I recently moved out of los angeles where the chlorine could be smelt from 5 feet away when running the tap water in my sink. Where I live now I cannot even smell chlorine and my dish sponges get mildew after every 1-2 weeks and have to be tossed out. Also, my water is very hard as well. So does that give any indication as to whether the water where I live is bacteria free or safe for adding straight to the primary? Or could I use bottled water instead?
Is my tap water safe?
- Thread starter badbrew
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jester5120
Well-Known Member
Bottled water is your best bet but most city water supplies are ok. If you want to get really technical you can ask for the yearly water analysis from the water company and check it against ideal brewing water composition.
Thanks I'll try that. Last time I brewed like 17 years ago, I recall that because bottled water lacked minerals, it was not as good as tap and needed gypsum iirc. Is that still the case?
I would get a water report if you plan on brewing with it all the time. As far a sponges go they allways need to be quickclean rinsed and sqeezed out to dry otherwise they are about the most bacteria harboring thing in the house.I havent gotten around to installing a carbon filtering yet but dont really think my city water is that great also.I also have trouble trying to find a brand of spring water to buy that i like. So i just end up getting refills at a filtering unit at the grocery store. But that is r/o so i have to add minerals.
Well,the water used in Burton ales is hard,so it might be good for those. The next time I brew my Burton ale clone,I'm going to use 5G of distilled water with one 9g packet of Burton Water Salts from LD Carlson I bought from Midwest. Their something like .79c per packet,& 1 packet is good for 5G of water. So their water is hard,but not mineralized,like West Virginia or something.
When I use spring water,I get the Giant Eagle brand at their store. It's from natural springs right here in Ohio. Worked fine in my extract ales.
When I use spring water,I get the Giant Eagle brand at their store. It's from natural springs right here in Ohio. Worked fine in my extract ales.
jester5120
Well-Known Member
i think if you do spring or drinking water it has all the minerals you need. distilled I'm pretty sure you need to add stuff to like unionrdr said
You can usually look up the water report online for the various bottled water. I use Crystal Geyser Spring from Mt Shasta which is pretty soft. Using BeerSmith I can adjust this water to just about any region I desire by adding the various minerals/salts seperately....they are pretty cheapto purchase individually.
The only problem I have with pre-mixed salts is that I don't know what's in there and in what percentages.
The only problem I have with pre-mixed salts is that I don't know what's in there and in what percentages.
starrfish
Well-Known Member
I used to pre boil (to drive off chlorine) for extract brewing when I lived in the philly area but since moving south and going all grain I just use standard tap water. The water is softer here so I do add some gypsum & magnesium (epsum salt) for most of my ales. Most city water is fine, a water report is a good place to start.
