Chlorine/chloramine removal

[Morrey]

I use straight municipal water with confidence having tested twice at different times by Ward Labs. Chlorine is not obvious in my water, but we all know it is required to be in there.

If I add 1/3 of a campden tablet for a 7G batch, will this prevent my yeast from attenuating properly? Since I would add the campden earlier in the same day I'd pitch the yeast, is this a problem?

Or do I need to let the water with campden added "rest" a day ahead of brew day? OR.....since chlorine is not obvious, should I skip the campden totally and avoid unnecessary chemicals?

Thanks!

 

[TAK]

I always campden treat my water the night before. I think it's okay the day of though. It certainly gets rid of the chloramine in my water within minutes, verified by before and after testing.

I divy out a half a tab for any volume 10 gal or less, and a whole tab for any volume between 10-20 gal. To divide the tab, I crush it in a 1 quart measuring cup, dissolve with a quart of water in said measuring cup, use half and discard the other half.

 

[dmtaylor]

If there is any chlorine in your water at all, your beers are at risk. I had no problems for many years, and then it happened to me. Use Campden and never have a problem ever again.

Yes, 1/3 tablet for 7 gallons is correct. It won't hurt the yeast or the flavor of the beer at all. It reacts with the chlorine immediately in a matter of seconds or minutes, and is gone before the mash and boil are done. Totally safe and cheap insurance.

Don't fear the Campden. Use it. Love it.

 

[LLBeanJ]

It reacts with the chlorine immediately in a matter of seconds or minutes, and is gone before the mash and boil are done. Totally safe and cheap insurance.

Don't fear the Campden. Use it. Love it.

This ^^^^^

I add the Campden, along with the other brewing salts, to the strike and sparge water as it's heating, then I drain off the sparge water into another container a few minutes later. The amount of Campden we're talking about here isn't going to affect yeast health.

 

[Morrey]

Great info! Back some time ago when I was learning water management, a fellow brewer told me to always treat the water for chloramines that exist in my municipal water. Two water reports told me I have close to Munich Boiled profiles, so I kind of dismissed the chloramine issue. However, it seems to me I need to be proactive and take precautions as Dave said, before it catches me off guard. Agreed, very cheap insurance and add it in with the other brewing salts which are luckily very small amounts. THANKS!!!!

 

[Homercidal]

There are tests that can tell you how much of what you have in there. I can't recall if Wards supplies that in the brewers report.

In any case, I use campden in my beers even though I use RO. It still comes from the municipal supply before the filter, and from what I've read it's generally difficult to remove chloramines without a very slow pass through activated charcoal. I doubt they are doing that in the machine at the grocery store.

 

[The_Bishop]

Actually, if they're not removing the chlorine/chloramine nearly completely before the RO Membrane, it'll destroy the membrane in short order.

Always test store bought RO water with a TDS meter!

 

[Morrey]

There are tests that can tell you how much of what you have in there. I can't recall if Wards supplies that in the brewers report.

In any case, I use campden in my beers even though I use RO. It still comes from the municipal supply before the filter, and from what I've read it's generally difficult to remove chloramines without a very slow pass through activated charcoal. I doubt they are doing that in the machine at the grocery store.

I looked at my second Ward report just now and I don't see a chloramine level included. But as several posts indicated, 1/3 campden tab in a 7G batch is pretty cheap insurance. I am brewing this weekend and I plan to use campden along with the brewing salts.

I use a RV carbon water filter on my supply line to my kettle, so that should help some even though I still plan to use campden to make sure I got all the chloramines.

 

[Homercidal]

Actually, if they're not removing the chlorine/chloramine nearly completely before the RO Membrane, it'll destroy the membrane in short order.

Always test store bought RO water with a TDS meter!

Yes, I know I should, but I don't have a meter. I have no way of knowing if they do a "good" job of making RO water or not. They have charcoal showing in the process, but I can't recall if they have one of them before the membrane.

It's a small town grocery store. They probably have a company set it up and maintain it. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew enough to protect their filters since they probably deal with a lot of municipal supplies with chlorines. Or maybe not.

 

[ajdelange]

Some RO systems have a GAC or KDF 'polish' filter after the membranes but every one I have ever seen has a carbon filter before the membrane in order to protect it from chlorine/chloramine.

There is a sticky a couple of posts higher up the page than this one at the moment (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=361073) which describes a simple test you can do with nothing more than a couple of tumblers and your nose to detect chlorine and chloramine.