Another Water Question

[Mantis]

I have been using rainwater for my brews because the town water quality has been woeful.
Now with the good winter rains the town supply actually tastes ok now
I used my aquarium test kit and got a ph of 6 for both of my water tanks :huh:
The town supply came out at 7.6

I brew pale ales 90% of the time so would I be better going with the town water now that it doesnt taste foul.
Cant get any info other than PH out of the water companies web site.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Cant get any info other than PH out of the water companies web site.

That is unfortunate as pH means nothing really. But regardless of what is in the town water, it is almost certainly going to be better for brewing than rainwater.

 

[pyrobrewer]

I have been using rainwater for my brews because the town water quality has been woeful.
Now with the good winter rains the town supply actually tastes ok now
I used my aquarium test kit and got a ph of 6 for both of my water tanks :huh:
The town supply came out at 7.6

I brew pale ales 90% of the time so would I be better going with the town water now that it doesnt taste foul.
Cant get any info other than PH out of the water companies web site.

Rain water - essentialy distilled water - is almost devoid of essential yeast nutrient other than what birds have craped on you roof. Brew that!

Home brewers need to get over the idea that the Ph of the brewing water is important (begin flame war)

If the total alkalinity (carbonate and Bicarbonates) is below 50ppm - Ph is irrelevant - the Phosphates in the grain will react with calcium ions in the brewing water producing Calcium Phosphate to acidify the Mash (actualy the reaction leaves H⁺ ions which acidify the mash)
Calcium ion content is most important and can be increased by addition of Calcium Sulphate or Calcium Chloride but Not significantly increased by calcuim carbonate due to its relative insolublity in water. Sparge water may need modification if extremes exist however. Calcium ions are essential for yeast biological processes.
Foul tasting water is used to great effect at burton on trent to produce some very fine ales - massive Calcium and Suphate levels. Do a search also on the Sulphate ion to chloride ion ration and its effect on beer flavour.

 

[Mantis]

Thanks guys.
I will go with the town water next brew and do the same smash pale ale I did last week for some comparison.

:beer:

 

[pyrobrewer]

Thanks guys.
I will go with the town water next brew and do the same smash pale ale I did last week for some comparison.

:beer:

Excellent! - propose a hypothesis and test
All other conditions being the same the difference will be you water

 

[Midnight Brew]

hey hey

Have you ever had a problem with brewing with rainwater? If not then you must be doing something right and doing a good practise. Some of my brews have been part rainwater (maybe 5 Litres in 25 litres) all boiled ofcourse, never had a problem. Theres always filtration systems out there for turning rain water into drinking water too but I dont know anything abou that. Id say if you havnt had a problem they way you have been doing it then I wouldnt worry about it.

My 2 cents

dicko

 

[Mantis]

hey hey

Have you ever had a problem with brewing with rainwater? If not then you must be doing something right and doing a good practise. Some of my brews have been part rainwater (maybe 5 Litres in 25 litres) all boiled ofcourse, never had a problem. Theres always filtration systems out there for turning rain water into drinking water too but I dont know anything abou that. Id say if you havnt had a problem they way you have been doing it then I wouldnt worry about it.

My 2 cents

dicko

I use %100 tank water and not boiled or filtered

Its just that the brews are coming out a bit harsh. Nothing major but the hop and malt flavours seem to be a bit masked. I know the hops are there through the amount I chuck in.
The tank water tastes a tad harsh so thats why I am thinking the town water as its much softer tasting.
I might be barking up the wrong tree here but its worth a try.

 

[Midnight Brew]

Yeah defintly worth a try. You could always try pre-boiling rainwater and putting it in a cube to cool off and then use that in your brew or even go half n half as the town water should help clear up and reduce the harshness of the rainwater. All trial and error, some brewers wouldnt recommend it and some would, all choice and opinion in the end.

dicko

 

[jayse]

snipped>

Home brewers need to get over the idea that the Ph of the brewing water is important (begin flame war)

I agree and I don't think you'll cop any flamming over that statement as such, other then the fact you put all home brewers into the same boat.
Most home brewers worth their salt know the water PH is not a factor in determining wort ph.

But I agree it is a common misconception that the PH of the water is a concern just its a little arogant to put it in such away that comes across as a blanket statement about home brewers.
I am willing to bet there are many probrewers with no better understanding of this then many homebrewers.

No big deal or anything just a little precious about blanket statements about homebrewers.

 

[manticle]

All homebrewers brew homebrew.

 

[Guest Lurker]

I agree and I don't think you'll cop any flamming over that statement as such, other then the fact you put all home brewers into the same boat.

Especially when there is a reply above yours from a homebrewer pointing out that pH of brewing water isnt important. But hey, no flaming here either.

 

[Mantis]

Thanks again guys. I am getting the message about PH and how it is acheived in the mash.

I took some town water to the local pet shop today and the tested it for hardness and it came out at 50ppm Calcium, so thats got to be better than the tank water that would have 0 or close to Calcium yes.

Must be careful though as another dude was at the pet shop getting his water tested and it came out at 500ppm Calcium. They have been air scouring water pipes around here lately so i reckon this could be leading to spikes in the water chemistry. Apparently 30 or more people have been bringing fish tank water into them recently for testing as a lot of fish are dying.

So it could be a lotto draw using town water at the moment. So prehaps rain water still with a couple of teaspoons of CaCl

Many thanks
Confused :blink:

 

[absinthe]

Thanks again guys. I am getting the message about PH and how it is acheived in the mash.

I took some town water to the local pet shop today and the tested it for hardness and it came out at 50ppm Calcium, so thats got to be better than the tank water that would have 0 or close to Calcium yes.

Must be careful though as another dude was at the pet shop getting his water tested and it came out at 500ppm Calcium. They have been air scouring water pipes around here lately so i reckon this could be leading to spikes in the water chemistry. Apparently 30 or more people have been bringing fish tank water into them recently for testing as a lot of fish are dying.

So it could be a lotto draw using town water at the moment. So prehaps rain water still with a couple of teaspoons of CaCl

Many thanks
Confused :blink:

maybe use the old trick that stops gal water tanks from rusting if you have a tin roof (and can i take a wild stab and say you don't have a tiled roof?), to soften the water a little put some blocks of concrete where the water enters the tank so it flows over them

(or just drop in the tank but it will prolly get covered in bio film and stop working)

this will buffer the Ph to about 6.2-6.5 but add calcium