you want to use unchlorinated water to get rid of any twang tastes and as for price buy a big bag and go pick it up it will save you a bunch of money, found a 50 pound bag for $150 free shipping somewhere this summer, bought 2 and now have 1/3 of 1 bag left and I brew 10 gallon batches so it worked better than I had planned, now the difference is really time vs price, 50 pounds of 2row is just $45 to $55 but 3 to 4 hours to me is worth it