# Sydney Water.. Best Treatment For Brewing?



## grinder (25/4/07)

Just been reading some info about treating water from town supply to provide best brew conditions.
I am thinking about filtering my water with carbon block filter prior to mashing. Aparently this will get rid of all clorine out of the water.

Does anyone filter their water for brewing purposes?? 

Is it better to boil all water first??

Is the sydney water supply a satisfactory PH for brewing or does it need to be adjusted??

Just after some good simple instructions on the best treatment for Sydney Water to get the most out of my mashes

Grinder...


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## Hogan (25/4/07)

grinder said:


> Just been reading some info about treating water from town supply to provide best brew conditions.
> I am thinking about filtering my water with carbon block filter prior to mashing. Aparently this will get rid of all clorine out of the water.
> 
> Does anyone filter their water for brewing purposes??
> ...



Grinder - here is a link to Sydney Water analysis. 

I have found the PH in tap water too high for my liking and use tank water for all my brews. No chlorine - just good ole rain water. You can buy a downpipe diverter from Bunnings for $20. All you need is a clean recepticle to catch it in - and - a supply of rain that is a little more constant than currently.


Cheers, Hoges.


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## ForkBoy (25/4/07)

Sydney water is pretty good to brew with, quite soft so it allows you a lot of flexibility.

I assume you're interested in its merits for AG as you mention pH? I persobally filter with a carbon filter (I use a bucket fitted with four britta filters) to remove chlorine, and some add a pinch of sodium percarbonate which is supposed to do the same. 

The pH will be quite fine for most light through amber brews (guessing 5 through 30 EBC). Once you get into the darker beers or a very light subtle pilsner you'll need some chemical adjustment.

A great source of info is howtobrew.com - John Palmer has also published a great spreadsheet that helps you determine salts to add to estimate pH. It took me a while to get my head around how it works, but since I've been using it I believe my brews have improved. 

Start at here and there is a link to the spreadsheet at the end of the chapter.

Also a great source of info is the basic brewing podcasts - there are 3 or 4 shows on pH/water chemistry which I found extremely useful link


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## blackbock (25/4/07)

ForkBoy said:


> <snip>
> and some add a pinch of sodium percarbonate which is supposed to do the same.



I think you mean Sodium Metabisulphite


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## grinder (25/4/07)

Hogan said:


> Grinder - here is a link to Sydney Water analysis.
> 
> I have found the PH in tap water too high for my liking and use tank water for all my brews. No chlorine - just good ole rain water. You can buy a downpipe diverter from Bunnings for $20. All you need is a clean recepticle to catch it in - and - a supply of rain that is a little more constant than currently.
> Cheers, Hoges.


Rain water (unboiled) would be full of micro organisms. I assume you boil your rain water prior to use?


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## Doc (25/4/07)

I do a two step filter on the way to the HLT. First is a sediment filter, and the second is a carbon filter.
All good.

Beers,
Doc


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## redbeard (25/4/07)

i filter my water thru a carbon filter (remove chlorine) and also add a teaspoon of calcium sulphate to most mash waters. works for me.

cheers


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## Hogan (26/4/07)

grinder said:


> Rain water (unboiled) would be full of micro organisms. I assume you boil your rain water prior to use?



Yes Grinder it gets boiled in the kettle for 90 minutes after mashing and prior to fermentation.
Hoges.


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## DJR (26/4/07)

Don't use a brita filter, it will remove calcium.

Chloramine which Sydney water is full of can be removed by adding Sodium Metabisulfite - either powdered or with a Campden tablet, about 1/4 of a campden or about 1/8 of a teaspoon to the strike and sparge water should do it.

I don't think a regular carbon block filter will remove chloramine - you need a granulated type cart such as the Pentek CGAC-10 rated for chloramine removal.

I filter the water through a 1 stage carbon block which i will soon upgrade to a 2 stage carbon block then granulated chloramine cartridge, then add some sodium met, calcium chloride and/or gypsum and/or epsom, then add a bit of citric acid to help with the initial pH. Probably no need for the citric but i find it helps me hit 5.2 or 5.3 pH every time.


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## ForkBoy (26/4/07)

DJR said:


> Don't use a brita filter, it will remove calcium.



I never knew this...

you're right according to Brita website - it will remove some of the calcium by reducing temporary hardness of the water.

I guess this means I need to add a little Ca back into the mash


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## Airgead (27/4/07)

Folks

I'm another Sydney rainwater brewer (mostly because I'm a water saving hippy rather than not liking the town water). Currently just a carbon filter between the rainwater tank and the HLT. I'll be upgrading to a 2 stage filter soon. Mostly to increase the life of the carbon.

Being rainwater its very soft so great for the really pale brews but for darker ones I may need to make some adjustment to get the PH into the right range. I'm noticing the hop character has changed a bit since I switched to tank water so I might need to add some salts to bring that back out again.

Cheers
Dave


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## illywhacker (3/5/07)

a vote here for the use of 1/4 - 1/8 tsp of sodium metabisulphate.
i found that a few of my ag brews were getting a slight plastic-y aftertaste: nothing major, but present nevertheless.
peversely, this was much more accentuated when using cascade hops.
i have not encountered the problem since using sod. met. 

i also add 5 - 12 gms gypsum for most lighter coloured beers to bring down the Ph a touch. it's also a must for english style beers to accentuate hop bitterness. 

the cost of carbon filters and complication in adding back the salts put me off that path 

my beers and i are happy


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