Chlorine

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RegBadgery

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I've read that the chlorine in water can contribute crook flavours to beer. A simple method to get rid of chlorine is to aerate and leave your water uncovered overnight.

I brew all-grain. The day before brewing I fill a couple of fermenters full of water in preparation for brewday. Come brewday I do a full boil.

If I was brewing from a kit (ie adding unboiled water to the extract), I wonder if this method of chlorine removal might present problems - eg. bugs in the water?? - or would there be no greater risk compared to using water directly from the tap. Comments???

cheers
reg
 
I remember reading somewhere that if your water tastes ok from the tap, then it'll make ok beer. Obviously, if your tap water tastes great, clean and pure, you'll get a better beer. Myself, I use filtered tap water - from a filter that is fitted to our kitchen sink. I'm not totally sure what this filter is actually doing, and I myself cannot spot the difference between the 2 taps, filtered and unfiltered. However, other members of my family claim to be able to tell the difference - maybe a few too many curries has killed off my delicate taste buds! :rolleyes:

So, I guess the morale of the story is that if your water tastes like it's got chlorine in it, do something about it. If not... why bother?

B)

Vinds.
 
Im not sure but doesn't chlorine have a staining effect.. I know its a pain in the arse to wash off your skin although it absorbs into your skin even after 2 decent showers you can still smell like chlorine.. the lick and smell effect :p.

Lots of people recommend Iodophor or howeva its spelt.. having a bad spelling day. so making a change of sanitisers/sterilisers could be an option.

Back to the chlorine.. its a pain in the arse and stubborn to get rid of will need a few decent rinses.

Boiling.. hmmn do you know what lives in your pipes all the way from the dam/resiviour(sp!).. it goes thru a process but to be on the safe side it would be recommended to boil the water. to kill all the nastys.
As for filtered water for house water.. doesn't it just add/cleanser the water of certain minerals etc???.. not too sure how they work but could be necessary in some places in aust. Personally in melb so water is pretty good.

Best recommendation, would be to switch cleaners/sanitisers.. yes chlorine is relatively cheap.. but if you get the job done with it cheers to you. If you are having problems with rinsing and not being able to test there areeee maannny chemicals.. read the sterilizing post i think it is.. its in The Pub
Cheers
 
not sure about this 100% but here goes, iodophor i know is a sanitizer not a de chlorinator i use a product called aqua sheild ( it oxyengenates the water ) and it works a beut !!! :D

but i think that it may depend on what you are brewing

research is called for mayhaps ?? :huh:

good health :p
 
Ic3man, I think RegBadgery was talking about Chlorine in drinking water, not used as a sterilising agent. Showering in tap water can't remove the chlorine from the same tap water, so I assume you misinterpreted his post.

RegBadgery, from what I've read about this, there is a risk of infection if you leave your water standing 24 hours, although this does let the Cl evaporate. If you do a whole boil, it is not an issue and if you don' the risk is only small anyway. I've personally never bothered, but the water here in the Illawarra is rarely heavily chlorinated. Only after massive storms (which is not exactly common lately :()

If you're really keen, buy bulk bottled water to brew with. It doesn't add ~that~ much to the cost and if your tap water is crook, it'd definately be worth it.

:chug:
 
I have a water purifier attached to the tap in my brew shed.
The flow rate isn't fantastic but I rest assured that it is removing all the bad bits from the water. It is probably removing some good bits too, but at least I have consistency which is more than I can ask of Sydney Water.

Cheers,
Doc
 
Have always used Central Coast tap water, no problems.

I think it is lower in Chlorine than Sydney water because when I go to Sydney, the water tastes like drinking from a council pool, yuk.

I have just added a water filter (Culligan) and will see how that goes, (I will post how it goes) but no problem with Central Coast tap water.

If I was using Sydney Water, I would definately aerate my water before brewing, but I reckon the vindaloo has the right idea, if it tastes Ok to drink, it will be ok to brew with... Sounds like common sense to me.
 
WATER

Firstly most water treament plants these these days use Chloramine which is a mix of ammonium and chlorine. In my experience the ppm levels are so far below the human taste threshold not to worry about when brewing.
Chloramine doesn't evapourate out of the water at room temp and is effective at lower concentrations as a sanitiser (thats why they use it) it also doesn't have a chorine taste to it at all. Aquarium shops sell de chlorinators that effectivly remove this chemical if your a fish that swims in beer.
I'm pretty sure that there are chemical reactions that take place in beer that convert chlorines to harmless chlorides anyway.

I don't even worry about it Check out your local councils web site to get a water analysis.
Sydney water is soft so is Brisbanes.

Re sanitisers

Chlorine (swimming pool chemical) is bloody hard to get rid of, it is a strong caustic after all.
Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) on the other hand free rinses in hot water and evapourates at room temp after a while .
I use this one all the time for sanitising never had a prob as long as you rinse well.
Iphodor (iodone) is a good steriliser but is extremley poisionous to yeast cells and humans and can stain.
I prefer isopropal alcohol as it won't effect anything just spray on and leave for a min or two.
Probably should be in the sterilising thread

SiMo
:D
 
Hey SIMO, great post, very informative....

Re Sanitisers,

I use "brew shield" and have found it excellent.
It is colloidal silver (a very strong germicide) and hydrogen peroxide.
It has no odour, I mix it in a spray bottle and I just spray everything, it is very easy and effective.

I used to use sodium met, but this stuff is fantastic.
 
IODOPHOR (IODONE).. Iodine you mean.. Poisionous.. maybe to digest.. good disinfector.. put it on a cut and sting away.. but not iodophor.. iodine maybe.. Ummn hence when you use iodophor in water.. it works and then dies.. So after i think its been said about 10-15 mins it clears up and no more IODOPHOR.. Never used it i myself should try it.. Neopink is meant to be good too.
But then again.. if iodophor is poisonous to humans everything you listed there is poisonous to humans in large enuf or concentrated doses.. MMMMN bleach.. not too good for internals me is thinking
 
Ic3man said:
Neopink is meant to be good too.
I use the pink steri stuff and I find it works fine. Its great for getting crap out of old beer bottles too. I've got a big rubbish bin i just chuck all my bottles in, fill with water and put enough pink steri in. Leave it for 3-4 days, come back and theyre completely clean, and the labels are off :)

Note, make sure you rinse well if you use this stuff :)
 
Bleach solution is also very good for cleaning bottles/removing labels - leave to soak, wear rubber gloves, don't breathe the fumes and rinse well.

cheers
reg
 
Good point about all chemicals being poisionous. sorry about the spelling too.
I've used the neo pink in the past and found it can leave a residue especially on bottles.
The iodophor is surposed to evapourate away at room temp with out rinsing.
That is what seemed poisionous to me

Bottom up

SiMo :p
 
i have used idophor , and i think as long as you use the recommended dosage , it is harmless , dont even have to rinse it , am able to pour the beer staight in on top of it , just leave it for 15 - 20 mins ., jobs done
no bad tastes , no probs
this has been my experiance anyway :)


simon
 

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