CHLORAMINE

[periolus]

Hello!

I am now building my first AG setup, but wanted to address the issue of Chloramine, as I am pretty sure it is in our water here in Bristol. When AG brewing, how do you overcome this irritating additive? I hear it spoils the flavour quite a lot, although it's not really bothered me with the kit brews to date.

How do you sort it out?

---EDIT!------

Campden tablets to start off with - and then CRS, right? Just found an old reply to a water treatment question I posted yonks ago. I need to go and read CRS posts now

 

[Wendy1971]

You need detailed analasys from your local water company then a testing kit for alkilinity. When you have all the results its a calculation to find out what you need to add to make your water suitable.

 

[Aleman]

Campden tablets to start off with - and then CRS, right? Just found an old reply to a water treatment question I posted yonks ago. I need to go and read CRS posts now

Don't worry too much about water treatment for your first few all grain brews you can make good beer (and much better than kits) without water treatment beyond the addition of a campden tablet to remove chloramine.

Water treatment is a complete waste of time until you have a sound all grain brewing procedure.

Without knowing what is in your water randomly throwing acids and chemicals into it is not water treatment it's more akin to witchcraft!!!. Murphys Home Brew do a water analysis service for a reasonable amount of cash which will tell you what is in it much more reliably than a water authority report will (However take their recommendations with a pinch of salt, unless you like a one size fits all 'pot noodle' result) Measuring and treating alkalinity every time you brew with a Salifert Total Alkalinity (KH) test kit should be something you do without fail every time you brew once you do get into water treatment.

One other thing you will find is that practically every water treatment article on the web/books/magazine implies that you have to treat your water to produce an 'ideal' water profile that either mimics that where the beer is brewed or that there is an ideal water profile for the beer style you want to brew. This is complete ********! What you are doing with water treatment is adjusting the liquor to ensure that the chemical processes in brewing proceed in the expected manner . . . any flavour adjustments as a result of water treatment are marginal (like that final 1% of improvement), and unless you are bang on with your brewing techniques you will not notice it as there are more important things to get right first.