Who uses tap water

[dhelegda]

What is the difference if I'm brewing all grain or extract?


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[enkamania]

Tap water and campden tablet

 

[Brewmex41]

What is the difference if I'm brewing all grain or extract?


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Mash pH if all grain.

 

[dhelegda]

Oh ok...I guess blowing chemistry off in High School is finally coming around to kick me in the ass now!


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[Brewmex41]

Oh ok...I guess blowing chemistry off in High School is finally coming around to kick me in the ass now!


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I don't think many high schools teach Chem as it applies to homebrewing lol

 

[DrWill]

When I first started home brewing in Chicago in the early 90s, I had disastrous results. There were lots of factors involved in that. So I gave up for about 7 years. Water quality turned out to be one of the issues.

When I moved to Kenosha WI I found the tap water much more suitable for brewing, and suddenly my results improved dramatically.

Like I said, it wasn't all down to water, but it made a difference.


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[dhelegda]

Oh thank God, I don't feel do bad now!


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[atoughram]

Always used tap water - no filter, no campden tablet, no nothing. My beer definitely tastes better than when I used to live in Tacoma. The water supply I have now is from a mutual and the wells are from the same aquifer as Mountain Mist bottled water

 

[max384]

For my first couple AG brews I used bottled water... But buying 8-9 gallons of water got real old real quick. So then i just switched to my municipal tap water with no filter or tablets and haven't noticed a difference. I like the taste of the water from the tap, so I figured it should make good beer... Which it does.

This being said, I am going to get a water report to see if i should be adding minerals. If I do need to, I'll be interested in seeing how this changes my beer.

 

[MagooBrew]

Tap water here in Northeast Mississippi

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[mufflerbearing]

Tap water here in GA. I haven't gotten the water report yet and don't know If I will. I may just run a sample up to the local pool tore and let them test the ph.

 

[beersk]

I do tap water and RO water, depending on the style. Light styles, I prefer just to start from a blank slate (mostly) and use RO water. But the tap water around here is pretty good so I use it here and there. I go back and forth between using RO for everything and using tap water. I don't think it makes much difference. I have my water report and it's pretty low in ions. The pH is kind of high though, but that doesn't matter.

 

[Brewmenn]

Why do you boil it?

To kill off whatever critters may have found their way into the 60-100 year old pipes that my water goes through to get to me, and to drive off as much of the dissolved gasses as possible.

But I just realized that this is the all grain part of the forum and I've only done extract brews with a partial boil. It's the make up water I'm making sure I boils ahead of time.

 

[mufflerbearing]

Tap water here in GA. I haven't gotten the water report yet and don't know If I will. I may just run a sample up to the local pool tore and let them test the ph.

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

What is the difference if I'm brewing all grain or extract?

As Brewmex41 said, the biggest issue is pH, or more specifically alkalinity, but really that's only part of the story. With extract, the mineral content of the water isn't much of a much, as the part of brewing where where it is a major factor is the mash. While some mineral content is necessary for healthy yeast, as a rule the quantities needed are small. Chloride and sulfate ions affect the expression of hop acids, with chloride smoothing it out and sulfate increasing the sharpness, but only a moderate amount of either is needed to have an effect.

The major issue in all-grain is the pH of the mash water and sparge water - which are two separate issues. For optimum enzymatic action, the pH of the mash should be between 5.3 and 5.8, with 5.6 being about the best. However, the pH of the mash will vary depending on the kilning of the malt and the proportions of dark malt and lighter malt, as well as on the mineral content of the water. Water that has a lot of alkalinity in it, especially carbonate hardness, will raise the pH, while large amounts of darker malt will lower it. As a result, hard water tends to favor darker beers, and influenced the development of both stout and dunkel, while soft water is better for lighter colored beers, the premiere example being the almost mineral-free water at Pilsen. This is why a certain Colorado based mega-brewery boasts about the quality of their mountain stream water - snow melt is almost free of minerals, so it is great if you happen to be making an ultra-delicate pale lager.

