Filtered Water Or Not?

[brando]

Guys,

Doing AG now, BIAB with a Birko urn.

I used to use filtered water back when doing extracts and K&K's, but since starting AG with the urn I've gone the "hot water straight from the tap" option. Saves heating time, plus I'm boiling the full volume anyhow so that should assist driving off chlorine, etc.

Question: would I notice better results if went back to using filtered water (from home sink filter), or is what I'm doing ok?

 

[Gavo]

General rule of thumb would be that if your water tastes ok then there would be no problem. I never use my town water as it tastes like... well bloody horrible. I use unfiltered tank water, full boil of course.

Gavo.

 

[Sully]

It is a great debate about water. If it tastes ok out of the tap it should be fine to use.

The thing to concider though is that you arent really boiling off everything as there is different boil/evaporation rates. Heavy metals and minerals still remain in the water even after boiling.

Personally I use filtered for piece of mind.

Cheers

Sully

 

[Pumpy]

Guys,

Doing AG now, BIAB with a Birko urn.

I used to use filtered water back when doing extracts and K&K's, but since starting AG with the urn I've gone the "hot water straight from the tap" option. Saves heating time, plus I'm boiling the full volume anyhow so that should assist driving off chlorine, etc.

Question: would I notice better results if went back to using filtered water (from home sink filter), or is what I'm doing ok?

IMO Filter with a Carbon Filter is worth doing

Pumpy

 

[Screwtop]

IMO Filter with a Carbon Filter is worth doing

Pumpy

No idea why, but I do the same. I have a thing about using filtered water for brewing, but drink tap water, weird eh :blink:

Screwy

 

[JaffaMan]

I think I might invest in a water filter, I've been using 10 litre spring water bottles from the supermarket for ages but its a bit costly. (water in my town also tastes like s@#t.)

 

[matti]

I generally use filtered water, because I have a decent filter.
Really though... It will depend on the style of beer your are making.
The problem I see using hot water, is that it carries more then just chlorines.
Linky

Matti

3 goes at getting the spelling right and I still cannot get it right nighty night boys and gals

 

[PistolPatch]

I've gone the "hot water straight from the tap" option.

brando, there are a few things here but let's deal with your main worries first...

1. If you have an instantaneous gas hot water heater then using that water is not a problem at all. If you have any other type of hot water heater then there could be a problem that will give you a metallic taste to your beer.

2. Should you filter your water? Once again, this is probably not a problem.

So, basically brew on!

You have just started out in all-grain and there are many levels of perfection you can go to. When we start out, we often ask the wrong questions. I certainly did!

There are two reasons I can see for your question. One is that you don't want to make any mistakes. The second reason is that you might be unhappy with your beers. I suspect that the former is your major reason.

Unless you want to brew great lagers or pilsners, you can relax. It is very hard to bugger up an all-grain brew.

If it is the second reason (you are unhappy with your beers) then there are a myriad of things you can do.

I'm just going to start with the main one because this one is the one that most brewers skip....

I believe your first goal, especially as you are part of the AHB community and live in QLD, is to find a beer that your fellow brewers make there that you love. Get that recipe and brew it. If you love it, then you have found your base recipe. If this is not possible, then find a clone of a commercial beer you like.

My base recipe is NRB's All Amarillo Ale. A very wide range of people enjoy this beer including myself and will quaff it! That is my base beer. I know it and so any time I want to make a subtle change, I will do it with that beer.

Concentrate on finding a recipe you like first. Filtered or unfiltered water, hot or cold, is very unlikely to turn a beer recipe from one you would hate to one you would love.

:icon_cheers:

 

[QldKev]

+1 for filtered water. Don't like the idea of drinking water from the hot water system with the magnesium or aluminum from the sacrificial anode. My 3 ring burner take 25 min to get 29L of water from 19.5 to 69; good time to measure out and crush some grain and get the brew bits sorted for the day; time I would need to spend anyway.

QldKev

 

[Screwtop]

+1 for filtered water. Don't like the idea of drinking water from the hot water system with the magnesium or aluminum from the sacrificial anode. My 3 ring burner take 25 min to get 29L of water from 19.5 to 69; good time to measure out and crush some grain and get the brew bits sorted for the day; time I would need to spend anyway.

QldKev

Kev, pretty sure that in Australia or QLD at least that electric hot water systems are not storage systems, electric or gas boosted solar hot water systems would be an exception. Ones I've pulled apart have been simple hot water heat exchangers pretty much, sacrificial anode, heating element etc only contact the water in the heat exchanger. Service water moves or is stored in the coil in the HE.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[technocat]

The Breweries I have visited large and small, all filter their water so I guess that's telling you something.

B)

 

[Skottie72]

What about tank water? ill be brewing a Helles and Viena shortly and was thinking about mixing my tank water with my tap water to soften it up.

Cheers SCott

 

[technocat]

Water profile on the Vienna is moderately hard and high in carbonate and if you were doing a Munich Helles it tends to be on the hard side. I have all tank water which is ideal for Pils and some lagers and use additions to get me close to the water profile of the beer style in which area it was brewed in. My tank water is soft with a pH of around 6.4 and for some beer styles needs adjustment. Whether this makes a lot of difference I am not sure but it is another piece in the black art of brewing science.

