Am I Screwed???!!!!

[MashStirBrew]

Ok. My first home brew, a Fat Tire clone from Midwest, is on its second week in the secondary. Everything went well while brewing it up and fermentation, and everything was sanitary. It looks good doesn’t smell bad. But I seem to still have a sharp medicinal taste. After searching through the forums I learned chloramines in the water I used could be the problem. I used all tap water thinking “If it tastes good it should brew good”. So I checked the water quality report from the local water company and sure enough CHLORAMIDE!!! 3.42ppm whatever that means.
I also brewed up a wit this weekend using the same water. I haven’t tasted it yet but I will when I rack it to the secondary this weekend. Are they going to be dumpers or am I over reacting?? It doesn’t sound like there are many options other than to start over with bottled spring water or drink medicine beer!

I really would like to rdwhahb but I Don’t Have Any Yet!

 

[Jaybird]

I used the only BAD batch I ever brewed (and I do mean BAD) as a truth searum to see if the people would tell me the truth about my beer. Not all bad beer is all bad
RDWHA uh uh BEER
cheers
JJ

 

[Jaybird]

I used the only BAD batch I ever brewed (and I do mean BAD) as a truth searum to see if the people would tell me the truth about my beer. Not all bad beer is all bad
RDWHA uh uh BEER
cheers
JJ

 

[Jaybird]

did I double click???

 

[MashStirBrew]

Truth Serum, I like that. Could make for a good label too.

 

[poguemahone]

Unless you taste it also straight out of your tap I doubt it's just your water.

 

[joshpooh]

I would never scrap a batch b4 tasting it, and even after tasting it I would give it a month or so more to see if the taste has improved. If it still doesn't taste good then I would dump it or use it as truth searum like jaybird.

 

[Jaybird]

its also VERY VERY good for your lawn. just turn on your sprinklers and pour the beer in front of them it will spray all over and your grass will never be greener. Everything LOVES beer even bad beer. if there is such a thing
JJ

 

[MashStirBrew]

Well, my local home brew buddies told me to shut up, relax, and have a brew. They use the same water I did, and they have brewed some delicious beer. After transferring the Wit, it does seem pretty tasty. So I will chalk this up as Noob impatience and add it to my notes. If it tastes like poo after a month in the bottle I will use half as fertilizer and the other half will get used as truth serum. Thanks for the replies and I will make sure to have a few in the mean time. But I will be using bottled spring water next time!

 

[Pabst Blue Robot]

Don't be too quick to lay aside your water. It's only been a couple weeks, and frankly it will amaze you how much beer can change with time. Forget about this batch for a bit, kick back and pour a commercial brew. If your tap water was medicinal tasting, you'd have noticed it drinking the water. Let the beer mellow and plan your next batch!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

ppm is "parts per million". It's a ratio of water- to-whatever crap they are measuring.

I wouldn't worry about the tap water. Chlorine boils off, so unless you were adding water straight from the tap to secondary, I wouldn't worry about it. Another common way to get chloramides into your beer is by using bleach as a sanitizer. Bleach has to be rinsed COMPLETELY (with sanitized water) in order to completely be confident that you've avoided the problem. In other words, invest in a rinseless sanitizer like Iodophor or StarSan (I use both for different applications, but if you don't want to buy two bottles, just buy the StarSan).

I hate to say... it's probably an infection... but give it some time. It'll either get better or worse. If it gets better, it's just some weird thing. If it gets worse or stays the same, it's an infection.

Hope that helps!

 

[MashStirBrew]

No bleach here. One step only so far. I was anal about sanitation too. Everything was thoroughly soaked and let dry. I did a closed loop transfer with my better bottles. I did add 2.5 gallons of tap water after the boil. I forgot to mention that it also had the taste before pitching yeast. And no I did not boil the grains. (155-160 @25min) I was expecting it to mellow in the 3 weeks but I was wrong. Hope bottle time works. Remember this is my First batch ever, so I probably am imagining this because I have little to compare to. It’s all a learning experience, good or bad. Glad I can vent to experienced brewers though.

