Chloramines?

[kroach01]

Brewed my first batch (DIPA) in a while yesterday with tap water and I didn't look at the water chemistry beforehand. Turns out there are 3.2 ppm chloramine in the muni supply here and I did notice a slight plasticky taste in the wort when it was hot but was less when cool. It is fermenting now and there's a hint of plastic smell. Fermenting at constant 66 now.

That seems like a very high amount of chloramine and I've heard fermentation will bring out the plasticky phenolic flavor more. Pretty sure I already know the answer, but am I hosed with this batch?
I have K-meta but haven't had to deal with chloramines in tap water before so didn't even think about it.

 

[HalfmoundBrewer]

There is a pretty low threshold for tasting phenolics from chloramines. It may be fine, or it could taste like band-aids. Next time just add a 1/4 tab of k-meta per 5g batch and you will be good to go.

 

[itchygomey]

I made the same error the first time I used my tap water. It was a cream ale. It had an aftertaste that I absolutely couldn't stand. I was going to dump every bottle, but I put them in the basement and forgot about them. 6 months later, it's tolerable. Not great at all, but tolerable. Maybe I'll take em to a party and once everybody is drunk I'll let them finish em off. In hindsight - I should have just dumped it.

 

[sabo38]

I have 2 cases that have been in the closet for a year. I try one once a month or so and they haven't gotten any better. Oh well, in a couple years when I finish the last one it will probably be fantastic.
I only use RO water now with additions of course.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[kroach01]

Well based on these accounts I will dump it if there's that off-taste in two weeks of conditioning.
Do you guys think it is still OK to brew with this water if I
1.) use a carbon filter and 2.) treat with K-meta?
Here is a pdf of our local water report: http://www.wintervillenc.com/docs/pubworks/2013_CCR.pdf

Thanks for your input!

 

[doug293cz]

Seems like a lot of chlorine/chloramines to me. I would use campden tablets, as a small charcoal filter would require extremely low flow rates to effectively remove the chloramines. If you still have problems after trying campden tabs, then you probably need to switch to distilled, RO or DI water.

Your water report also does not list mineral or hardness levels. You should contact your water company to see if they have this information.

Brew on

 

[kroach01]

Seems like a lot of chlorine/chloramines to me. I would use campden tablets, as a small charcoal filter would require extremely low flow rates to effectively remove the chloramines. If you still have problems after trying campden tabs, then you probably need to switch to distilled, RO or DI water.

Your water report also does not list mineral or hardness levels. You should contact your water company to see if they have this information.

Brew on

Gracias amigo!