print