Charcoal Filters Vs. Campden Tabs

[Gustatorian]

Looking to remove the chloramine from my water source. Campden tabs would be much easier for me but I'm worried about fermentation issues (I've heard people having trouble with that). Also, do I add the tabs to the mash water when I add the other minerals?

THANKS!

 

[Gameface]

Fermentation issues because they use campden tablets? I haven't heard of that if you use the recommended quantity. For 5 gallons you need 1/4 tablet. I wouldn't trust a carbon filter to get rid of all the chloramine, it takes a considerable amount of contact time for the carbon to neutralize it.

 

[WrQth]

As GameFace said 1/4 tablet for 5 gallons (1 tablet for 20 gallons) to treat water for chloramine which is immediate but I'd say give it 10 minutes before mixing the water with anything else to allow the sulfur dioxide created to dissipate.

 

[Todd820]

I picked up an RV filter and it seems to work fine for me. If there is any chlorine/chloramine left it is not enough to affect taste or fermentation.

 

[Homercidal]

It takes very slow movement through charcoal filter to remove chloramines, from what I've read.

OTOH 1 campden tablet fixes 20 gallons of water practically instantly. It's much less than the dosage that winemakers use for wine, and in my personal experience that dosage hasn't affected my attenuation at all.

Frankly, I use it on RO water I get from the store because I can't know that they filter enough to get rid of it all. My beers seem to taste better since then, although I can't specifically point to that as the only reason.

 

[Wynne-R]

Carbon works better than advertised to adsorb chloramine. I asked about it when I ordered a replacement cartridge. They sent me some chlorine test strips.

They indicated 3 ppm, which is what the water dept told me they add as chloramine.

I also tested my years old cartridge, my new cartridge, RO water and distilled water. All the same color. The cartridges are 9.5" 1 micron carbon block at 3/4 gal/min.

Excess Campden will form sulfur dioxide, easily boiled out.

 

[Calder]

I'm not sure everyone is talking about the same thing. Chlorine in not the same a Chloramine.

Charcoal filters seem to be fine at removing Chlorine, but not Chloramine. It is what I have read, and have no factual data to back up the statement.

Campden tablets get rid of Chloramines.

 

[Wynne-R]

The test strips I have are for total chlorine, they read the total of free chlorine and chloramine.

I know I have 3ppm chloramine because the water dept told me so. This is the indication I get from the strips with my tapwater. So far so good.

The lowest level on the color code on the bottle is for .5 ppm and it has a pretty significant green tint on the otherwise pale yellow strip. I conclude that the levels on everything I tested other than the tapwater are below .5 ppm, probably well below.

More and more water depts are switching to chloramine, partly because it’s more persistent. After the water is chlorinated, they add ammonia, to form chloramine. A filter has to reverse the reaction to separate the ammonia before it can adsorb the chlorine. The filter can easily do this, but it takes time. I run a little less than 1 gal/min.

The point I’m making is, despite the Internet wisdom, if you actually measure it, a carbon block does a pretty good job with chloramine.

As a judge I’ve tasted a lot of homebrew and chlorophenols are fairly rare since we switched to chloromine. My guess is that free chlorine is reactive as hell but chlorophenol is pretty stable.

I don’t recommend using untreated tapwater but a lot of people seem to get away with it.

 

[Gameface]

The test strips I have are for total chlorine, they read the total of free chlorine and chloramine.

I know I have 3ppm chloramine because the water dept told me so. This is the indication I get from the strips with my tapwater. So far so good.

The lowest level on the color code on the bottle is for .5 ppm and it has a pretty significant green tint on the otherwise pale yellow strip. I conclude that the levels on everything I tested other than the tapwater are below .5 ppm, probably well below.

More and more water depts are switching to chloramine, partly because it’s more persistent. After the water is chlorinated, they add ammonia, to form chloramine. A filter has to reverse the reaction to separate the ammonia before it can adsorb the chlorine. The filter can easily do this, but it takes time. I run a little less than 1 gal/min.

The point I’m making is, despite the Internet wisdom, if you actually measure it, a carbon block does a pretty good job with chloramine.

