Water filtration
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Brownalemikie
Well-Known Member
I'm sure some Brewers will say to buy RO water and add minerals to it, but for the last 2 years I've been using Brita water and/or frig water and my beer tastes great. JMO
Need more info.
Are you doing extract, or all-grain? If it's extract, you're probably OK with the water, as you're not mashing. For all-grain, the water needs some attention as to mineral content, which is a whole topic unto itself. The big unknown is what minerals are left in your filtered water. Those fridge water filters typically don't filter it all the way to RO-like levels, so there will be minerals remaining. However, those filters do remove things like chlorine and iron (which you don't want in your beer), so it's better than plain tap water. You can have your filtered water tested through Ward Labs.
Are you doing extract, or all-grain? If it's extract, you're probably OK with the water, as you're not mashing. For all-grain, the water needs some attention as to mineral content, which is a whole topic unto itself. The big unknown is what minerals are left in your filtered water. Those fridge water filters typically don't filter it all the way to RO-like levels, so there will be minerals remaining. However, those filters do remove things like chlorine and iron (which you don't want in your beer), so it's better than plain tap water. You can have your filtered water tested through Ward Labs.
Imo, any filtration is better than none. So far my filtration has been a Brita or a canister with a charcoal filter.
My buddy uses his fridge it takes some time. I use straight up tap water with a campden tablet
If brewing with extract, technically you *should* use distilled or RO water. That's because the extract is wort that has previously been mashed and boiled and then condensed into syrup or dehydrated into powder. With extract brewing, you are essentially re-hydrating base wort and adding character with steeping grains and hops. The mineral's and such have already been accounted for when the wort was made and stay with the extract through dehydration. Distilled is better in this case than spring water for example..
That said, I think using the fridge water would be fine and arguably no different than using spring water except for the chlorine and chloramine concern as has been pointed out. A campden tablet will help with this but a little goes a long way. I dont see mentioned the batch size. For reference, one campden tablet treats up to 20 gallons of water. I'd suggest an attempt to keep the campden dosing appropriate for the water volume.
That said, I think using the fridge water would be fine and arguably no different than using spring water except for the chlorine and chloramine concern as has been pointed out. A campden tablet will help with this but a little goes a long way. I dont see mentioned the batch size. For reference, one campden tablet treats up to 20 gallons of water. I'd suggest an attempt to keep the campden dosing appropriate for the water volume.
flars
Well-Known Member
The filtered frig water will work fine unless you have really hard water and brewing with extract. The frig filter will not remove all chlorine or any chloramine from municipal tap water. Treating with a Campden tablet is necessary for municipal water supplies. PUR does make a filter that will remove chlorine and chloramine. I haven't looked at the price though. Might filter faster than the refrigerator supply.
ancientmariner52
Well-Known Member
An RV filter will be the same as a refrigerator filter, but about 10 times faster. They have standard garden hose fittings, so you'll need an RV hose as well. The slower you run it, the better the filtration. However, as Flars says, it still won't remove chloramines.
