Is my water OK to brew with?

I'm brewing my first batch this weekend (Murfreesboro, TN) and totally forgot about my water quality. Here is my report:





So can I brew with this? Or should I get campden tablets or bottled water from the store. I also have a Brita water pitcher. Would that help?

Thanks

Does it taste good? Is it free of contaminants? Then yes, you can brew with it. It's your first batch, don't get caught up in over complicating the issue.

Once you get a hold on brewing, then check out Martin's website: Bru'n Water to get a better understanding.

Water is not a subject that can be covered in a thread reply.

I'm new as well, but I would say that if your water is drinkable without noticeable tastes or aroma that it will brew great beer. If you have the time and it would make you feel better use your filtered water, but I wouldn't go through the extra expense or trouble until you have tried brewing with your own water. I usually let my water just sit for a day to let the chlorine naturally evaporate.

I'd call them and ask for a more detailed report... Mine gives a ton more info.

Ask for Calcium, Magnesium, Carbonate, Sulphate, you have Sodium but ask for Chloride, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity and pH as a minimum.

I'm sure they have all of those.

For those who are saying "if it tastes good, it'll make great beer," I'd beg to differ. I brewed my first 20some (1-gallon AG) batches with bottled Poland Spring water. Hey, it tastes great, right?

Well, because I didn't worry about the water chemistry behind brewing, I ended up with 20some astringent/tannin tasting beers because my pH was all messed up. Every single one of my IPA's has the same astringent hop aroma (regardless of the hops and malts I use) and the same off flavor, like I'm sucking on a penny.

OP, beware that just because the water tastes great, doesn't mean it'll make great beer.

Just get yourself a carbon filter and you'll be fine. Water chemistry plays a bigger roll when doing all grain (I'd assume you are going with extract). You can always do a 50/50 mix of RO and your filtered house water

It does taste good from the tap but I usually filter it through my Brita pitcher. I would call and ask for a more detailed report but I'm brewing Saturday so I don't really have much time. Guess I'll just use the filter and hope for the best.

When I first started brewing I would buy the Costco kirkland bottled water, the one with the with 6 one gallon containers. It made some great Beers but I got tired of making trips and waiting in line just for that

He hasn't even brewed one batch yet to see what his final product will be. You're making this more complicated than you have to. Brew, taste and if you are happy awesome. If you are not post your recipe and some of the more knowledgeable people may be able to help you correct what you don't like.
Lots of people have brewed lots of good beer with tap water let's not put the cart before the horse.
It took you 20 batches to figure out it was your water, but you still figured it out. And isn't that part of the learning process???

JeffoC6 said:

For those who are saying "if it tastes good, it'll make great beer," I'd beg to differ. I brewed my first 20some (1-gallon AG) batches with bottled Poland Spring water. Hey, it tastes great, right?

Well, because I didn't worry about the water chemistry behind brewing, I ended up with 20some astringent/tannin tasting beers because my pH was all messed up. Every single one of my IPA's has the same astringent hop aroma (regardless of the hops and malts I use) and the same off flavor, like I'm sucking on a penny.

OP, beware that just because the water tastes great, doesn't mean it'll make great beer.

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jonny_crash said:

He hasn't even brewed one batch yet to see what his final product will be. You're making this more complicated than you have to. Brew, taste and if you are happy awesome. If you are not post your recipe and some of the more knowledgeable people may be able to help you correct what you don't like.
Lots of people have brewed lots of good beer with tap water let's not put the cart before the horse.
It took you 20 batches to figure out it was your water, but you still figured it out. And isn't that part of the learning process???

Click to expand...

Fair point. I overlooked that he was on his first batch. Yes, I agree that you should let 'er rip if that's the case.

I wish I would have known is my point. I wish by the 5th batch I knew it was my water that was causing problems. Just trying to educate the young paduan so he doesn't go down the dark road of astringent tasting beer

I guess jc has something.. but, if there is something grossly out of balance.. and he can find it and easily remedy it with dilution or... why blow all that time and beer..? My water has enough residual alkalinity that it produces beer.. but.. could be better with adjustments.. and that's for extract. Now that I'm going for AG it makes even more difference... My point was.. get the full picture. I don't think it's too early in his process.

I just used the Brita filter. I hope everything went OK because my liquid yeast packet barely expanded, even though I broke the nutrient pack inside. That was hard, but fun as hell.

1 more paranoid question. I pitched my yeast at 80-85 degrees. Is that too hot?

Pretty warm IMO... If you have a big pail that the FV will fit in, I'd fill it with water to the point where the FV begins to float and put some ice in it.. then freeze some personal water bottles and put them in to keep the temp down in the mid-60''s asap. The first few days of fermentation are the most critical, as I understand it, for temperature.

HbgBill said:

Pretty warm IMO... If you have a big pail that the FV will fit in, I'd fill it with water to the point where the FV begins to float and put some ice in it.. then freeze some personal water bottles and put them in to keep the temp down in the mid-60''s asap. The first few days of fermentation are the most critical, as I understand it, for temperature.

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Just did that. Hopefully it will help. Thanks.

If you're brewing extract, you mainly just need to focus on removing all the chlorine/chloramine, a campden tablet will do that for you. My first 3 batches I made were ruined because I didn't know about removing chlorine, all tasted like plastic.

Originally Posted by JeffoC6
"For those who are saying "if it tastes good, it'll make great beer," I'd beg to differ. I brewed my first 20some (1-gallon AG) batches with bottled Poland Spring water. Hey, it tastes great, right?"

I agree with you. The guy who invented the saying, is the same guy that invented RDWHAHB. He should have said. If your water tastes good, you can make beer. However, it may not be drinkable. But then, he would have had to stick a "C" between the "A" and "H". RDWHACHB, the "C" would stand for Crappy. He wouldn't have sold as many books.

Poland Spring is very soft. It's close to the water from Pilsen. The area known for Pilsner, not so much for ale. I believe, that when everything works right the first time, we don't learn anything.