Chlorine in mash/sparge water

[moger777]

I was wondering if you had to worry about chlorine in mash and sparge water. I know the chlorine will be removed during the boil but I'm wondering if it reacts negatively with the grain before the boil. The tap water in my town tastes fine but I don't wanna take any chances.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

I noticed an increased chlorine smell in my water this fall/winter and the first beer I did after this went badly, fermentation got pretty stuck and never really reached expected FG. I attributed this to my mash not working well due to the chlorine, so I have boiled all my mash water (did not do this for sparge water b/c I didn't think it would matter for conversion) for about 15 minutes, then let it cool to strike temperature before my mash. Seems to have done the trick.

 

[jdoiv]

You should find out if your water utility uses chlorine or chloramine. If chlorine, you can either filter the water with a charcoal filter or boil it before use to remove the chlorine. If it is chloramine, you will need to use a campden tablet to remove it or go with an RO water filtration system. Filtering your water will really help your beers taste much better.

 

[manny101]

If he uses RO water wouldn't he need to add some minerals back into the water?

 

[malkore]

just because you have chlorine or chloramine does not mean you MUST treat the water.

low levels of either are not going to be noticed in the finished beer. high levels that make your tap water smell like the local public pool...that's the stuff you need to worry about.

 

[jdoiv]

Yes, if you use RO water you will need to build the water up to style.

And you don't have to treat your water if you don't want. Though I highly recommend that you do whatever you can to get the chlorine out. One of the best improvements to my beer was adding a simple carbon filter to remove the chlorine.