 

[GoatFarmersInternational]

Well, whatever it ends up tasting like, there is nothing you can do about it now... I wouldn't worry too much, though. And the way you describe it does not seem to me to be an infection.
You might want to invest in one of those activated charcoal filters that go on your tap, they can be a little expensive (starting at around $50), but are a good idea if you are going to be topping up.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I don't know about the filtered water. Here's the thing. If you use regular tap water, you can call up your water dept and request a report that tells you exactly what your water is like and you can use that to formulate style-specific water. However, if you use filtered water, without a water analysis, who knows what you are getting? Sure, it's more pure, but the purpose of water in brewing isn't facilitated by clean water as much as it is by authentic water.

Besides, unless you use the charcoal filter regularly and maintain it as a closed system, it's one more possible source of infection on the water-out side (though theoretically microbes on the water-in side ought to be filtered out).

Anyway, if your water really sucks for brewing or for other reasons you are intent on using a filter, RV filters are usually pretty cheap compared to the stuff sold for the masses. Go to a camping/RV store, you'll probably find something better/cheaper there.

 

[GoatFarmersInternational]

The advantage of using the carbon filter is that it removes Chlorine compounds, which do indeed cause off flavors (and they aren't all removed by simply boiling, either). Bacteriostatically rated filters for the sink ensure contaminant-free water.
Yes, they have to be maintained once or twice a year depending on how much you use them. Bummer.

As far as authentic brewing water, I doubt that most municipal water sources in the US provide water comparable to that of the UK or Prague in terms of dissolved mineral salts... So one has to add gypsum or Burton's salts, for instance, so one loses nothing by filtering through activated charcoal.

Either way you are probably fine, but if this beer does indeed come out tasting off, a tap filter should be one of the avenues of investigation for you, IMHO

 

[Professor Frink]

That amount of chloramines doesn't sound all that high, my water has about the same and I haven't had any problem. One month out of the year, they switch from chloramines to chlorine and I have to use bottled water because that water has a real strong taste.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

The advantage of using the carbon filter is that it removes Chlorine compounds, which do indeed cause off flavors (and they aren't all removed by simply boiling, either). Bacteriostatically rated filters for the sink ensure contaminant-free water.
Yes, they have to be maintained once or twice a year depending on how much you use them. Bummer.

If you have a filter for regular use, you are correct. However, if you remove the filter and store it away between brew sessions, it will have to be sanitized before you use it again (unless you are doing full boils or boiling your top off water). Really, no big deal, but it is something to be aware of.

As far as authentic brewing water, I doubt that most municipal water sources in the US provide water comparable to that of the UK or Prague in terms of dissolved mineral salts... So one has to add gypsum or Burton's salts, for instance, so one loses nothing by filtering through activated charcoal.

I think you missed the point. I'm not saying that the municipal water is great for brewing, I'm saying it's a known quantity. Adding salts for brewing isn't as simple as dumping in a teaspoon of this or that. You need to know the condition of the water you are starting with. In other words, if your water is hard, you will need to add more of some ingredients and less of others to approximate the water you are trying to create. So if you use filtered water, you need to do a water analysis so you know what your filtered water is like, so you know what to add. It's not like adding lemonade mix to water, it's more like someone handing you premixed solution with a cup of lemonjuice, 17 cups of sugar, and a gallon of water. At that point, you can't just follow the recipe like you were starting from scratch. You need to adjust your mix based upon what you've been given. You need to verify the ratios and figure out the batch size, and determine how much of whatever you need to add. Adding chemicals to water is the same thing. You need to know where your starting point is. As far as I can tell, brewing with filtered water is like being handed the premixed ingredients without being told the quantities. Brewing with municipal water, it already has a "flavor profile" so to speak which may or may not be good for brewing... but at least you know what the starting point is. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this...

Anyway, I'm not really concerned with water, but if I was, I would probably go with reverse osmosis bottled water as I understand that it is the purest water out there....

Either way you are probably fine, but if this beer does indeed come out tasting off, a tap filter should be one of the avenues of investigation for you, IMHO

Agreed.