Atlanta area water

I'm in johns creek outside of Atlanta. I'm told by my LHBS that our water is good for brewing but wondering if any Atlanta brewers here add anything to their brew water? Currently using campdens for the chlorine/chloramine but going to get a charcoal filter.

bd2xu said:

I'm in johns creek outside of Atlanta. I'm told by my LHBS that our water is good for brewing but wondering if any Atlanta brewers here add anything to their brew water? Currently using campdens for the chlorine/chloramine but going to get a charcoal filter.

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I have Ward report for Alpharetta if you want it. I was thinking about getting a refresh on it soon. Campden/K-meta is fine, you don't need a filter unless you just want one. The water is damn near pilsner quality around here. I find myself adding salt just enough to get the calcium up past 50ppm and leaving it be after that.

Awesome good to know thanks. So just either campden orcharcoal filter to remove chlorine taste?

bd2xu said:

Awesome good to know thanks. So just either campden orcharcoal filter to remove chlorine taste?

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Yes

I brew straight from the tap in east cobb with no problems.

byounger said:

I brew straight from the tap in east cobb with no problems.

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I'm not sure how Cobb treats their water, but all North Fulton and Forsyth Co. water is treated with chloramine for sanitation purposes. You'd do well to at least hit your water with some campden or k-meta before brewing. I would agree that filtration isn't really needed because the water is very clean and good for brewing, with the exception of the choloramine.

Ok great thanks all. I am thinking a cheap basic filter like the one on my fridge (just carbon) would be good for removing the chloramine instead of using campdens. The campden isn't hard but I always forget to add more when I refill my HLT for sparging and also it would be cool to keep all chemicals out, just barley water hops and yeast.. Oh and some seaweed too

the carbon filters are good, but not sure if they remove all chlorine / chloramine. It depends on flow rate and what the filter is rated for. So to be sure, I add half a campden tablet with each water addition to my already filtered water. It's extremely cheap insurance and well worth it. I use the bruin water program that gets talked about a lot on hbt, but for most beers below 10 srm, I add a little gypsum and calcium chloride just to get the calcium above 50ppm for yeast health. Those kind of beers are perfect for soft water which is what we have here in the ATL area.