Rainwater? Good or bad

[Midnight Brew]

Brewed today with mains water instead of the normal rainwater. 10% drop in mash efficiency.

I should have known better.

 

[dicko]

But very boring

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/willard3/5bfffc17_pissing-contest-t.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1989746/water-quality-and-hydroponics-gardening&h=541&w=800&tbnid=82PU0XSrzW2fdM:&docid=hSePU60y689NiM&hl=en-au&ei=QcM1Vp3ODcOTmQHUgo2YCg&tbm=isch&client=safari&ved=0CEsQMygkMCRqFQoTCN3y59Td7sgCFcNJJgodVEEDow

 

[Batz]

The way people are divided on this issue maybe the question should be "Is judging home brewed beers really a wise choice as a hobby?"

Also think about someone who brews with well water in a fracking zone, if a smoker was in the area when you opened it ........... Kabooooom! :lol:

Do you chill or no chill, do you skim, dry yeast or liquid, temperture control fermenting, ferment in plastic or stainless, 3v, BIAB, Grainmaster, Braumeister,FWH, mash hop, diacetyl rest, hop back, no rince sanatizer, bottle or keg, bottle ferment or add sugar, glass bottles or PET, sleep at night???

 

[dicko]

Brewed today with mains water instead of the normal rainwater. 10% drop in mash efficiency.
I should have known better.

Efficiency can suffer with incorrect mash PH....
Town water supply can, at times, be very unpredictable specially with different malt additions for different beer styles

I have just ordered new carbon filters and a new membrane for my RO sytem and what I noted is that the last two brews I did the mash PH was not as predicted with previous brews of the same recipes with the same salt additions.

I was quite impressed that the filters lasted well over 18 months before I experienced PH inaccuracy and a small losss in efficiency.

To the OP....if I was using rain water in an extract brew or K and K I would boil it first just to be sure....just cause Stu hasn't died does not mean that your rain water will be as clean as his is.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Dont tell WEAL about your carbon filter membrane thing...he wont agree at all

 

[Batz]

If I was on town water I'll want filters of all sorts.

 

[seamad]

You should know by now Stu that weal is never wrong.

 

[dicko]

Dont tell WEAL about your carbon filter membrane thing...he wont agree at all

Mate, if I lived in Melbourne I would probably brew with the tap water but unfortunately many other areas in our vast land have absolute crap town supply water for brewing.
I did the exercise and it has cost me a bit over $1.00 per brew for the new filters...that equates to about an average of 33 litres per batch.

I figure that even using town water most brewers still use an addition of some water salts so I did not figure the salt additions into the equation but that cost would be very minimal compared to other ingredients and mash PH is very predictable using any commonly available software.

 

[seamad]

big towns have traffic lights too, another good reason not to live in one.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

You should know by now Stu that weal is never wrong.

Sorry...my mistake...

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

big towns have traffic lights too, another good reason not to live in one.

Traffic lights...What are they....dont see them round these parts....

 

[seamad]

Traffic lights...What are they....dont see them round these parts....

no traffic lights where I live, council put some street lights in couple of years ago and the local paper had complaints about them for months.

 

[dicko]

We have one set of traffic lights in Port Lincoln......since they were installed I have had nothing but trouble making a decent cup of coffee but my brews have improved out of sight.

All us town folk vote for roundabouts....you can get the malted grain home a lot quicker than sitting around at traffic lights and I for one, have never had a bag of grain go out of date while it was on the way to my place.....

A wise man once said.....If you have traffic lights in your village then you dont need rain water tanks or RO filters.
Unfortunaly he was banned from all brewing forums world wide....

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Mate, if I lived in Melbourne I would probably brew with the tap water but unfortunately many other areas in our vast land have absolute crap town supply water for brewing.
I did the exercise and it has cost me a bit over $1.00 per brew for the new filters...that equates to about an average of 33 litres per batch.

I figure that even using town water most brewers still use an addition of some water salts so I did not figure the salt additions into the equation but that cost would be very minimal compared to other ingredients and mash PH is very predictable using any commonly available software.

Not against adding salts at all.

Rain water gives the perfect opportunity work from a soft water

Out of interest most local councils will do a water analysis for you, so its no biggie of you want to get it tested.

 

[Batz]

Traffic lights...What are they....dont see them round these parts....

I saw them once in the city, pritty colours.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

A wise man once said.....If you have traffic lights in your village then you dont need rain water tanks or RO filters.
Unfortunaly he was banned from all brewing forums world wide....

Not all of them, I'm still on this one.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

We have one set of traffic lights in Port Lincoln......since they were installed I have had nothing but trouble making a decent cup of coffee but my brews have improved out of sight.

All us town folk vote for roundabouts....you can get the malted grain home a lot quicker than sitting around at traffic lights and I for one, have never had a bag of grain go out of date while it was on the way to my place.....

A wise man once said.....If you have traffic lights in your village then you dont need rain water tanks or RO filters.
Unfortunaly he was banned from all brewing forums world wide....

I miss Bum -_-

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I saw them once in the city, pritty colours.

That was the local disco batz...

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Not all of them, I'm still on this one.

He did say wise... B)

 

[dicko]

Not against adding salts at all.

Rain water gives the perfect opportunity work from a soft water

We run rainwater through a ceramic filter for drinking but we still get a bit of crap on the filter stone.
I have brewed with our rainwater, treating it with salt additions the same as I would with the RO water and I get very good results.
Using rainwater in most instances is good for beer brewing if you know it is clean and you adjust for mash PH as required.

I miss Bum -_-

Some said he was an "arsehole"...maybe something to do with the nic handle.
Me, I dont get excited by mens bums...