Any water experts

I just moved, and I am hoping to get my AG going again. I used to just use water straight from the hose since it seemed good. Now I have water that is brownish, and has a strong sulfur smell. So what I am wondering is how this will effect my beer if I use it. I have what seems to be a cheap charcoal filter for the house that doesn't seem to do much. Then I have a PUR filter on my kitchen faucet that makes the water smell and taste fine. Anyone know what kind of filter they have in them? Should I just buy enough water to do 10 gallon batches?

Thanks for any help.

Hermish said:

I just moved, and I am hoping to get my AG going again. I used to just use water straight from the hose since it seemed good. Now I have water that is brownish, and has a strong sulfur smell. So what I am wondering is how this will effect my beer if I use it. I have what seems to be a cheap charcoal filter for the house that doesn't seem to do much. Then I have a PUR filter on my kitchen faucet that makes the water smell and taste fine. Anyone know what kind of filter they have in them? Should I just buy enough water to do 10 gallon batches?

Thanks for any help.

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Hard to say -- most water filters only get organics. It sounds like filtering might solve your problem, but you could have a tough mineral ion profile to overcome as well. Big activated charcoal filters aren't that expensive, and it sounds like you could use one in the home anyway - it would be worth trying to see if it also improves the taste of your water. If so, water that tastes good often brews good beer. A water ion test might be in order, too.

I'd see if you can get a water analysis from the company that provides your water. If you can't get one from them, send a sample off to a lab that could test it for you. In the meantime, you might want to purchase bottled water until you understand your water chemistry.

Hermish said:

I just moved, and I am hoping to get my AG going again. I used to just use water straight from the hose since it seemed good. Now I have water that is brownish, and has a strong sulfur smell. So what I am wondering is how this will effect my beer if I use it.

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If you wouldn't drink it like that, I wouldn't put it in your beer. Sulphur will accentuate hops but an excess would just make the beer smell like sulphur. The brown could be excess iron or who knows what else.

Hermish said:

I have a PUR filter on my kitchen faucet that makes the water smell and taste fine. Anyone know what kind of filter they have in them? Should I just buy enough water to do 10 gallon batches?

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Not sure what is in a PUR filter but it would have to be an improvement over the brown stuff. If you are buying bottled water, do some research to find out the mineral content of it so you can figure out its hardness and alkalinity and the beer styles that would be appropriate for it or what you would need to add to make it right for the beer you want to make. Careful with just using distilled water as you need some minerals in your water to make good beer. Take the earlier suggestion and get a water test done, then use Palmer's nomograph or my tool in the software forum to figure out what you need to do to tweak your water.

I use my tap water and when I brew outside, I use a white RV hose with this Culligan in-line RV water filter.



The Culligan RV-600 recreational vehicle water filter is a compact system designed to fit in your recreational vehicle or boat. The Culligan RV600 RV filter is a disposable water filter. The Culligan RV-600 filter removes contaminants from your drinking and cooking water. The Culligan RV-600 RV water filter reduces chlorine taste and odor, bad taste and odor, and sediment from your drinking water. The Culligan RV-600 water filter cartridge lasts up to 2000 gallons and is easy to replace with a new RV-600 filter or a Culligan RV-500 filter. The life of the filter also depends on the amount of water used and the amount of contaminants in your drinking water. The Culligan RV-600 has a maximum flow rate of 3 gallons per minute. The Culligan RV-600 has 3/4" hose fittings.

I have well water too that has a sulfer smell to it, but when I run it through this filter it does not smell.

You might also want to consider diluting your water with store-bought distilled H2O. A 25/75 distilled/tap should be fine, and if you need to you can go with a 50/50 solution. I dilute to avoid problems with sulfur reacting with the salts I add to the mash water. This can apparently create harsh flavors (especially when crafting a non-bitter beer).

Refer to this page for information on how minerals can affect beer. Make sure and read your water quality report; it is usually available via the web.

You'll probably just have to experiment a bit. Just don't worry too much.

I'll agree with Ed that if your water is that bad you shoud use some sort of charcoal filter if you don't want to buy bottled water.

EdWort said:

The Culligan RV-600 recreational vehicle water filter is a compact system designed to fit in your recreational vehicle or boat. The Culligan RV600 RV filter is a disposable water filter. The Culligan RV-600 filter removes contaminants from your drinking and cooking water. The Culligan RV-600 RV water filter reduces chlorine taste and odor, bad taste and odor, and sediment from your drinking water. The Culligan RV-600 water filter cartridge lasts up to 2000 gallons and is easy to replace with a new RV-600 filter or a Culligan RV-500 filter. The life of the filter also depends on the amount of water used and the amount of contaminants in your drinking water. The Culligan RV-600 has a maximum flow rate of 3 gallons per minute. The Culligan RV-600 has 3/4" hose fittings.

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Did the people that make the Culligan RV600 RV filter have to begin every sentence with "The Culligan RV600 RV filter"?

Thanks for all of the advice. I think I will probably job with something like that Culligan RV filter. Does anyone have a good place to send out water to be analyzed? I doubt I can get it done from the water company. They seem to be real small. They are not in the phone book, and are a private well that supplies water to the sub-division that I live in which is really only 2 blocks of houses.

Try Ward Labs (www.wardlab.com). They will do a household mineral test for $15 if you send them a sample of your tap water.

a nice plumbing company around the area could help ya out there, just with an idea of whats goin on with your water. the problem with sending a sample out is after a day or even 2 the water quality changes giving false readings> thats what i have expierienced in the few times i have had to do water tests (ex. u can see after a day in a plastic bottle sediment falls to the bottom etc.) those filters do work but they all strain out different things. id get that culligan filter first since its workin for EdWort, but remember water is different in all areas so an even safer bet would be luggin bottled water from the store.

I just moved as well and although the water isn't brown and stinky where I'm at it sure does have a ton of minerals and is cloudy out of the tap. I went and got myself a Culligan as well. It's not the RV filter but an under the sink version..this one here I think: http://www.culligan.com/index.cfm/flashID/1/id/57/title/US-600 Water Filter.html
and I got a level 2 filter to go in it.
Oh yeah, was cheap too...something like $30 I think.

EdWort said:

I use my tap water and when I brew outside, I use a white RV hose with this Culligan in-line RV water filter.

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That looks like a perfect product for getting your brewing water...

do you just buy a new one every two years or so?

The sulfur smell is from hydrogen sulfide. It can be removed a number of ways. the carbon filter is probably the easiest. See the following, couldn't figure out how to do a direct link.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0319.html

The brown stuff is probably suspended solids. Iron is usually dissolved and doesn't come out of solution until it hits the air. Like when you get rust stain in your sink. The carbon filter will take care of that too.

The cloudyness in the water is probably dissolved air. If it is, you will be able to see the bottom of the glass get clear as the air bubbles rise. This is not a problem for your beer.