Need advice brewing with well water and on a septic system

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Hi all. So I've been brewing for over 10 years and am finally producing consistance batches. Also making wine from kits.
We recently retired and moved onto 3 acres up in the foothills of the Peterson mountains north of Reno Nevada at 5200 ft.
I haven't got my "brewery" set up yet, but working on it
I do have some questions/concerns.

1. Brewing at 5200 ft. I came from brewing at sea level. So what changes do I need to make in my mash and brewing process?

2. I am on a private well. Water report shows some iron in the water. Is this a big issue? Working on a iron removal filter anyways. I do use ph5.2 in my mash water.

3. I am on a private septic system. I'm concerned about my cleaning and sanitize water. Dump it out in the yard somewhere so it doesent kill the bacteria in my septic system.

4.mash grains. Lots of wildlife on the propertey. Can I put out the grains after my mash for the squirrels, rabbits, birds, deer, Bobcat to snack on? Or put it in the trash or compost pile when I start one?

I've been lurking around here for years. Now I'm here to seek advice and offer what I've learned from brewing.
TIA.

Crusty.

 

[day_trippr]

5200' ASL translates to a boiling point for water of 202.6°F. Wrt brewing, the biggest effect that will have is boil-off rate, and IBU utilization. I wouldn't know what to do to compensate from my 200' ASL but I have to believe some procedures will need adjustment. Might be a "learn by doing" thing.

Iron above .30 ppm is "actionable" in the water quality parlance. I gather that means its effects become evident and perhaps even impactful wrt health. Iron in beer can give a "heme" (blood) character that I imagine most would not appreciate. Might want to consider installing an RO system. I'm on a private well with high residual alkalinity and moderate iron (~ 0.15 ppm) and put together a 100gpd system many years ago and would not brew without it now.

I run my chilling water out in the yard - there's obviously no chemical change to that - and my cleaning water goes through the septic as there isn't that much water involved.

As for spent grains, I live out in the boonies and have neighbors with chicken flocks around, and during the winter I can count on our resident deer herd to take care of 'em...

Cheers!

 

[Jmezz]

I can comment on spent grain handling.
We used to put them in the trash bin which would start stinking depending on the time between brewing and trash service.
We now live out in the woods and I picked up this composter. https://www.costco.com/aerobin-composter.product.11532729.html
The large one is big enough for 10 gal batches. I'm sure the smaller one would be fine for 5 gal or smaller batches. No odor, no critters, and hey- it produces highly useful compost.

 

[kevin58]

The only water I have ever used for brewing is well water but ours is pretty darn good water. No high iron like many. If you are getting a filtration system anyway then wait until that is installed and get a Ward Labs Brewers Test kit. Then go from there. You may find that there are no worries after that or you may want to consider an RO system.

When you say you use pH 5.2 in your mash water are you talking about the Five Star product called 5.2 pH Stabilizer? Throw that junk away and don't waste your money. There is a near 100% consensus among homebrewers that it is snake oil.

I have also had nothing but a septic system during my brewing career and never had a problem disposing of cleaning water or leftover Star San solution.

If you have property with wildlife by all means toss your spent grains in the woods. Last fall I put them out near my game cameras and saw a nice buck munching on them for several nights. A month later when archery season opened I took that very same buck and ended up enjoying a dinner of venison tenderloin and a glass of the homebrew that was made from those same grains that fed the deer.

 

[IslandLizard]

We now live out in the woods and I picked up this composter...

Me thinks, when you live out in the woods you won't need a $240 (or $380) plastic composting bin...

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Our visitors that keep showing up. They are about 200 feet from our front porch where we sit a lot at night.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Looking at my well report.
PH is 7.27
Iron is .11 Mg/L
Alk is 82 Mg/L
Hardness is 62 MG/L

 

[rainmanak44]

Looking at my well report.
PH is 7.27
Iron is .11 Mg/L
Alk is 82 Mg/L
Hardness is 62 MG/L

Your water is fine. Brew with it. Keep a little lactic acid around to adjust mash pH and maybe some Gypsum and Calcium Chloride for minor adjustments to match historical styles.
Yeast, trub etc is great for septic systems. Star san is ok too but I just dump that stuff in the driveway to keep weeds from growing (never works).

 

[lumpher]

Welcome, from 1 Crusty Old Shellback to another. I'm on a septic system also, and just dump my sanitizer water in another part of the yard

 

[TheWanderingHop]

I can't help with the elevation, but I've been brewing with a well and septic for years.

I haven't done beer in quite some time but whether beer or mead or wine, I'm generally doing small batch (2.5gal or less) so most of my cleaning is done in the kitchen sink.

Star San, trub, whatever goes to the septic tank. No issues ever with that.

My well water is delicious to drink but I've never had it analyzed. I suspect it's on the hard side as it tends to leave deposits on the shower and the toilets always need scrubbed whether they've been used frequently or not. My beers usually turned out pretty good and any flaws were probably not the waters fault. I have no science to prove this, but I think my wines and meads truly shine with my well water. I'm sure whatever minerals are floating around in there help out with that.

