Midwest brewers(Chicago specifically)

When I first started brewing I was speaking to an accomplished homebrewer and I asked him if I need to treat my water at all. He told me that in most places I would but in Chicago that water is naturally ready to be brewed. He brews beer for a living and I'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about. On the other hand you never know. Any one out there live in Chicago?

Yes. Chicago actually has water perfectly suited for brewing. I use it though I do have a charcoal filter. Just one of those Brita pitchers you can buy just about anywhere.

Three Floyds brewing I know for a fact uses the municipal Chicago/Northwest Indiana water supply. They just filter it before brewing. I'm pretty sure Goose Island does as well.

Yep; same here. I use a faucet mounted PUR charcoal filter and that's all.

You might emjoy looking at this list of various city's water profiles.

Are you sure you're on chicago water and not a different municipality? I live in Naperville and, though most of Naperville is on Chicago water, my sub-division isn't and is on a well. Also, we receive water ratings for city of Chicago, but we have to check online if we want water ratings for our specific sub-division

srm775 said:

Are you sure you're on chicago water and not a different municipality? I live in Naperville and, though most of Naperville is on Chicago water, my sub-division isn't and is on a well. Also, we receive water ratings for city of Chicago, but we have to check online if we want water ratings for our specific sub-division

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I live in Elmhurst and I have no idea what municipality I'm in. I'm going to have to check into that. I'm also going to have to buy a water filter, because it takes FOREVER to get the amount of water I need out of the ****ty little filter on the fridge. Thanks fellers.

bobwantbeer said:

I live in Elmhurst and I have no idea what municipality I'm in. I'm going to have to check into that. I'm also going to have to buy a water filter, because it takes FOREVER to get the amount of water I need out of the ****ty little filter on the fridge. Thanks fellers.

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Elmhurst is city of Chicago, addison township (at least north Elmhurst is). I used to live in Elmhurst and the water is pretty good for brewing. Although, you might want to run your water through some sort of sediment filter ... it is fairly full of floaties.

I use Chicago water right out of the tap - no filter at all. I've used the charcoal filters some of these guys have and can honestly say I don't notice any difference when I use the filter.

A charcoal filter may be a good idea, but I see no reason to buy water as long as your faucet works.

rdwj said:

I use Chicago water right out of the tap - no filter at all. I've used the charcoal filters some of these guys have and can honestly say I don't notice any difference when I use the filter.

A charcoal filter may be a good idea, but I see no reason to buy water as long as your faucet works.

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Yeah, definitely. I have a whole-house water filter that I use for (plumbed in) so everything in my house gets filtered, but that's more because I'm not chicago water and our water is extremely gross.

Yeah, not sure how much the charcoal filter improves the quality of the water as far as brewing purposes are concerned. All I know is I can definitely see and taste the difference between drinking a glass of water out of my Brita pitcher and straight out of the faucet. I figure if its good enough for Three Floyds (who make some of my favorite brews) its good enough for my 5 gallon batches.