Water Filter On Brew Rig

[mxd]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6-STAGE-Portabl...#ht_2974wt_1052

 

[woodwormm]

Why are you filtering your water? r unless its too bad to drink just normally, out of the tap is fine

Ever been to Adelaide tricache?


I'm now considering one of these mounted vertically and just let it drain and dry between brews

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Single-10-carav...=item337db1d704

 

[drsmurto]

smurto,

where i live (mt gambier) every house has a water softener, as our water supply is from the Blue Lake aquifer. Our water travels through a huge layer of limestone (the region is basically one massive limestone layer under the soil) before it gets to our taps.

If i have a water softener, what would this be doing to my beers? If i brewed a recipe on my rig, and then took my rig to the lovely, picturesque Adelaide Hills and brewed the same recipe on it there.....how would the two resulting beers be different, all things equal of course.

Just to be clear......just because i have a water softener, doesn't mean there's any ******* salt left in it...

Your water, assuming the water softener is working, will contain a higher content of Na than mine. So your beer will be 'saltier'. How much will depend on how well your water softener works and how much Ca and Mg it is replacing.

Do you have rainwater?

 

[bignath]

Your water, assuming the water softener is working, will contain a higher content of Na than mine. So your beer will be 'saltier'. How much will depend on how well your water softener works and how much Ca and Mg it is replacing.

Do you have rainwater?

Cheers Doc,

will look into my water setup a bit more. I don't have rainwater at the moment. We used to have a tank when we moved in 4 or 5 years ago, but we sold it. As i'm sure you know, the rainfall in the south east is significant and the position of the tank being on our patio was taking up space we wanted to recapture. Wishing we had of just relocated it now....oh well.

In some ways then (taste), i suppose it's a good thing that i'm pretty relaxed about maintaining the softener??

Apart from the damage i assume it could be doing to the actual house......priorities, priorities...

 

[dicko]

Hi Big Nath
I live in Port Lincoln and in the same situation with you with our water supply.
We can clean the clear glass on a shower screen and it will be white with calcium within one week.
When we first moved here I could not work out why my beers were all turning out different with the same recipe.
I did some research and with some help from another brewer I switched to rainwater with my own salt additions and I have never looked back.
I am even changing water profiles now for the same recipes and noting the difference.... Great experiments.
I know I have gone off topic but the cost of even a small dedicated RW tank for brewing would outweigh the cost of filtering over time considering you allready have a water softener for your house.
I bought one of those slimline tanks that fit under the eaves of the house. The capacity is somewhere around 1500 litres and it has never looked like running out with our rainfall here. I probably really didn't need one even that big either in hindsight.
Another option is to "beg borrow or steal" some rain water from someone with a tank and give it a go.
Cheers

 

[bignath]

@Dicko,

thanks mate, have replied via pm so i don't take this too far off topic.

 

[drsmurto]

Cheers Doc,

will look into my water setup a bit more. I don't have rainwater at the moment. We used to have a tank when we moved in 4 or 5 years ago, but we sold it. As i'm sure you know, the rainfall in the south east is significant and the position of the tank being on our patio was taking up space we wanted to recapture. Wishing we had of just relocated it now....oh well.

In some ways then (taste), i suppose it's a good thing that i'm pretty relaxed about maintaining the softener??

Apart from the damage i assume it could be doing to the actual house......priorities, priorities...

In your situation it is a catch 22.

Neglect your water softener and you may have water that is high in carbonate. High Ca is not much of an issue and it's unlikely your Mg content will be high enough to cause any issues.

If it is working properly you will be stripping all the Ca and Mg out of your water (as well as carbonates) and should be adding some Ca back. You will also have elevated Na levels.

As Dicko has pointed out, a rainwater tank is cheap, relatively. Using one exclusively for brewing (and chilling) is a simple but effective method to get control over your brewing water. Keep an eye out for 2nd hand tanks. I gave one away a few years ago, it lasted 20 mins out the front of my house.

I have just filled, emptied and refilled 5 x 100L oak barrels using rainwater. Guilt free. 500L went on the garden and lawn last night and the next 500L will do likewise.

 

[bignath]

In your situation it is a catch 22.

Neglect your water softener and you may have water that is high in carbonate. High Ca is not much of an issue and it's unlikely your Mg content will be high enough to cause any issues.

If it is working properly you will be stripping all the Ca and Mg out of your water (as well as carbonates) and should be adding some Ca back. You will also have elevated Na levels.

As Dicko has pointed out, a rainwater tank is cheap, relatively. Using one exclusively for brewing (and chilling) is a simple but effective method to get control over your brewing water. Keep an eye out for 2nd hand tanks. I gave one away a few years ago, it lasted 20 mins out the front of my house.

I have just filled, emptied and refilled 5 x 100L oak barrels using rainwater. Guilt free. 500L went on the garden and lawn last night and the next 500L will do likewise.

sorry OP for our off topic stuff,

What your saying makes heaps of sense to me DS... If i had a rainwater supply, i'd have complete control over my brewing water profile using salts, and could get a much more consistent base to work from.

Cheers, i'll look out for a tank.

Nath

 

[woodwormm]

sorry OP for our off topic stuff,


Nath

hehe, i am a major OT culprit... no stress intersting conversation... and to think I just want to start with water i'm willing to drink, you guys are trying to change your beer flavours with water stuff... hardcore!

I do think my beer tastes pretty good with my rainwater but that runs out around Nov/Dec, plenty of brewing until next winter... so i need a filter to make Adelaide tap water palatable... and also when on the tank to keep out the majority of the possum sh!t (a little is ok.... )

 

[Yob]

Nev sells these for a good price. RO Unit

whats the flow rate on these from those that have/use/know? I did read but didnt see it. sorry if Ive missed it.

seems a much better investment than one of this type of thing

:icon_cheers: