A Brewing Water Chemistry Primer

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The *label* on my 1kg tub of CaCl2 says "CaCl2.2H2O". Of course, that doesn't meant it is, for reasons you explained. I guess I could bake it or get a hydrometer that's actually accurate and calculate what it really is (= was), but as long as it's a reasonably loose solid powder, I don't think it's off enough for me to care. (I rarely use Cl salts anymore anyway, after I started using HCl for pale beers).
I could be wrong about no one retailing the dihydrate. But it seems like it would take a lot of effort (not to mind expense) to arrive at precisely the dihydrate state, and what might be gained in doing so?
 
Make a CaCl2 solution and keep in the fridge. Then you do not need to worry about the water absorbtion.

This is true. But you would have to determine the amount of CaCl2 actually in the solution somehow (e.g. by measuring the gravity) when you first make it, or else you still have the same uncertainty about how much water was in the "dry" CaCl2.
 
This is true. But you would have to determine the amount of CaCl2 actually in the solution somehow (e.g. by measuring the gravity) when you first make it, or else you still have the same uncertainty about how much water was in the "dry" CaCl2.
Yes - that is exactly how you do it. Plug the gravity into a calculator and it will give you the concentration. Enter the concentration into your preferred water calculator.
 
Sorry if this isn't the right place for this, but I'm wondering about saving time with my chlorinated water.

I live in a rental, and on low wage, so RO is out of the question. I don't have a car so picking up enough water is also difficult. I use a jug filter which is time consuming (which removes chlorine and other contaminants, supposedly leaving minerals intact, one day I'll pay for a water test for a filtered sample.)

I'm wanting to remove the chlorine and in my area, the chlorine level is about 0.57mg/L, 0.5 is the average across the UK. I understand chlorine evaporates at room temperature, but it takes a while. Boiling does it faster, but then I have to wait for it to cool down unless I use my chilling coil, which is my fall back.

I do 15L (3 gallon) batches, which requires about 22L water upfront. How long would it take to evaporate 0.5mg/L chlorine from 22 litres of water at, say, 60C? How would I calculate this?
 
Sorry if this isn't the right place for this, but I'm wondering about saving time with my chlorinated water.

I live in a rental, and on low wage, so RO is out of the question. I don't have a car so picking up enough water is also difficult. I use a jug filter which is time consuming (which removes chlorine and other contaminants, supposedly leaving minerals intact, one day I'll pay for a water test for a filtered sample.)

I'm wanting to remove the chlorine and in my area, the chlorine level is about 0.57mg/L, 0.5 is the average across the UK. I understand chlorine evaporates at room temperature, but it takes a while. Boiling does it faster, but then I have to wait for it to cool down unless I use my chilling coil, which is my fall back.

I do 15L (3 gallon) batches, which requires about 22L water upfront. How long would it take to evaporate 0.5mg/L chlorine from 22 litres of water at, say, 60C? How would I calculate this?
None of your described methods is effective.

Use campden tablets instead. You only need very little of it, google "campden tablets chlorine removal" and you will find descriptions of the right dosage.
 
None of your described methods is effective.

Use campden tablets instead. You only need very little of it, google "campden tablets chlorine removal" and you will find descriptions of the right dosage.
Since when was boiling ineffective at removing chlorine?

And when you say "none", the filter jug does.
 
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Boiling is effective at removing chlorine (but not chloramines). Whether or not boiling is an efficient method of removing chlorine is debatable.
Yes, well, efficient is very subjective. Everything is give and take, boiling may not be efficient on energy, but it's efficient with time. Meanwhile campden tablets are cost and energy efficient, but definitely not time efficient. Regardless, Miraculix said effective. Since they do the job at removing chlorine, they are effective. I'm not really worried about "efficient" for reasons mentioned above.
 
Invest in a good RO filter is your best bet, its very nice to be able to build up your own water from scratch and will def improve your beers. Totally worth it.
Aside from that you will have clean drinking water which will be better for your health!
 
Meanwhile campden tablets are cost and energy efficient, but definitely not time efficient.

Campden works very quickly. Not quite instantly, but faster than you can get your campden treated water up to strike/sparge temperature, so the only time it adds to the brewday is the minute it takes to mix with the water.
 
Campden works very quickly. Not quite instantly, but faster than you can get your campden treated water up to strike/sparge temperature, so the only time it adds to the brewday is the minute it takes to mix with the water.
Really? I was under the impression it takes 24-48 hours. Fair enough.
 
