Water kefir & chlorine

[DSmith]

If anyone does water kefir, can you comment on the use of potassium metabisulfite/Camden tablet to dechlorinate the water?

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/water-kefir-grains-troubleshooting-faq-advice

 

[mchrispen]

I don't do Kefir, but I brew Kombucha. My tap water will destroy a scoby in a day or two.

If you can confirm that you have chlorine only - then you can just let the water sit overnight - and the chlorine will gas off - a little turbulence when setting that water aside or a hard stir occasionally will accelerate the process. Campden will also work (on both chlorine and chloramines) and do so relatively quickly, but I would also let that sit for a while before using, just to make sure the sulfur moves out of the water. You can use a half tablet for 5 gallons.

One other thing to consider is pH. There is a pH range that is optimal for bacterial growth and yeast growth. Do some reading on Kefir and see if you need to adjust hardness and/or pH to a specific level. Since yeast is involved - it will adjust the pH itself, but may take a while to re balance to the desired levels of other bacterium. I acidify my tea additions to below 5.4 with phosphoric acid before adding the sugars. I use RO water as my tap water is horrible.

 

[DSmith]

I don't do Kefir, but I brew Kombucha. My tap water will destroy a scoby in a day or two.

If you can confirm that you have chlorine only - then you can just let the water sit overnight - and the chlorine will gas off - a little turbulence when setting that water aside or a hard stir occasionally will accelerate the process. Campden will also work (on both chlorine and chloramines) and do so relatively quickly, but I would also let that sit for a while before using, just to make sure the sulfur moves out of the water. You can use a half tablet for 5 gallons.

One other thing to consider is pH. There is a pH range that is optimal for bacterial growth and yeast growth. Do some reading on Kefir and see if you need to adjust hardness and/or pH to a specific level. Since yeast is involved - it will adjust the pH itself, but may take a while to re balance to the desired levels of other bacterium. I acidify my tea additions to below 5.4 with phosphoric acid before adding the sugars. I use RO water as my tap water is horrible.

I definitely have chlorine in my water (verified by the city). I use RO water mostly for brewing (maybe a mix of RO & unsoftened tap water for mashing only if higher alkalinity is needed). CaCl and/or CaSO4 salts added to water. I treat all water (even RO) with camden at a dosing of 20 gallons/tablet (crush the tablet and measure out the actual weight of the camden tablet needed based on that dosing rate).

The pH comment is useful. I have a pH meter and it sounds like I need to experiment with different blends of RO & unsoftened tap water and monitor the pH/ acidification. Thanks.

 

[DSmith]

The water kefir using bottled spring water has been working well. The pH of the final product before being bottled is about 3.7, bottled with cranberry juice is about 3.0. I've seen carbonation take about a week at 70F.