My Brewery is moving

[Ki-ri-n]

And I'm going with it. As glad as I am to move, I think my brew may suffer. Re-setting up my setup won't be too bad (need to make a space at the new place & run electric) but I fear my water my play a bigger part. I'm used to municiple water and I'm going to a private well. The water tastes fine but who knows what kind of beer it will make.

Those of you with wells:
do you actually use your water to brew with?
Do you use some sort of additions?
Do you use another water source for brewing (I could always fill empty kegs with the same water I have used up to this point from relatives)?
Have you sent a sample to Ward Labs? What were the results (good/bad/no difference)?

I know there can be a lot of variables, just looking for some re-assurance

 

[bigwardog]

i'd look at it as an opportunity

 

[WI_Wino]

Those of you with wells:
do you actually use your water to brew with? - YES
Do you use some sort of additions? - NO
Do you use another water source for brewing (I could always fill empty kegs with the same water I have used up to this point from relatives)? - NO
Have you sent a sample to Ward Labs? What were the results (good/bad/no difference)? - NOT YET

I know there can be a lot of variables, just looking for some re-assurance

My all grain beer tastes fine (it's probably not amazing oh my god it's a fifty pointer!!! beer but that's probably as much my process as the water) using my well water pre-softener. We have lots of calcium in our water, little iron (so used to get the white krud build up on faucets/sinks but no orange stains). If it taste fine to drink I say you are good to go to try at least one batch. It should be drinkable.

 

[jakenbacon]

You will be much better off with a well... Municipal water sources and additives change all the time, making it much harder to keep a consistent brew unless you are getting the water tested before every brew, but lets face facts, you aren't. Also, if this is just a private well, then you will probably not have all the bs additions, like chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, etc... Just get the well water tested and adjust like you would any other water. Consider this a huge bonus for your brewery. Good luck!!!!

 

[The_Bishop]

My well water is very hard and alkaline. Up until now I have been buying bottled water, but I've since made the investment into an RO system that'll produce enough water for brewing in a couple of hours.

It's an option. Don't jump to any conclusions until you send the water out to ward labs, your water may now be that bad.

 

[Ki-ri-n]

With all the stress of selling and finding the "right" house before becoming homeless, this is re-assuring!
I Wonder if SWMBO will agree with all of my first "improvements"

Where should I get the water from? Straight com the well or after the water softener?

 

[JackQT]

i'd look at it as an opportunity

Yup. Get it tested, but now you've got water with fewer (zero) chemicals in it.

 

[bigwardog]

With all the stress of selling and finding the "right" house before becoming homeless, this is re-assuring!
I Wonder if SWMBO will agree with all of my first "improvements"

Where should I get the water from? Straight com the well or after the water softener?

straight from the well. the salts used in the softening process may not agree with your process

 

[day_trippr]

Worse comes to worst you can check out reverse osmosis systems...

Cheers!

 

[Gar]

Ive recently bought a house in the country and was wondering about brewing with the well wateri figured ro was my only choice but some are saying if im reading this right your well water can be good to go right from the ground? ive not drank my water yet but it smells clean with no sulfer smell at all but i do know it has iron in it. and im sure iron is a no no. ill get mine checked i have no idea what im looking for but ill get it checked anyway

 

[treacheroustexan]

I just moved into a new apartment in april, and I filled my brew kettle up right out of my bath tub and my beer came out incredible. I didn't do any kind of testing, just filled it up and went with it and hoped that i got lucky. and i did!

 

[Ki-ri-n]

Finally set everything up and made a batch
What pain. From running 220 from one end of the basement to the other, running a dedicated water line that wasn't off the water softener and re-adjusting my grain mill gap. It helps to read it inches rather than millimeters had to dump the very first batch cause the mash would ne constantly stuck.

Just need to re-dial everything back in. And come up with a more ellegant vent system.

 

[Brettomomyces]

I'm like in the exact opposite boat. I used to brew in CT using well water from two different locations. Water was amazing at both places. Now, I'm moving into Denver (from Aurora, don't judge me) and I'm a little nervous about going to city water.

Hows that water comin out of the ground treatin you?

 

[Ki-ri-n]

I'll find out in about 3 weeks. Water tastes fine. Definitely cooler coming out. Helps when chilling.

 

[Ki-ri-n]

Well the first batch turned out alright. Can't tell if the water made much of a difference or not. Might have been "tweaks" done to the system between moves. Either way, I've got beer.

 

[cuse88]

How do you have your pump connected to table? I am currently working on a setup similar to yours. Setup looks great and hope the beer turns out great at the new place!

 

[Ki-ri-n]

There's a rib on the underside of the table. I bolted a plate to that using sheet metal screws. The base of the pump is bolted to that. I think I used a double gang blank cover for the plate. I may move the pump lower because sometimes its hard to get the pump primed.

 

[cuse88]

Is there any way you could possibly post a picture of your pump mounting ?

 

[Ki-ri-n]

Sorry it took me a while but does this help at all?

The sheet metal screws that mount the plate to the rib are underneath the "hump" on the pump mounting plate.