# Boiling water prior to mashing?



## The Gas Man (5/11/13)

I've read that some people boil their water prior to mashing to remove elements such as chlorine.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?


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## manticle (5/11/13)

Worthwhile doing if your water is highly chlorinated (works to a lesser degree with water that is chloraminated) and also helps drop out carbonates.

Depends on your water and what it contains as to whether it's worthwhile. For my water supply it would be a waste of time and energy but that is not necessarily the case for everyone.


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## WarmBeer (5/11/13)

Was thinking on this the other night, prior to mashing in. 

I had pre-boiled both my mash and my sparge water, when it came to me, I am about to boil the snot out of the whole lot for an hour with hops in it.

Is there really a need for boiling beforehand to drive off chlorine/chloramine?


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## Adr_0 (5/11/13)

WarmBeer said:


> Was thinking on this the other night, prior to mashing in.
> 
> I had pre-boiled both my mash and my sparge water, when it came to me, I am about to boil the snot out of the whole lot for an hour with hops in it.
> 
> Is there really a need for boiling beforehand to drive off chlorine/chloramine?


What manticle said.

I'm only new to chlorine removal, as I didn't do it for about 10 batches this year and didn't do it 8 years ago. Makes sense that boiling removes free chlorine pretty easily, but doesn't do so well with the chloramine.

So, for the daring, there's potassium metabisulphite.


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## argon (6/11/13)

Just letting your water sit uncovered overnight will allow the chlorine to dissipate into the atmosphere. No need to boil. Although if you do, 15 min will do the job.


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## lael (6/11/13)

Adr_0 said:


> What manticle said.
> 
> I'm only new to chlorine removal, as I didn't do it for about 10 batches this year and didn't do it 8 years ago. Makes sense that boiling removes free chlorine pretty easily, but doesn't do so well with the chloramine.
> 
> So, for the daring, there's potassium metabisulphite.


Can you tell any difference with or without chlorine removal?


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## manticle (6/11/13)

Warmbeer - I believe the reaction occurs in the mash. However heating to strike temp should be adequate in most cases and it's only an issue if you've noticed the flavour effect in finished beer (chlorephenols = medicinal/band-aid)


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## Adr_0 (6/11/13)

lael said:


> Can you tell any difference with or without chlorine removal?


Yet to see. I had two beers in the comp and four feedback sheets - all said band-aid. Confident there weren't infections, I did use (cold water rinsed) bleach in one of the pilsener fermenters. I also picked it up myself (since I now had a flavour reference) in a wheat I'd done previously, which is really not a flavour you want in a wheat.

I have only just put down a bitter and but 1.2g of potassium met in for the ~75L of water, so we'll see in a couple of weeks how it ends up. Literature out there is pretty consistent though. And my aluminium HLT was almost black with deposits from - again, literature says - chloramine.

Just on Brisbane water... in a 20L white container, you can see that the water is blue/green.


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## WarmBeer (6/11/13)

Warmbeer - I believe the reaction occurs in the mash. However heating to strike temp should be adequate in most cases and it's only an issue if you've noticed the flavour effect in finished beer (chlorephenols = medicinal/band-aid)

Thanks Mants, that answers my question. It's a chemical reaction thing, not a flavor residue thing.


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## Adr_0 (6/11/13)

yeah exactly on that, you need to check out what your water is like. some water around the place might use chlorine gas in their water and at a reasonably low level (say 1-2ppm) as the average yearly temps are cooler which might have limited impact or could be boiled off easily, whereas other places might use chloramine for its added persistence in the water and in potentially in higher doses if the weather is warm.


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## lael (6/11/13)

fascinating - thanks! guess filtering might be the next gear purchase - think QldKev had an interesting and cheap solution recently


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## niels (15/11/13)

FYI: We have very hard water and I boil my water during 30 minutes the day before brewday. I leave it covered and let it cool down overnight.Next day a lot of calcium is on the bottom of the pot and so I reduced the temporary hardness by half (+/-).

Niels


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## verysupple (16/11/13)

manticle said:


> Worthwhile doing if your water is highly chlorinated (works to a lesser degree with water that is chloraminated) and also helps drop out carbonates.
> 
> Depends on your water and what it contains as to whether it's worthwhile. For my water supply it would be a waste of time and energy but that is not necessarily the case for everyone.


Yup. I don't know what the water in Wollongong is like, but water here in Melbourne is so soft that the carbonates are no issue and chlorine doesn't seem to be an issue either due to it's volatility (we don't seem to have chloromines).

i guess you need to know what's in your water before you know what to do with it. It shouldn't be too hard to obtain a water report on the net. If it is, contact your supplier and ask for one. Others have said that if you explain your intent they are usually willing to give out the relevant info.


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## pyrosx (16/11/13)

The Gas Man said:


> I've read that some people boil their water prior to mashing to remove elements such as chlorine.
> 
> Does anyone have any thoughts on this?





lael said:


> fascinating - thanks! guess filtering might be the next gear purchase - think QldKev had an interesting and cheap solution recently


Step 1 - Find the appropriate pdf here: http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/water-the-environment/how-we-manage-sydney-s-water/waterquality/typical-drinking-water-analysis/index.htm
It's only a "typical" analysis, but it's a great start.

Overall though, Water quality is pretty standard in the greater sydney area: Soft as Shite.


I forget where I read it, but the 4 biggest water treatment plants (the outsourced ones) service 90% of sydney houses, and they all use chloramine - not lots, but some. The other, older, smaller state-owned ones still fill in some of the gaps here and there, and they use chlorine. So if you can't smell chlorine in your water, it's probably not there.

So I don't think many Sydney-siders would get much out of pre-boiling water. Brewing salts on the other hand.... but that's a different thread.

I've decided for myself that some kind of chloramine treatment (a pinch of something-metabisulphite, probably) is going in my next few batches - we'll see if anything changes.


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## Ducatiboy stu (16/11/13)

Ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid
and sodium ascorbate
completely neutralizes both chlorine
and chloramines but degrades in a day or two, which make it usable only for short-term applications; SFPUC determined that 1000 mg of Vitamin C (tablets purchased in a grocery store, crushed and mixed in with the bath water) remove chloramine completely in a medium-size bathtub without significantly depressing pH.[14]
[15]


Copied from wikipeadia


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## manticle (16/11/13)

So add vitamin c tablets?


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## Bribie G (16/11/13)

argon said:


> Just letting your water sit uncovered overnight will allow the chlorine to dissipate into the atmosphere. No need to boil. Although if you do, 15 min will do the job.


Good to see you back Argon.
Your Methode Argonoise (for no chilling) lives on

(off topic)

:super:


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## beno1 (18/1/14)

No need... Your boiling anyway after your grain steeping


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## manticle (18/1/14)

The reactions being discussed take place in the mash.


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