Switched from Tap to Bottled... WOW

[McGreen]

I have heard that only about 1/4 of people can taste the off flavor that is generated by using chlorinated water.

Either way, I live in NY where our chlorine content is very high, and personally I don't wanna take the risk of having an off taste after 2 months of waiting. I use distilled water in my extract brews and when the recipe calls for it I'll add some gypsum.

I bet I'd be one of the people who couldn't taste the difference though. Until you told me. Then I'd swear I tasted it!

 

[VegasBrew]

That's preposterous. The PH matters for the mash. The extract was obtained by a mashing process with proper PH and the sugars are already extracted. I can't see how PH matters later for extract. If it did matter than it would be mentioned all over the place and I've never seen this till your post. BTW, for the record there is NO guarantee bottled water such as spring water will be in a perfect PH for beer brewing. Bottled water can be all over the PH map and also be worse in contaminates than tap water.


Rev.

I don`t want to turn this into a pissing contest but it DOES make a difference. The PH can be thrown off by excess minerals which WILL effect the taste and hop utilization. I am talking from my own experience as well as others. True the PH of the wort will drive the flavor of the beer. A high alkaline beer will taste more bitter than an acidic beer. Also true the PH is more important to the mash however that PH carries over to the beer making process, mash to sparge to boil to bottle. When you make a can of condensed chicken noodle soup do you make it with water out of the ocean? NO!! because Campbells has added the flavorings already and if you used sea water it would have too much salt. Take a bitter beer, it will have an alkaline PH, add some salt which is neutral, and it will work to lower the PH making the beer LESS bitter. There is tons of info on PH and how it effect the taste of beer, during mash, sparge and boil. Add 3 table spoons of gypsum to your next batch of beer during the boil and tell me it doesn`t taste like ass. Bottled water can vary however it will be more neutral in more cases than your tap water making it better for extract in MOST cases. I would suggest some research....

Brew Strong Water Episode 4 (all 4 episodes have a lot of info regarding water for all grain and extract but I didn`t want to go through them all for quotes)

http://s125483039.onlinehome.us/archive/bs_water4_051809.mp3

note: Jamil's comment about gypsum at 33:00 and the part on extract brewing at 38:00 roughly.

http://www.winning-homebrew.com/extract-brewing.html

"If your water has a lot of chlorine you can boil it to remove the chlorine. Higher levels of chlorine will cause chlorophenols to be produced in your beer resulting in a strong band-aid flavor. Adding 1 campden tablet (available at all winemaking suppliers) to your brewing water will remove the chlorine and chloramines and will treat up to 20 gallons of brewing water. Adding bottled spring water is a good but expensive option. Use distilled water for dilution to correct the mineral composition of your water. You can use various types of water in extract brewing since it won't affect the mash pH or extraction of tannins during the sparge. Always be aware that the manufacturer of the extract used water that was full of minerals and salts. These were concentrated during the drying process (for DME), and in the process of removing water in LME. These minerals are still in the extract. If you have water that is high in carbonates, bicarbonates, or any other minerals, you may be at extreme levels after using your own tap water. It's best to get a report so you will know exactly what your water has in it, and use distilled, RO, or deionized water when your water is out of specs."

http://www.winning-homebrew.com/brewing-water.html

"For extract brewers, you don't have to worry about this. The extract will have all the brewing water minerals from the location that the extract was made. If you are having problems with some off flavors, or can't seem to make certain types of beer by adding your own water to extracts, try using distilled water. If you are adding mineral salts to your water when using extracts, you may be over doing it since these minerals are already in the extract. Call the manufacturer to find out the water profile of the brewery that made the extract. You can then make adjustments from there."

 

[Rev2010]

I don`t want to turn this into a pissing contest but it DOES make a difference.

No pissing contest here, and thanks for the info about the minerals left over in the extract. I hadn't even thought about that aspect. But just for the record you did say, "If you are doing extract then use at least bottled, I would use RO water." That statement implies all tap water is poor and the problem still is you simply don't know what the PH is of the bottled water you are buying. You say it will be more neutral, I would need to see proof that bottled water companies take effort to PH balance their water, and then again there's no telling it's in the sweet spot range for brewing.

I also want to reiterate, I'm sure you've all seen the detailed reports on how the large majority of bottled water typically contains more contaminates, including bacteria, than tap water yes? Part of the reason being bottled water is *not* regulated by the FDA.

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp

And here's an interesting bottled water grading for most brands:

http://breakingnews.ewg.org/bottled-water-2011-search

Lastly, here's a bottled water PH listing showing they are all over the map:

http://www.phconnection.com/Bottled_Water_pH_List.html


Rev.

 

[Becks]

I also want to reiterate, I'm sure you've all seen the detailed reports on how the large majority of bottled water typically contains more contaminates, including bacteria, than tap water yes? Part of the reason being bottled water is *not* regulated by the FDA.

This. People forget that your local drinking water is monitored and regulated to be within limits for drinking.
However bottled water is not inspected UNLESS it is part of interstate commerce in which case it must adhere to FDA regulations. The majority of bottled water I buy comes from out of state since SC does not have bottled water plants. So the long and short of it is, if your bottled water is coming from instate it may in fact be worse than your tap water in terms of contaminants.

 

[VegasBrew]

I guess I should have been more clear. I did say " at least bottled, I would use RO water". My implication was to say "use at least bottled water that had been processed with filtration, I use RO water from my local mega-mart that has a free standing filtration machine". I made the assumption of what my comment meant, not what it said. The act of filtration will remove minerals that effect the PH of the water hence making it more neutral. Looking at your link on the PH rating of some of the places bottled water comes from and processes, or lack there of, that it goes through opens my eyes. I guess I got lucky with my choice of water, Arrowhead if my mega-mart machine is past date for service, it is right on the line at 6.83. Biggest point is to know where your water comes from, use tap, RO, distilled, bottled or whatever, just make your adjustments and it will turn out.

VB

 

[Rev2010]

Looking at your link on the PH rating of some of the places bottled water comes from and processes, or lack there of, that it goes through opens my eyes. I guess I got lucky with my choice of water

I definitely also feel lucky that my local tap water is good. See, I learned something from you and you something from I. So we both = winning! (as Charlie Sheen would say)

Cheers man!


Rev.

 

[VegasBrew]

That is the great thing about this forum, we all learn!! Learn something everyday because the day you stop learning is the day you die.

VB