Shocker! Tesco Change Their Mineral Water

[Cheshire Cat]

If this or previous governments were serious about climate change they would ban all bottled water. It takes energy to make plastic bottles which then produce waste and transportation from bottling to the shops. There is a perfect distribution system in the UK for its called pipes. We only buy bottled water to have the bottle which we refill from the tap and then use outside the house.

 

[Ezza]

Hi can the new Tesco bottled water still be used to dilute Starsan?

 

[MmmBeer]

Hi can the new Tesco bottled water still be used to dilute Starsan?

The important factor is the pH, you want it to be 7 or slightly below. Using an alkaline water (my tap water has a pH of 7.4-7.6) causes the starsan solution to go cloudy and be less effective at killing bacteria.

Just had a look on Tesco's website to check pH of Elmhurst, no information given, but noticed that it had 21 one star reviews, most saying bring back Ashbeck. Has someone on here been review bombing it.

 

[strange-steve]

The important factor for starsan dilution isn't the pH but rather the bicarbonate, you want it as low as possible.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Sometimes nestles water aqua Pura? Is sourced from 2 different places. One one of them had a suitable composition for my brewing purposes so Ive been caught out with that changing. As a last last resort I've had to make do with volvic.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

And irrespective of whether water is expensive to move about the country there is obviously money to be made by selling it, and the production and distribution costs will be more than exceeded by the profit margin, probably many times over.

Errm - I am familiar with how shops work.

But certainly in France what you find is that for something like mineral water which is low value but heavy/bulky, it's fairly regionalised - the likes of Evian are the water equivalent of say Moretti or a US import IPA, they're a lot more expensive than the stuff bottled down the road. And these days supermarket websites are fairly sophisticated about matching products to regions - so for instance Chippy in Cumbria might get offered Ashbeck in all sizes, but someone in Cornwall finds that it's out of stock for them.

Anyway, as it happens, I've got 4x5l Ashbeck in stock, what am I bid? £100?

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Last time I bought any Aldi’s 17p water was aroma Chase Spring if that helps.

 

[terrym]

Errm - I am familiar with how shops work.

Good for you. That make at least two of us then.

 

[Kye]

The important factor for starsan dilution isn't the pH but rather the bicarbonate, you want it as low as possible.

oh dear, thanks steve as I didnt know this. the bicarbonate in my tap water is 355ppm. I've been using chemsan in the recommended 10ml per 5 litre solution for sanitising. I've gone through 6 batches doing this and not had any problems yet but do you think this is just luck? with that bicarb count do you think the chemsan is even doing anything?!

 

[strange-steve]

oh dear, thanks steve as I didnt know this. the bicarbonate in my tap water is 355ppm. I've been using chemsan in the recommended 10ml per 5 litre solution for sanitising. I've gone through 6 batches doing this and not had any problems yet but do you think this is just luck? with that bicarb count do you think the chemsan is even doing anything?!

It's probably fine, but the only way to know for sure is to test the pH after dilution. It's an acid based sanitiser so it should be <3 pH.

 

[RichardM]

I would imagine its all down to cost and convenience, the same reason I use tap water (albeit treated with campden tablets).

One thing I do know, like ALL bottled water in the UK, it would fail EU water quality standards if that came out of a tap. Just like "Peckham Spring", I am aware of 2 brands of bottled water that are sourced directly from the public water supply.

I must admit I am slightly biased as I work for a water company and I have always been fortunate to enjoy hard water for my brewing.

Why? What's wrong with it?

