Effects of water on the mash

[corene1]

I know this is the recipe development forum , but water makes up the biggest component of a wash or mash. I am curious about what others do for water and what effects did it have on the flavor of the final product.
When I use water from my home tap. I aerate it for a full 24 hours before use to get all the chlorine out Just this step alone has made the ferment of my mashes more predictable. I am now doing some mashes using well water from a place high up in the mountains that is pretty much all granite . It has a little lower starting PH than city water and a sweeter flavor. It comes across in the distilled spirit as a smoother finished product. I can only assume it is the lack of any chemical additions and the higher mineral content. The ferments are also a bit more steady. The city water ferments start out hard and fast then slow down. The well water ferments start out a little slower and are a bit more steady throughout the ferment. There is a natural hot springs about 30 miles from my home and I am thinking about going up there to get some of that water to see how it works. If I can ever figure out how to get to this other spot , there is a spring squirting straight out from the side of a granite mountain , problem is there is about 100 feet of fast river to cross to get to it. Just looking for some others experience and results.

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