Aren't we a little nit picky today? If you can be sure that there's only chlorine, yes, boiling will suffice. But as soon as there's some chloramine, you will have problems.

Water treatment often varies over time (I'm a professional from this sector) so better be safe than sorry and use a method that tackles both.
 
Really? I was under the impression it takes 24-48 hours. Fair enough.
No, it's "instantaneous". I brewed with heavily chlorinated (or chloraminated) but otherwise good water for several years, and the procedure was to add half a crushed tablet (~0.25g) per 5gal of batch and start brewing; *technically* you should add as a function of the amount of water to treat, but it really does not matter, and you also might also just as well use an entire tablet for 5 or 10gal.

If you're unsure if the chlorine/chloramine is gone, use science (observation and experiment) and taste the water a few mins after treating. If you add too much, the effect is pretty much limited to some SO2 stench if you heat your strike water with the lid on and then it's gone. (unless maybe if you add a kg of metabisulfite, but don't do that)
 
No, it's "instantaneous". I brewed with heavily chlorinated (or chloraminated) but otherwise good water for several years, and the procedure was to add half a crushed tablet (~0.25g) per 5gal of batch and start brewing; *technically* you should add as a function of the amount of water to treat, but it really does not matter, and you also might also just as well use an entire tablet for 5 or 10gal.

If you're unsure if the chlorine/chloramine is gone, use science (observation and experiment) and taste the water a few mins after treating. If you add too much, the effect is pretty much limited to some SO2 stench if you heat your strike water with the lid on and then it's gone. (unless maybe if you add a kg of metabisulfite, but don't do that)
A KG of NaMeta? More like micro gram.

Actually I always add 1.4mg Trifecta blend of NaMeta, ascorbic acid and BrewTan B to my 9 gallons of strike water, then an additional 1.2 mg into the end of boil shortly before flame out. Total NaMeta is less than 1gram, with no oxidation issues.
 
Aren't we a little nit picky today? If you can be sure that there's only chlorine, yes, boiling will suffice. But as soon as there's some chloramine, you will have problems.

Water treatment often varies over time (I'm a professional from this sector) so better be safe than sorry and use a method that tackles both.
I'm not really sure what is nit picky here, anyway, I'm not trying to pick a fight with another member! Regardless, the water filters I get can remove chloramine, so that shouldn't be an issue if boiling is insufficient. I'm just concerned that if I use a campden tablet, I then can't pitch yeast for a whole day, putting the whole batch at risk if something gets to it before I do.
 
I'm just concerned that if I use a campden tablet, I then can't pitch yeast for a whole day, putting the whole batch at risk if something gets to it before I do.
When used to halt yeast, campden tablets are used at the rate of 1 tablet per gallon. To remove chlorine and chloramine, campden tablets are used at the rate of 1 tablet per 20 gallons (I usually add 1/2 tablet to ~8 gallons of water). There are no risks to yeast at this rate, especially since this is added before the mash, boil and oxygenation of the wort.

A filter can be used to remove chloramine, but my reading is that you need a high quality charcoal filter with a very slow water rate (say 1 hour to get 8 gallons of water). For me, adding half a crushed tablet to my water is so easy and cheap, that it my solution.
 
I'm just concerned that if I use a campden tablet, I then can't pitch yeast for a whole day, putting the whole batch at risk if something gets to it before I do.

There's no reason to worry when using campden at prescribed levels. May I ask where (other than here) you're getting your information about campden? I would suggest ignoring that source from now on.
 
I'm just concerned that if I use a campden tablet, I then can't pitch yeast for a whole day, putting the whole batch at risk if something gets to it before I do.
No. First, the SO2 will be gone by the time your wort is boiled and done. Even if we assume it isn't, the yeast-inhibiting factor is a function of molecular SO2 (i.e. actual SO2 molecules, not HSO3 or SO3), which are present only at a low pH. At wort pH you'd have to add like 10g/L of campden for you to have enough SO2 to affect the yeast (don't do that). Furthermore, you're adding a really really tiny amount to begin with, something like 1/5 to 1/10 of what you'd sulfite a must with.

tl;dr the wine literature does not directly apply to beer
 
Make sure to account for the additional chloride being produced in your water profile. It may not be a lot but it is enough to affect additions.
 
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