Melbourne Water

[glitchpop]

Well it's nice to have a break from the heat and some rain here. But my question is to the Melbourne brewers:

Do you filter or boil or just use it from the tap?

I boiled for my first batch (still in the fermenter) just to be safe. But I'd like to hear from people who are experienced with using the stuff.

My water has a hint of metallic flavour to it. I dunno if it's just our pipes or what. Should be interesting to see if it comes through in the beer (I hope not).

 

[tim...]

Unboiled tap water. It has fluoride in it. Means the beer is good for my teeth right?

 

[wambesi]

Straight from the tap here, no noticeable problems.

 

[Fents]

Im no water brewing expert but i do use Melb water. never boiled it (it gets boiled in the kettle after sparge anyway) but i do add two taplespoons of Gypsum to my grain before i mash it. Dont ask why cause i dont know, my homebrew store guy does it and always has so now i do too.

 

[Fents]

Oh and just realised this is in the K&K section - dont add gypsum to k&k's.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

When using kits, I tried everything - filtered, filtered and boiled, purchased in a big plastic container.

I think that running it through the filter is about the right cost-benefit balance, particularly if you're tasting metal as it comes out of the tap. If you are concerned with the water as an avenue for infection, boiling or a mild chemical treatment (Hydrogen Peroxide based sanitisers would get my vote) might be something to contemplate.

 

[merlinthehapypig]

straight from the tap here.

Melbourne water is among the best in the country for drinking in my opinion. After living in North Qld for 10 months and tasting the aweful water up there I can contest to that (I wouldn't drink the water up there or god forgive use it in a brew...)...

See how you go, I have no problems at all with it, but I wouldn't rule out the condition of your pipes or taps playing a factor. I never notice any fluride or chlorine tastes in the beer so i've never worried about that. Also boiling it means you have to careful re-aerating the water.

 

[hoganknowbest]

I go straight from the tap too! Never been a problem

As for fluoride.....
The average amount added to Melbourne's water is less than one milligram per litre, equivalent to about one sugar grain in a cup of water.
Also depends on where your water comes from. There are 4 fluoridation plants - Silvan, Cardinia, Yan Yean and Sugarloaf.

 

[warrenlw63]

I run mine through an inline carbon filter. I tend to notice a bit of a mild chorine waft otherwise. If you don't have a filter heating to boiling for a few minutes will achieve similar results.

Edit: 3rd Option is a crushed Campden tablet from memory.

Warren -