I also used to throw all my spent grain to the deer. They loved it. I just always made sure to spread it thin enough that a big clump wouldn't end up molding before they got to it.

 

[Jmezz]

Me thinks, when you live out in the woods you won't need a $240 (or $380) plastic composting bin...

To each their own

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Thanks for all the inputs. Appreciate it.

So my takeaway is brew as I did before.
My choice if I dump Star San and oxidizer cleaner down the drain. Grains can feed the wild animals, or throw in a compost pile.

 

[Brewdog80]

I would filter the water if the iron is high, otherwise give it a shot. I lived on well water in southern GA and the Iron and minerals were so high it left a nice ring on the pots when boiled. Never brewed with it. And didn't drink much either...

 

[danb35]

Likewise in southern GA and on a well. Iron isn't especially high, but other minerals are, and there's enough sulfur that I can often smell it when I run the water. RO takes care of that. If I don't give the spent grains to friends with chickens, I toss them out on the ground and spread them around with a rake--can't say I've noticed any of the local wildlife snacking on them though. I've never been concerned about Star San or PBW into the septic.

 

[pauljHBOregon]

You should be fine, I've been brewing rural with well water, high iron (simple filter system) in the Oregon high desert for a couple years, and the batches taste great (similar to commercial brews), so you should have no problem with the water or altitude. Also on septic, I always dump cleaning water and sanitized water down the drain no problem; but I dump the remaining trub/bottom stuff from the fermenter out in the back property (no noticeable effect on wildlife).

 

[IslandLizard]

Water report shows some iron in the water. Is this a big issue? Working on a iron removal filter anyways.

I think filtering that iron out is a good decision, generally.

Keep in mind, that (well) water test is only a snapshot. There could be seasonal fluctuations, and changes due to periods of drought and precipitation. See how it goes, and if needed or wanted, at some point you could decide to invest in a (small) RO system for brewing and drinking water.

We have a very knowledgeable sponsor (@Buckeye_Hydro) on this forum specializing in those kind of systems, especially ones that use commonly available consumables (filters, membranes, etc.) instead of (expensive) proprietary ones.

I do use ph5.2 in my mash water.

As @kevin58 already mentioned, you can stop using that. It doesn't do anything for your mash or beer.
AJ (deLange) has written about this many times. It's snake oil, it only works (and only marginally) when your mash pH is already 5.2, gotten there by other means.

Do use a water calculator, such as Bru'nWater. There are others.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Iron was the only thing I thought may be an issue. We have some of the best, if not the best water in Washoe County, Nevada. No Sulphur smell. Only a slight ring in the toilets. May add a iron filter along with sediment and carbon just to clean up the water a bit and remove the ring in the toilet.
All other parameters are way below EPA limits for drinking water. And no bad stuff in there.
As we just bought the place and are new to well and septic, I may be a little over cautious.
I'm conscious too as to what I put on the ground to make sure I don't pollute my well. It's fairly shallow from what I understand. 250 feet. But the static level has actually risen about 10 feet from when it was drilled 20 years ago.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

Iron was the only thing I thought may be an issue. We have some of the best, if not the best water in Washoe County, Nevada. No Sulphur smell. Only a slight ring in the toilets. May add a iron filter along with sediment and carbon just to clean up the water a bit and remove the ring in the toilet.
All other parameters are way below EPA limits for drinking water. And no bad stuff in there.
As we just bought the place and are new to well and septic, I may be a little over cautious.
I'm conscious too as to what I put on the ground to make sure I don't pollute my well. It's fairly shallow from what I understand. 250 feet. But the static level has actually risen about 10 feet from when it was drilled 20 years ago.

Looking at my well report.
PH is 7.27
Iron is .11 Mg/L
Alk is 82 Mg/L
Hardness is 62 MG/L

Is your iron Ferric, or Ferrous?

If ferric, you could probably take care of it with one or two sediment filters.
If ferrous, at your low level, a water softener will deal with it well.

If you just want to treat ferrous iron at the point of use, I'd go with a KDF85 filter Well Water Buddy - Buckeye Hydro

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I beleive its Ferric as it settles out in the bottom of the toilet tanks. Was thinking a 3 canister filter.
.05 micron, KDF, Carbon as it enters the house, before the storage tank.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

I assume you mean a 0.5 mic sediment filter - I suspect that will be much too tight for this application and you'll be changing it very frequently.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

So maybe a 1 micron filter? I have 1 inch water line. On my well report, it said color is 5 and turbidity none detected. So basically clear water.

On my last house, I had installed a whole house water filter with auto back flush. This unit was prior to the water going into the water softner system.
But I can't seem to find it anymore. It was manufactured by Whirlpool and sold at Lowes.

 

[myndflyte]

I also have a well and septic system and I've always dumped star san and stuff just down the drain. I doubt it really does anything to destroy much bacteria. Plus I'm also running leftover trub down there after fermentation. I don't use my well water to brew though, I just buy the big 5 gallon jugs of spring water and adjust my water profile to style.

As for spent grain, we have chickens so anytime they see my coming with the bucket, they come running. I'll toss them a few handfuls and then but the rest in the compost pile. Within a week, they have picked all the grain out of there.