Using tap water in mash

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gabbz

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Hey all. I'm on AG batch #2 so really pretty new to it. Admittedly I am not one who has been super concerned with "exactness" in relation to things like efficiency and water chemistry just yet. With that in mind I am just curious how "bad" is it to use untreated tap water in my mash and sparge. I know that I can get a ph stabilizer, but don't want to bother if it's not going to cause a drastic problem. Thanks for your responses.
 
I have heard a lot of people say, if you like how it tastes out of the tap, then use it. If you want to be really anil, then get a water test kit.
 
For $16.50 you can get a full water test done from Ward Laboratories, just send them a sample. Best thing I ever did since I love my tap water brews (well water) but didn't realize that my water is highly calcium deficient. Since I've been adding calcium my beers have improved. If you like how your beers taste keep doing what you are doing...one day though you may want to step it up a notch and get into water chemistry, it does make a difference.
 
The only real problem, assuming it's already good quality water, would be chlorine/chloramine in the water. A lot of municipalities use the stuff and it can leave a bad taste in your beer. I tdid my first brew straight from the tap, it wasn't bad, but definitely had some off band-aid/medicinal flavor that never went away. It wasn't terrible, but huge difference when I went to a solid carbon block filter.

And yeah, what Jayhem said as well.
 
+1 to getting the water tested but you'll also need a Campden tablet for the Chlorine. If you really want to start getting your water figured out get the test done from Ward Labs and get a PH meter and learn how dark and light grains affect the mash PH. Dark grains will pull the PH lower and light grains will pull it higher, where you'll have to get some sort of acid to lower the PH back down to 5.2 - 5.5. Most people use either Phosphoric Acid or 2-3% of the grain bill in Acid Malt. Check out the Brew Science section and you'll be able to find whatever you want there.
 
I've made dozens of great batches using untreated tap water all the way through. I've made a few batches where I treated it and found very little variation in the finished product. Ideally, contact your water supplier and get a water profile for your area, and make some decisions based on the water chemistry primer. If you're worried about excess chlorination, you can boil all of the water you are going to use ahead of time (just let it cool back down and you've got your mash and sparge water ready) to help drive off the chlorine, but this isn't usually necessary and will change the water chemistry a bit in the end. My advice? use the tap water a couple times, than grab a bit of gypsum and waterever else you might need at the HB store next time you're there. Make the same batches with treated water and note any differences. Water chemistry and ion interactions may be an exact science, but finding the flavors you like certainly is not!
 
Don't do it! Using tap water is the #1 way to ruin a beer!

(taking sarcastic hat off)

I use my tap water exclusively, haven't treated or tested it for anything. I have reviewed my utility company's water report, but it's lacking a couple of the more important figures to brewers... Haven't had a single problem so far. Well, at least not one attributable to water quality...
 
I use hot tap water and a crushed-up campden tablet.

Using hot water straight from the faucet saves me a bunch of time. I figure I already have a huge tank full of pretty hot water, why start from scratch with cold water and waste all that time heating it up? I start with water that's already about 125° F and can get it to the necessary 170° F in about 15 minutes.
 
If it's water from a municipality, just email them, they'll send you a water analysis report for free. From there it's easy to see what's going on, and even use basic water recipes that others have created for whatever style you want to brew.
 
As was mentioned, it really depends on your water.

If you have chloramines in your water (a form of chlorine), they don't boil off. If you have iron in your water, the beer won't taste good.

I have great tasting water, but it's very alkaline with a high bicarbonate content. That means I make great stouts with my tap water, but not light lagers.

If you call/contact your water supplier, they may be able to give you a good report. Mine couldn't, so I sent a sample to Ward Labs and for $16, I got a full brewing water report.

Without knowing the make up of your water, it would be just anybody's guess.
 
I used to just use my tap water as is, eventually I got tired of flying blind. My tap water here is "Surface water" instead of ground water or well water and as a result is medium soft, so now I just adjust depending on the style. I also use campden as my water is chloramined. My water profile naturally is good for continental style pilsners though:D
 
Does your water smell like chlorine? Does it taste good? If the answer to the first question is no and the second, yes, don't worry about it for now. Eventually you'll want to understand your water and learn how to adjust it.
 
In our neck of the woods, a water softener is a must. For dark beers however, I bypass the softener, which means using cold water as all the water in the water heater has already been softened. Pils, Kolsch, other light beers, I use the softened water from the water heater as you mentioned. No objective tests performed to say if it makes the beer better, but I feel better, and that's whats really important. Brew Beer - feel better, brink beer - feel even better. What a wonderful cycle.
 
In our neck of the woods, a water softener is a must. For dark beers however, I bypass the softener, which means using cold water as all the water in the water heater has already been softened. Pils, Kolsch, other light beers, I use the softened water from the water heater as you mentioned. No objective tests performed to say if it makes the beer better, but I feel better, and that's whats really important. Brew Beer - feel better, brink beer - feel even better. What a wonderful cycle.

I could be wrong, but I've been told that water that has been through a softener is the worst water for brewing. they said that water softeners add too many salts to the water.

I have a softener For my well water too, so I've been meaning to look up some info on this before my next brew day.
 
i have a weird situation.

I can drink the water straight from the tap and it's fine, but if I mix up a batch of powdered drink mix, or brew coffee with it, it's downright nasty. So, we have a Brita pitcher for the mixes and coffee. We also have a filter in the refrigerator ice/water dispenser and that tastes OK.

for brewing (& 'prepping'), I have been using Deer Park and that seems to work out OK... but haven't done too many batches. Also have been refilling the gallon jugs with water from the ice/water dispenser and going to start working those into the brew, along with cycling out older 'prepper' water, as needed.

almost scared to use water straight out of the tap for brewing; don't want to ruin a batch
 
i have a weird situation.

I can drink the water straight from the tap and it's fine, but if I mix up a batch of powdered drink mix, or brew coffee with it, it's downright nasty. So, we have a Brita pitcher for the mixes and coffee. We also have a filter in the refrigerator ice/water dispenser and that tastes OK.

for brewing (& 'prepping'), I have been using Deer Park and that seems to work out OK... but haven't done too many batches. Also have been refilling the gallon jugs with water from the ice/water dispenser and going to start working those into the brew, along with cycling out older 'prepper' water, as needed.

almost scared to use water straight out of the tap for brewing; don't want to ruin a batch

When you mix drinks or brew coffee are you using the warm water? Because that might be softened while the cold water is unsoftened
 
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