Very Hard Water

[rowan57]

Hi All,

My water is rated as Hard to Very Hard (200mg+ mg/L Calcium Carbonate). To give you an idea, after a few uses when the iron steams then lime particles also come out and when I boiled my pot for the first time just now there was a lime deposit.

I'm looking to extract brew for the first time at the weekend, would I be better using bottled water?

Thanks!

 

[Double_D]

Congratulations on your first brew! It won't change anything but it may put you more at ease to use bottled water for an extract brew. It would make it easier to chill to pitching temp if you had a couple gallons already cold from the fridge or the freezer though.

I currently live in vegas and have the same "problem" with my water. Since I do mostly pale, IPA, brown, stout, sour, belgian, and wheat beers the hard water doesn't bother my brewing process. I've used the 5.2 stabilizer, water from the water windmill, spring water, soft water, and mixes of the spring and hard water, and hard/soft blend. My point is unless you're trying specifically to recreate a beer it's not that important. Unless you want to use RO and build your water to whatever you like adding minerals (but that should be down the road for you. don't worry about it). I have a couple buddies that do that. And soft water is usually detrimental to the perception of bitterness so take that with a grain of salt too(bad pun I know).

Regardless, RDWHAHB..

 

[LandoLincoln]

Hi All,

My water is rated as Hard to Very Hard (200mg+ mg/L Calcium Carbonate). To give you an idea, after a few uses when the iron steams then lime particles also come out and when I boiled my pot for the first time just now there was a lime deposit.

I'm looking to extract brew for the first time at the weekend, would I be better using bottled water?

Thanks!

Extract brewing isn't nearly as picky about water quality as all-grain.

If you taste your water and it tastes pretty good, then you're probably good to go.

Are you using municipal water? If so, do you know if it's treated with chlorine or chloramine? Chlorine / chloramine will definitely screw up a batch of beer, giving it an astringent medicinal taste. The easiest treatment for either is by using campden tablets, which are usually available at any homebrew shop or online homebrew store. 1/2 of a tablet per 5 or 10 gallons of water added to the water and stirred up when you start the brew day, and you should be good to go.

If I were you, I'd use the tap water, but buy some campden tablets just to be on the safe side. If after a couple of batches the beer isn't tasting right, then a more careful look at your water may be warranted.

 

[brew_ny]

I have well water that is hard but tastes fine I brew all grain with it and the beer tastes good

so I am good with it

good luck with your brewing

S_M

LandoLincoln I drank many of the 32 oz cans of colt 45 back in the day

 

[LandoLincoln]

LandoLincoln I drunk many of the 32 oz cans of colt 45 back in the day

"Works every time!"

 

[rowan57]

Congratulations on your first brew! It won't change anything but it may put you more at ease to use bottled water for an extract brew. It would make it easier to chill to pitching temp if you had a couple gallons already cold from the fridge or the freezer though.

I currently live in vegas and have the same "problem" with my water. Since I do mostly pale, IPA, brown, stout, sour, belgian, and wheat beers the hard water doesn't bother my brewing process. I've used the 5.2 stabilizer, water from the water windmill, spring water, soft water, and mixes of the spring and hard water, and hard/soft blend. My point is unless you're trying specifically to recreate a beer it's not that important. Unless you want to use RO and build your water to whatever you like adding minerals (but that should be down the road for you. don't worry about it). I have a couple buddies that do that. And soft water is usually detrimental to the perception of bitterness so take that with a grain of salt too(bad pun I know).

Regardless, RDWHAHB..

Extract brewing isn't nearly as picky about water quality as all-grain.

If you taste your water and it tastes pretty good, then you're probably good to go.

Are you using municipal water? If so, do you know if it's treated with chlorine or chloramine? Chlorine / chloramine will definitely screw up a batch of beer, giving it an astringent medicinal taste. The easiest treatment for either is by using campden tablets, which are usually available at any homebrew shop or online homebrew store. 1/2 of a tablet per 5 or 10 gallons of water added to the water and stirred up when you start the brew day, and you should be good to go.

If I were you, I'd use the tap water, but buy some campden tablets just to be on the safe side. If after a couple of batches the beer isn't tasting right, then a more careful look at your water may be warranted.

I have well water that is hard but tastes fine I brew all grain with it and the beer tastes good

so I am good with it

good luck with your brewing

S_M

LandoLincoln I drank many of the 32 oz cans of colt 45 back in the day

"Works every time!"

Holy carp So many responses in 15 minutes. I think the summary is don't worry and carry on?

I would assume my water is treated with Chlorine, but the report I found is 147 pages long and I dont have the attention span to figure it out

On another note, won't be starting my brewpot from cold again, it takes an hour to boil on my hob.

 

[mabrungard]

There is no guarantee that bottled water will be any better than tap water for brewing. In many cases, bottled water came from some town's tap water. You would be better off using distilled or RO water. This is especially true when brewing an extract brew.

In many places, tap water alkalinity might be high. Given that the OP's water is quite hard, its likely to have high alkalinity too. That alkalinity will raise the pH of the wort in the kettle and this can increase the possibility that the hops and their bittering will be more harsh. Using distilled or RO water avoids that problem. But a brewer can still use that tap water as long as they neutralize the high alkalinity with an acid addition. Your choice.

Remember: Good tasting water can still make bad beer.