 

[Kye]

It's probably fine, but the only way to know for sure is to test the pH after dilution. It's an acid based sanitiser so it should be <3 pH.

thanks for the reply, really appreciate it - could I ask one more qn, would you go anywhere near tap water with a 355ppm bicarbonate for brewing? or should i stick to bottled? rest of the stats are fairly manageable with some additions (Calcium 132ppm though) but this has really put me off trying it for fear of a spoiled/off batch

 

[strange-steve]

thanks for the reply, really appreciate it - could I ask one more qn, would you go anywhere near tap water with a 355ppm bicarbonate for brewing? or should i stick to bottled? rest of the stats are fairly manageable with some additions (Calcium 132ppm though) but this has really put me off trying it for fear of a spoiled/off batch

That is a lot of bicarbonate for sure, but why not try a batch using your tap water with some CRS treatment to see how it compares? You won't spoil the batch, worst case scenario is that it won't be quite as good as previous batches, but on the other hand you might prefer it with a high mineral content.

 

[aamcle]

I use Star San so I buy Ashbeck to make it up in (it's good in the wife's steam iron to) but nearly always I just treat tap water. I have 70 odd ppm Ca and Alkalinity of about 210 but it still makes perfectly good beer even lagers.

Aamcle

 

[HopHead420]

could I ask one more qn, would you go anywhere near tap water with a 355ppm bicarbonate for brewing? or should i stick to bottled?

When I lived in coastal Suffolk I brewed with carbon filtered tap water with an average alkalinity of 400ppm bicarb. I treated it with a blend of Phosphoric and Lactic acid so as not to go over the taste threshold of either. I would avoid CRS like the plague because 1) it adds Sulphate and Chloride ions, making your life more difficult when trying to hit a profile, and 2) it is a blend of Sulphuric and Hydrochloric acids, which are both horrible to handle safely when compared with Lactic and Phosphoric.

To cut to the chase I was able to brew very nice pale beer when treating Suffolk's heavily alkaline water with a blend of Phosphoric and Lactic acids. I suggest you give it a go with yours, using bottled water is all downsides once you get the hang of water chemistry.

 

[foxbat]

I noticed that our corner shop which is a One Stop who are owned by Tesco now have the 2l bottles of Ashbeck on the shelf. It's branded One Stop Ashbeck but it's the same as the parent Tesco brand.

 

[Kye]

When I lived in coastal Suffolk I brewed with carbon filtered tap water with an average alkalinity of 400ppm bicarb. I treated it with a blend of Phosphoric and Lactic acid so as not to go over the taste threshold of either. I would avoid CRS like the plague because 1) it adds Sulphate and Chloride ions, making your life more difficult when trying to hit a profile, and 2) it is a blend of Sulphuric and Hydrochloric acids, which are both horrible to handle safely when compared with Lactic and Phosphoric.

To cut to the chase I was able to brew very nice pale beer when treating Suffolk's heavily alkaline water with a blend of Phosphoric and Lactic acids. I suggest you give it a go with yours, using bottled water is all downsides once you get the hang of water chemistry.

thanks for the suggestion on this, really helpful. In terms of measurements, did you just use enough to get the mash pH down to an appropriate level of c. 5.5? ie that's your main guide for the total addition?

 

[strange-steve]

I would avoid CRS like the plague because 1) it adds Sulphate and Chloride ions, making your life more difficult when trying to hit a profile, and 2) it is a blend of Sulphuric and Hydrochloric acids, which are both horrible to handle safely when compared with Lactic and Phosphoric.

Yes it adds sulphate and chloride which might make a specific profile impossible, but that's entirely dependant on the starting profile and how much sulphate/chloride you want. Saying "avoid it like the plague" isn't very helpful in my opinion. Plenty of people use it quite happily, because unlike many of our US based friends, we can be in the UK generally aren't afraid of a higher mineral content.

 

[chopps]

Just drinking a bottle of water from Aldi. For anyone interested ...
95p for 4 x 2L bottles
Aqua Vale Still Spring Water
Bottled at Source Chase Spring, Lichfield, Staffs.

Calcium 38
Magnesium 12
Sodium 8
Potassium 2.5
Chloride 12
Bicarbonate 135
Sulphate 14
Nitrate 5
ph at source 7.8

 

[chillipickle]

I wonder if tesco was just having stock issues?
Visited 2 different tesco expresses over the past few days and both had shelves full of 5ltr ashbeck.