As a judge I’ve tasted a lot of homebrew and chlorophenols are fairly rare since we switched to chloromine. My guess is that free chlorine is reactive as hell but chlorophenol is pretty stable.

I don’t recommend using untreated tapwater but a lot of people seem to get away with it.

I think the internet wisdom has agreed with you. Charcoal filters work but require considerable contact time. I don't want to spend 20+ minutes running water through my filter before I can start brewing. I use a charcoal filter, but run water through it as quickly as it will go. Then I use a campden tablet. Campden tablets are cheap.

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

Looking to remove the chloramine from my water source. Campden tabs would be much easier for me but I'm worried about fermentation issues (I've heard people having trouble with that). Also, do I add the tabs to the mash water when I add the other minerals?

THANKS!

Fermentation issues with campden tabs, that's news to the countless number of us that use it.

 

[feinbera]

I'm sure you can kill your yeast with campden tabs, this is what winemakers use them for... at a dosage of a full tab per gallon. Your yeasties will ferment strong at a fraction of a tablet per batch.

 

[z-bob]

Anybody use vitamin C tablets to remove chlorine/chloramine? One 250mg tablet should be way more than enough for 5 gallons of water. (at least I think it should; that's what I've been using)

There's also the cheapest available Dechlor from the pet store for use in fish tanks. I'm pretty sure it's just sodium thiosulfate and water.

 

[oljimmy]

Campden doesn't kill yeast, it just puts makes yeast sleepy. I have had 5 gallons of cider ferment strong after the addition of 9 campden tabs, so I seriously doubt that half a tab in 5 gals of beer makes any difference to the yeast. In fact, if anything, it should protect the wort against infection, though I don't know the science behind that.

 

[Gavin C]

I'm sure you can kill your yeast with campden tabs, this is what winemakers use them for... at a dosage of a full tab per gallon. Your yeasties will ferment strong at a fraction of a tablet per batch.

That is not what winemakers use them for. They are used to prevent oxidation during racking/degassing. They will not impact fermentation if used in the correct amounts.

Winemakers use a stabilizer to halt fermentation prior to bottling. Potassium sorbate is one example of a stabilizer.

In brewing 1 tablet will treat ~20gallons of water to remove chloramines in an instant. Unless your water has crazy high levels of chloramine this is the amount to use.

I use a little less than 1/2 tablet for 8 gallons of brewing water.

It is a non-issue in brewing. Camden tablets work well, are dirt cheap, simple & quick.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

As a frame of reference, if you run your feed water through a backwashing carbon tank (containing "standard GAC), there is a rule of thumb regarding the contact time needed to treat chlorine vs chloramine (chlorine+ammonia).

Chlorine=2 minutes
Chloramine=5 to 8 minutes (2.5 to 4 times as long)

You can reduce this time if you use a special fast acting carbon called catalytic GAC. The rule of thumb with CGAC and chloramine is 3 to 5 minutes (1.5 to 2.5 as long).

Russ

 

[Nagorg]

I too wondered about campden's potential impact on yeast even though I use it every brew day. I can tell you, just as others have on this thread, that there has been no negative impact on my fermentation's. I'm glad that so many replied on this thread because it seemed hard to find anything conclusive. I've even listened to podcasts on water treatment with Jamil Z. and John Palmer and when someone asked about campden, neither had any input. :|

 

[Tym3]

When using Campden tablets to treat mash and sparge water that has chloramine,

1) After adding Campden tablets, do I need to boil the water before mashing/sparging?
2) If so, for how long?
3) Can I add my other minerals at the same time or should I wait till after the boil?
4) If I don't boil, how long do I have to wait for gas off to occur?

 

[Gavin C]

When using Campden tablets to treat mash and sparge water that has chloramine,

1) After adding Campden tablets, do I need to boil the water before mashing/sparging?
2) If so, for how long?
3) Can I add my other minerals at the same time or should I wait till after the boil?
4) If I don't boil, how long do I have to wait for gas off to occur?

1. No
2. N/A
3.Yes
4. N/A