 

[Fourstar]

I used to filer my water but now i dont (as i dont have an under sink filter anymore. The water profile for my area is soft and low in mineral content. i usually fill up my kettle and HLT with water the night before to reduce the chlorine count and brew the next day.

If you know whats in your water, why filter it? Unless of course you want a low ppm base. For consistency, i can see why micros/macros filter. Straight out fo the tap i have approx pilsen water so its easy fro me to adjust my salts/minerals. To scrub off 2-3ppm of a mineral by filtering, for me, seems a little pedantic.

 

[brando]

brando, there are a few things here but let's deal with your main worries first...

1. If you have an instantaneous gas hot water heater then using that water is not a problem at all. If you have any other type of hot water heater then there could be a problem that will give you a metallic taste to your beer.

2. Should you filter your water? Once again, this is probably not a problem.

So, basically brew on!

You have just started out in all-grain and there are many levels of perfection you can go to. When we start out, we often ask the wrong questions. I certainly did!

There are two reasons I can see for your question. One is that you don't want to make any mistakes. The second reason is that you might be unhappy with your beers. I suspect that the former is your major reason.

Unless you want to brew great lagers or pilsners, you can relax. It is very hard to bugger up an all-grain brew.

If it is the second reason (you are unhappy with your beers) then there are a myriad of things you can do.

I'm just going to start with the main one because this one is the one that most brewers skip....

I believe your first goal, especially as you are part of the AHB community and live in QLD, is to find a beer that your fellow brewers make there that you love. Get that recipe and brew it. If you love it, then you have found your base recipe. If this is not possible, then find a clone of a commercial beer you like.

My base recipe is NRB's All Amarillo Ale. A very wide range of people enjoy this beer including myself and will quaff it! That is my base beer. I know it and so any time I want to make a subtle change, I will do it with that beer.

Concentrate on finding a recipe you like first. Filtered or unfiltered water, hot or cold, is very unlikely to turn a beer recipe from one you would hate to one you would love.

:icon_cheers:

Very helful and informative response, thanks mate.

 

[wessmith]

If you know whats in your water, why filter it? Unless of course you want a low ppm base. For consistency, i can see why micros/macros filter. Straight out fo the tap i have approx pilsen water so its easy fro me to adjust my salts/minerals. To scrub off 2-3ppm of a mineral by filtering, for me, seems a little pedantic.

You cannot filter out dissolved minerals, only particulate material and microbiological material - if your filter is fine enough (sub-micron). The reason we always install a 2 stage filter on our micros is to get rid of the chlorine through activated carbon and any particulate material that might block the carbon filter. Almost all municipal water in Australia contains chlorine and it does the brewing process no favours.

Wes

 

[Fourstar]

You cannot filter out dissolved minerals, only particulate material and microbiological material - if your filter is fine enough (sub-micron). The reason we always install a 2 stage filter on our micros is to get rid of the chlorine through activated carbon and any particulate material that might block the carbon filter. Almost all municipal water in Australia contains chlorine and it does the brewing process no favours.

Wes

Sorry wes, I was confusing filtering with reverse osmosis process for a minute, rending most of your minerals gone. As i noted, i dont immediatly use the water after getting it from the tap, it's aerated and rested overnight. i dont know how much chlorine it loses, but it doesn't smell/taste like tap water after an overnight rest. i can see the positive of removing particulate and organic matter from the water though. Thats a big plus!

The only reason i havnt invested in a 2stage water filter since moving house is im a tight arse and CBF farting around with connecting it all up. I guess i could always get one of those Brita tap adaptor ones and install it in the laundry. Hmmm there's an idea!

 

[enoch]

You can also deal with the chloramine by putting a very small amount of sodium met in the water and letting it sit for a few moments. Talking half a teaspoon per 5-10 gallons.
A search on AHB for chlorine AND meta should find it.

 

[Yeastie Beastie]

IMO.
I wouldn't believe it would make too much of a difference. 2 days before my brew day I turn the hot water service up to 105 degrees. Reason being all bacteria etc in the water is killed at 100 degrees. I do not believe this would not do anything about the chlorine/fluorine factor but would believe that would go with a boil. I also have a good water filter attachment I use on brew day too.
As I have a big interest in aquariums I have to look at these factors as the chlorine content in water is enough to make fish sick etc. For this I use a crystal substance to eliminate the chlorine but probably wouldn't recommend this for human consumption.

 

[krusty_oz]

Kev, pretty sure that in Australia or QLD at least that electric hot water systems are not storage systems, electric or gas boosted solar hot water systems would be an exception. Ones I've pulled apart have been simple hot water heat exchangers pretty much, sacrificial anode, heating element etc only contact the water in the heat exchanger. Service water moves or is stored in the coil in the HE.

Cheers,

Screwy

Those may be for hard water areas - good idea too, there is a place on the South Australian Spencer Gulf where the water is that mineralised that a hot water system only lasts a few months as they scale up real bad. Even the pub struggled keeping scale of the beer glasses. Having the heat exchanger prevents the hot element being in contact with the crap water. They have a desal plant now so its not a problem.

The average 250/315L Rheem/Dux is just a storage tank with service water in direct contact with element and anode.