West Va water?

[bobeer]

Hey all! I'm a born and raised Northern Virginian but this area is too expensive to start a family in so we're thinking about moving just over the border into WV. We have a few friends that live there and they say the water isn't very good. So, as a homebrewer, this is concerning. Can any of you here enlighten me on how good the water is to brew with there? Any other good or bad points about living in WV are all welcomed too. About daily life or brewing, whatever! Thanks!!

 

[fsr_racer]

Like anywhere else it depends on where in the state you live. WV has a bad rap right now for water due to the huge chemical spill that affected the southern part of the state. I myself am on well water, and most other people I know who are have high iron content. So most use water softeners, if you don't you eventually end up with a rust colored tint to water pitchers. I don't miss city water though. When I brew I bypass the softener so I'm getting straight well water. I can't say how this affects taste over other areas, as I started brewing after I bought this house and have never brewed with any other water. There are a lot of gas wells in the state, and they just built a huge fracking station close to my property. They are also in the process of putting a pipeline through the area, so I'll be investing in an inline filter pretty soon.

Other things? Not much for the foodies here. Morgantown has a few hidden gems, and there are others sprinkled throughout the state if you're willing to brave some of the crappy roads. Also not much in the way of beer selection in general. It is growing, but I have to drive across state lines to find some of my favorites.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[bobeer]

Like anywhere else it depends on where in the state you live. WV has a bad rap right now for water due to the huge chemical spill that affected the southern part of the state. I myself am on well water, and most other people I know who are have high iron content. So most use water softeners, if you don't you eventually end up with a rust colored tint to water pitchers. I don't miss city water though. When I brew I bypass the softener so I'm getting straight well water. I can't say how this affects taste over other areas, as I started brewing after I bought this house and have never brewed with any other water. There are a lot of gas wells in the state, and they just built a huge fracking station close to my property. They are also in the process of putting a pipeline through the area, so I'll be investing in an inline filter pretty soon.

Other things? Not much for the foodies here. Morgantown has a few hidden gems, and there are others sprinkled throughout the state if you're willing to brave some of the crappy roads. Also not much in the way of beer selection in general. It is growing, but I have to drive across state lines to find some of my favorites.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Thanks for the info man! I work in Ashburn so I'll be in town Mon-Fri so beer runs shouldn't be an issue. Where are you located? Is the pipeline construction bothering you?

So, when you brew, you bypass the softener so you're getting high iron content in your beer?

 

[fsr_racer]

I'm in Lewis Co, North Central WV. Looks like you'd be moving over on the tip of the Eastern Panhandle? My dad lives in Grant Co, which is on this side of the panhandle. He also has high iron. Yes, I brew with it high. I thought about grabbing a few jugs of spring water from the store and doing 2, 1gal batches of the same recipe to see if I even notice a difference, but that's too much like work. Maybe after my current mead experiment is done I will finally do it.

The pipeline and fracking station have made it impossible to keep my car clean. The critters are on the move, so there is more road kill. And to top it off, the big trucks are tearing up the road, which they just repaved last summer. I keep saying I need to sell this place, but moving sucks.

 

[bobeer]

I'm in Lewis Co, North Central WV. Looks like you'd be moving over on the tip of the Eastern Panhandle? My dad lives in Grant Co, which is on this side of the panhandle. He also has high iron. Yes, I brew with it high. I thought about grabbing a few jugs of spring water from the store and doing 2, 1gal batches of the same recipe to see if I even notice a difference, but that's too much like work. Maybe after my current mead experiment is done I will finally do it.

The pipeline and fracking station have made it impossible to keep my car clean. The critters are on the move, so there is more road kill. And to top it off, the big trucks are tearing up the road, which they just repaved last summer. I keep saying I need to sell this place, but moving sucks.

hmm... you're not making me want to move there lol. Yea, we'd move just over the boarder on the panhandle.
Moving does totally suck and I hear the houses out there are hard to sell and the value of the homes don't ever go up due to all the foreclosures. We are planning on staying in whatever house we buy for the long haul but we also want to build equity so we have some more retirement money when the time comes; which doesn't seem to happen out there. Where we get hung up is the homes are so much bigger than anything we can afford here in NoVa... that and you can get a USDA loan on a house in Wv which has it's perks. Idk what to do! Blah!!!!! I guess there's always pluses and minuses no matter where you live/move to.

 

[fsr_racer]

Sounds like you're doing your homework, so just keep researching. Take your time and don't settle for anything less than what you truly want. Idk about over there, but here close to me we had issues the past few years with the county assessors rating the houses much higher than their actual worth, this so they could collect more property taxes. The only way to get it down was to pay for a private assessment yourself and submit it to the county. My mom went through it a couple years ago. My place was on the market for 2yrs before I bought it. Unless it's truly a steal, most places don't sell right away, so you should have plenty of time to thoroughly weigh all your options. Good luck.