Im using tap water now to brew

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syd138

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I used to buy Hinckley and Shmidt bottles.. about 1.50 each.. 6 of them.. boil with them.

So to save a little money, I boil everything in about 4 gallons of tap water and then top off the carboy with 1-1.5 gallons of bottled water.

In Chicago here, the water has cholorine in it, but all this should boil off right?
Am I good doing this?
 
Rule of thumb: if your water tastes good to drink, it's good to brew with.

Chlorine is quite unstable and volatilizes with heat. Chloramine, on the other hand, is a bit stubborn, but a Campden tablet takes care of that. One tablet will treat 20 gallons.
 
Yeah, no worries. I use tap water for everything, including top-off, which I don't boil. No problems yet *knock on wood*
 
And most cities do use chloramine because its more cost effective sine it won't just gas out of the water.

Lincoln has low enough levels i can get by without treating with a chloramine neutralizer.
but in bigger cities I'd kill it all with campden tabs.
 
I have well water and just got back into brewing. I have tons of minerals in my water with an unusually high amount of iron in it. Am I correct in asuming that iron and brewing are not compatible. I've been buying the local supermarkets spring water for $0.70 a gallon and the brews taste fine. I change the sediment filter once a month but could do it more often.
 
I have well water and just got back into brewing. I have tons of minerals in my water with an unusually high amount of iron in it. Am I correct in asuming that iron and brewing are not compatible. I've been buying the local supermarkets spring water for $0.70 a gallon and the brews taste fine. I change the sediment filter once a month but could do it more often.

Try you local water and see how it tastes. I hear tons of people pay money for water with minerals in it. :)
 
I used to use bottled water, but use tap water (with mineral additions, as necessary) now almost exclusively, and don't see any reason to go back.
 
I was using filtered water, but it takes forever to fill 10G of water from my sink, so I just started using the hose connection outside. My water is slightly chlorinated, but as far as I can tell hasn't affected anything.
 
I started out with my hose... let it run about 30-60 seconds to clear it out and grab my 10 or so gallons. I'm in Ventura county in So Cal and the water isn't bad. My buddy I picked up brewing from has always purchased bottled water and after my first brew ever which was a Fullers ESB clone, he started using hose/tap water too!

+1 Rule of thumb: if your water tastes good to drink, it's good to brew with.
 
I have well water and just got back into brewing. I have tons of minerals in my water with an unusually high amount of iron in it. Am I correct in asuming that iron and brewing are not compatible. I've been buying the local supermarkets spring water for $0.70 a gallon and the brews taste fine. I change the sediment filter once a month but could do it more often.

Sounds like my well water is similar. The iron level is 300 times the EPA's recommended limit plus it has lots of other minerals at significantly high levels. I wont drink the water. Well...I do have an RO unit so I drink that water but it just doesn't make nearly enough for brewing.


My suggestions for anyone who needs to by bottled water:

1. If you have a Menards in your area try them. $.67 a gallon last I checked.

2. If the grocery stores in your area have those 5 gallon dispensers for water I think that water is really cheap. Maybe less than $2 for 5 gallons of water. I haven't experienced this myself yet very few places do this anymore. But I think I've seen some places that still do it.
 
Out here in AZ, we have lots of places that will dispense 5 gallons of RO water for $0.75 for 5 gallons or 1 gallon for $0.15 . The water tastes great and it makes a great brew! Much cheaper than buying it by the gallon and I just sanitize and re-use the jugs each time.
 
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