Forgive my stupid question "water"

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bare19672

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How important is it to have good water for brewing? I have made a few batches and am starting to notice a taste pattern that I don't care for I have been using city tap water. My best beers so far have been dark more forgiving beers. Should I be buying bottled water for brewing? How about the boil water do I need bottled for that also?
I do not know the make up of my tap water.
Any thoughts and experiences would be helpfull.
 
If the tap water tastes good, the beer should taste good. That's especially true when brewing extract batches.

When you move to AG, you should get a water report and learn to read it.
 
Taste your water.

If it tastes good then you should be ok. If it tatses bad you will probably carry the taste to the beer.

Full wort boils help failing that you can preboil your water. I'd make three brews, all the same ingredients, , smaller batches if needed. One with your water, one preboiled water and one store bought water.

If there is a noticible difference then you'll know.

There's always the filter option.
 
Water tastes o/k there is a smell of clorine. I may have to try a batch I have made before with filtered or boiled water.
Thanks
 
bare19672 said:
Water tastes o/k there is a smell of clorine. I may have to try a batch I have made before with filtered or boiled water.
Thanks

I assume you are on a municipal water system rather than a private well? You'll probably wat to try filtering your water if that is the case. Municipalities add chlorine and flouride, etc. That's why I like well water.
 
Call your water company and get a water quality report. Ours is mailed out yearly and is also available online. Boiling will get rid of chlorine but not chloramine. I switched to spring water from the grocer until I can get off my duff and install a whole house charcoal filter. Which from what I understand will filter chloramines. Do a search for “chloramine” on this site and there are all kinds of posts on filtering and what water to use. Confidence in brewing water and ingredients, to me, makes it taste that much better.
 
What does your water taste like if it sits in a glass for a couple hours open to the air? If I leave mine (city tap water) out for this amount of time it is barely drinkable. I haven't sought an answer to it so I'm not exactly sure what causes it, though it might just be the pH dropping (from 9.2) through equilibrium with CO2 in the air, producing more HOCl... perhaps leading to formation of chloramines.

You can get a Water Quality Report for Specialized Water Use Customers from your water company online or by requesting it from them, and it will tell you exactly what is in the water as far as Alk, TDS, and different ions. (Assuming you aren't drinking softened water, which then is

I filter all my water through a Brita pitcher to remove total chlorines before using it to brew.
 
Or check your local grocery stores for one that has a Reverse Osmosis (RO) machine where you can refill jugs for cheap (seen it on sale for as low as 25 cents/gallon and as high as 75). That way you know it's free of much of the unwanted chemicals found in tap water.

There's an artesian well that's just a block out of my way to work every day. I like to use that water for brewing when I can. Very nice and clean, tastes great.
 
bare19672 said:
How important is it to have good water for brewing? I have made a few batches and am starting to notice a taste pattern that I don't care for I have been using city tap water. My best beers so far have been dark more forgiving beers. Should I be buying bottled water for brewing? How about the boil water do I need bottled for that also?
I do not know the make up of my tap water.
Any thoughts and experiences would be helpfull.


Spend $2 on 4 gallons of bottled water. Peace of mind. In the boil, just use straight tap water--the boil will take care of any off taste.:rockin:
 
King of the Swill said:
Spend $2 on 4 gallons of bottled water. Peace of mind. In the boil, just use straight tap water--the boil will take care of any off taste.:rockin:

King of the Swill is right, bare19672...I live in Madison, WI. My water smells like pure chlorox. Not only that, we've had several instances with the city water supply in which excessive chlorine was released unchecked, insufficient chlorination took place, and carcinogens in VERY unhealthy rates have been detected in various city wells. I hedge all my bets and purchase spring water in plastic gallon jugs. I have a brita pitcher that I use for my own personal consumption, but it takes forever to filter out five gallon's worth for a batch of home brew. I have also boiled tap water to take off the chlorine odors, but only for the wort mixture. I say ditch the city water and buy your own. :mug:
 
I wish I figured this out earlier but all of my beers are still drinkable, but many have the same odd taste. Since beer is mostly water I figured that is what it has to be. The stouts and porters must hide the taste because I can taste it in all of the others I have made.
thanks for help all.
 
bare19672 said:
I wish I figured this out earlier but all of my beers are still drinkable, but many have the same odd taste. Since beer is mostly water I figured that is what it has to be. The stouts and porters must hide the taste because I can taste it in all of the others I have made.
thanks for help all.

So I don't want to sway you from using bottled water...I used to (live somewhere with good water now), but maybe you should try to describe this taste. I would hate for you to buy bottled water and the taste end up being something else.
 
I live in Minnesota, my water is drinkable but is treated by a municipal water treatment system.
I can't quite pinpoint the taste that I am tasting, I will keep trying, it may take a few more.
 
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