tap water for AG

[beechwood]

I was wondering what I would need to add to my tap water to make it suitable for AG brewing? I've mostly used ashbeck (ph 6.2) mineral water in the past for AG. We live in a hard water area where the ph is 6.8

Do I need to use something to take out the chlorine to?

I went on a brewery tour last week and they said they use mains water to make their beer, just wondered what I would have to add, would make it more convenient than having to buy mineral water. :hmm: :thumb:

 

[Covrich]

THis subject seems to come up alot lately, I think my water is 7.1 mark I make beer with it and I think its okay.

I raised a thread a few weeks ago and there have been some since, it seems to be a cocktail of worms.. Does your ordinary tap water taste okay?

 

[CreweBrewer]

I don't add anything and my beer turns out brill.

 

[beechwood]

THis subject seems to come up alot lately, I think my water is 7.1 mark I make beer with it and I think its okay.

I raised a thread a few weeks ago and there have been some since, it seems to be a cocktail of worms.. Does your ordinary tap water taste okay?

yeah it tastes okay, does have a slight chlorine taste but I guess the ph is about right. cheers

 

[TheRedDarren]

Just start of with some Campden tablets to help remove chlorine and chloramine, it also helps kill some bacteria and wild yeasts that may effect things.
When it comes to water chemistry, it can be very tricky to start messing about with it, fun, but tricky!
As a general rule of thumb hard water is good for stouts and porters and soft water is better for pales and pilsners. This doesn't mean you can't make a porter with soft water, or vice versa, just that it's better suited that way around.

 

[beechwood]

Just start of with some Campden tablets to help remove chlorine and chloramine, it also helps kill some bacteria and wild yeasts that may effect things.
When it comes to water chemistry, it can be very tricky to start messing about with it, fun, but tricky!
As a general rule of thumb hard water is good for stouts and porters and soft water is better for pales and pilsners. This doesn't mean you can't make a porter with soft water, or vice versa, just that it's better suited that way around.

Okay cheers for that :thumb:

 

[clibit]

I've only ever used tap water. My water is very soft, I add gypsum to pale brews.

If you get your water report for your post code from your providers website you can put the relevant figures in the water calculator on the website, click on 'Calculators' near top of the page. It will suggest water additions.

 

[HisDudeness]

I asked about this myself a little while ago especially with respect to chlorine etc, I have since completed a few AG and partial mash beers with tap water without using any water treatment at all. My area has 'very hard water' according to Anglian Water and it is Chloraminated. So far I have not had any obvious problems and the results in my opinion have been very good indeed, of course I don't know whether the beers would have been better for treatment or using mineral water but for this stage of my brewing I am more than happy with them and they are still a massive step up from kits I was doing previously. I have since done a couple of brews using Lidl mineral water but have yet to try the finished product. In future I will treat the tap water for chlorine using campden as it seems silly to take the risk for such a cheap solution. Most of the beers I have made so far have been pale ales and IPAs which should not suit my water supply according to most of what I have read but as I said its not presented any obvious issues. Something I might consider doing in future is mixing mineral and tap water to effectively dilute the mineral content.

 

[simon12]

I have what I think is medium hard water and was advised to add 1tsp of gypsum to the mash for pale beers and 1tsp calcium chloride to a stout which I think are good general rule of As for CRS you need to know how much alkalinity is in the water the important part was
"Alkalinity is given in terms of bicarbonate, although there are likely to be alkaline substances present that are not bicarbonates. I prefer to work with alkalinity in terms of CaCO3 which can be derived by dividing the HCO3 amount by 1.22, 107mg/l CaCO3 in this case. Now 1ml of CRS is said to neutralise the alkalinity of 183mg CaCO3 and for a pale beer it might be assumed you would want to reduce alkalinity by about 70mg/l CaCO3. All liquor should be treated and it would depend how much liquor you need to make 23 litres of beer, so I'll assume 35 litres. So 35 x 70 / 183 = 13.4 ml, a fair bit less than you suggested."
All credit for this info should go to Eric on jimsbeerkit forum

I can also confirm I have made great beers without any of this its for when you are looking to perfect it if you have enough time and should make your great beers legendary. Similar to perfect fermentation temperature control.