It is possible to adjust the mineral content in various ways, by adding mineral salts or diluting with distilled or RO water, but it can be a bit tricky, and it is much easier to add ions than remove or dilute them. As a result, soft water is generally preferable for homebrewers over hard water, even when brewing dark beers, as suitable additions of chalk can bring the pH up enough for the darker beers, while little needs to be done for pale beers.

After the mash is done, you (usually) also have the sparge water, which has to be filtrated through the grain bed. As the sparge progresses, though, more and more of the acidity gets washed out of the grain bed, and the pH begins to rise. This is a problem, unfortunately, as tannins in the grain hulls are more soluble in basic water than in acidic water, so you begin to get an increasingly astringent runoff. The solution once again is to lower the pH, either with mineral additions or with food-grade acid, or both. Sparge water should have a pH between 5.4 and 5.8, with 5.6 again being the sweet spot.

This is just an overview of the issue, and I'm handwaving some parts of the story. it should give you some idea of the why it matters more in all-grain than in extract.

 

[kh54s10]

Tap water here in Rhode Island, Filtered and 45+ batches of a lot of styles... No bad ones yet. I plan to get a Ward Labs analysis soon to make my great beers even better, if possible..

 

[Slow_Day]

I don't think many high schools teach Chem as it applies to homebrewing lol

If they did,it might be one of the most popular subjects in school. Just sayin.

 

[plainbrad]

I use tap water too. Add some salts if I want. But usually just tap water.

 

[Hamaki]

I use my well water which is fairly high in in iron & manganese - can't remember the numbers from 15 years ago but the deposits always remind me. I don't get metallic taste but the occasional batch has a bitter edge I could do without. I need to send a sample off to Wards so that I know what I'm working with.

 

[MrFeltimo]

I live around the corner from the Weyebackers brewrey in Easton PA, they use only tap water, so if its good enough for them its good enough for me..

 

[Beastmaster315]

I use faucet water for the wort boil. if i add water to complete the 5 gal batch, I use filtered water. My tap water is ok, no sulfur or real bad odors.


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[cedar_lake]

Tap water here. I do use a Campden tablet after having a batch I suspected had an off flavor from Chloramine. What are people who do that doing for time? I put a whole tablet (overkill I know) in 8 gallons of water overnight.

 

[Dakota21601]

I use a buddies u softened tap water from a close by city. Works great. Wish I was on his water supply!


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[BackAlley]

Tap water here in central NJ. I use an RV filter for chlorine. Only 37ppm alkalinity which is nice. No need to bother with RO


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[2bluewagons]

I've only used tap water here in Portland, I did notice a difference once I started treating it with campden though. Been using about 1/4-1/2 tablet for 8 gallons of brewing water.

Another Portland water (Bull Run watershed) user here, although I have never used Campden. I've read in the reports that chloramine is used, but in talking to folks at Steinbarts, they didn't seem to think it was necessary and I haven't noticed any glaring off flavors (phenols?) from chlorine being present.

What improvements did you see once you starting treating with Campden?

 

[danok1]

Tap water here. It's fine to drink out of the faucet, and I have other "issues" in my brewing to get under control before I start worrying about the water.

YMMV, as always.

-Dan

 

[Terek]

I use water out of the tap in the summer time, but it is well water right out of the aquifer. In the winter and spring, I use creek water from up the mountain, usually flowing good at those times due to melt off, but in the summer it dries up

 

[Spartan1979]

Tap water, unless I'm making a Helles, then I'll cut the tap water with distilled.

I've thought about an RO system though.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I just use the water straight out of my hose tap outside after letting it run for a few minutes ...even though im using an RV hose.

But i have a water report for my house so i know exactly what's in it if i need to make additions....out here the water is very soft @ only 38 ppm Total Hardness

 

[D-urb]

I like the idea of using the tap water. I read somewhere that the subtleties of the water in your area add a great deal to your flavor. I have kind of a romanticism about just using what you got unless it's contaminated ala the WV thing. Otherwise, I think it adds regionability to beer styles. On that note, I used to live in Philly and now live in KC but haven't noticed a difference in the beer.