What Water?

[hughyg]

What water should I use to gte a good brew? I was told from a good brewer that the better the water the better the beer! Is this true? I have been use good quality bore water. Is this much good (Adelaide Hills if anyone cares- under 300 ppm salt I think, but i should look it up to be sure). Is rain water better than mains and should I be treating it?

Cheers
HughyG the Newbie

 

[Linz]

Mate,

If you're starting out....if you can drink the water, you can brew with it!! otherwise treat the water so you can drink it, then brew with it!!...enough said..as time goes by and the brewing procedures are set in concrete and there is a style you can't quite nail, then mess with water chemistry

or brew the beer style that best suits your water quality..!!

Beerz

Linz

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Linz I dont want to shoot you down buddy but I don't think that all drinking water is acseptable for brewing. Stored rain water can and does make for some strange infections or at best funny tastes. My tank water is great to brew with after the wet season when the tanks are full & fresh but @ this time of the season I cart water from a friends bore that is licenced to bottle. There is a very big diferance between brews .... rain water colected and used as its falling is also not to good as the small particals of dust ect need to settle out .. Rain from storms should be left out altogether as its very dirty.... So imho waters aint waters sol....

I think Ross has some isues with water in the past as well ..... Ross ?

Cheers fnqbunyip

 

[Linz]

As I said earlier...If you can drink it, brew with it. Bunyip just proved it...even he uses bore water like yourself.

I have been use good quality bore water.

Cheers
HughyG the Newbie

but @ this time of the season I cart water from a friends bore that is licenced to bottle.

Cheers fnqbunyip

the only other thing I might add is 'if it drinks easily'.
So stick with the process, and then when that is set, then move onto more difficult subjects.

As always the better the ingredients the better the beer.

beerz

Linz

 

[tangent]

i use a complex system of evaporation and precipitation, then it goes into a errr conditioning tank then I mash with it and boil it anyway.
Like Linz says, don't worry about it until you're fine tuning.

 

[Ross]

Linz I dont want to shoot you down buddy but I don't think that all drinking water is acseptable for brewing. Stored rain water can and does make for some strange infections or at best funny tastes. My tank water is great to brew with after the wet season when the tanks are full & fresh but @ this time of the season I cart water from a friends bore that is licenced to bottle. There is a very big diferance between brews .... rain water colected and used as its falling is also not to good as the small particals of dust ect need to settle out .. Rain from storms should be left out altogether as its very dirty.... So imho waters aint waters sol....

I think Ross has some isues with water in the past as well ..... Ross ?

Cheers fnqbunyip

[post="99682"][/post]​

fnqbunyip,

I had big issues with tank water before going AG & must admit I'm not so keen using it staight after a fresh fall as it gets quite murky; but guessing the boil should be killing everything of concern...
That said, the 2 brews I put down last week after the storms, have both got infections & were tipped this morning (only my 2nd infection since going AG) - Bandaid, medicinal taste/aroma - But I'm guessing I got an infection in my starter, as the 2 lagers from the previous day seem fine, despite taking 5 days to fire. The starter I had built up had fermented too warm - so pitched a vial without building (hoping it attenuates out ok)...
So brewing again tomorrow, probably with dry yeast...

cheers Ross

cheers Ross

 

[wiggins]

Here in SA we can get puratap for 64 dollars a year.I filters out virtually all minerals,especially chlorine,which is the enemy of the brewer.I just run a pvc hose from the outlet into my fermenter,it works great.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Rain water is the ideal water if you want to start playing with water chemistry, as it is basically neutral ( with the exception of a bit of bird **** ), but does tend to have floaty bits in it especially after rain when it stirs the tank up.

I have had a few brews in the past infected from my tank water, but now AG so the problem is no longer.

I now have a 1 Micron 60ltr per minute filter off my tank..$$$$$.. After 2 months it is already very brown and nearly due for a clean. But the water is heaps cleaner and clear now

 

[Boozy the clown]

Now some may call me a clown, but I like to buy my water in the big 15l bottles. I chill it so when i add it to the hot wort it brings it down to temp nice and quick.
.
The circus i escaped from never taught me the finer points of analising my tap water. :beerbang:

 

[Simon W]

I also use the 15L bottled spring water, so I must be a clown too
Every bottle I've bought has tested between 5.5-6pH, so its perfect for sparging without extracting tannins.
I even use the empty bottles as fermenters, coz they fit nicelly in my temp controlled foam box, and as CCing and Lagering bottles.

 

[tangent]

you get consistency with commercial water
a lot of people in ADL get water from the LionNath brewery on Port Road because it's been through rev.oz
i'm too tightarse for that
i boil all my rainwater now - especially for starters - kettle
Gaganis Bros have Calcium Chloride cheap which is cool for Belgians. I'm using that and BicarbSoda which between the two knock off most of the water needs on my brewing software. I'm not hitting the targets with chalk but I'm ok with that atm.
another great invention for all you cloudy rainwater sufferers - diverters
seen a few commercial and home made ones, the 1st 20-60L goes in a seperate container for the garden before it gets to your tank. washes off most of the bird poop 1st

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Already have the diverter...they are a MUST have.....

 

[Ross]

Already have the diverter...they are a MUST have.....

[post="105589"][/post]​

Nah - I like some poop in the water - something for the yeasties to have a snack on ...

 

[poppa joe]

I have the diverter too STU +the big undersink filter (big blue one about
300 mm big plastic enclosed filter thing inside.Made in USA.)But it sits on my bench.New tin garage for collector.....With a few other filters going in to a 220 lt Cherry barrel...Wife got it for her garden.?????????
But i can use it...
cheers
PJ

 

[mika]

OK my 2c worth.
I don't like Perth Tap water (grew up on a farm), so I use bottled water. Maybe an extra $10 per brew. Tastes good to me. I've tried a mates brew and he uses tap water, tastes good to me. So I use the bottled water more for peace of mind than anything else.

We always left the gutter pipes off on the farm for the first rain, wash the dust and bird poop away. Best not to look in a water tank, more so if it tastes a bit funny. All our tanks were open and birds have a nasty habit of dying in there :blink:

Know someone who used to work in a laboratory and got to test a bunch of water filters. Inline filters rated poorly as compared to jug type filters. With inline filters, as the water is forced thru, there is alost no retention time and most filters simply don't have the time to take out the nasties.

As I say, just what I think

Cheers
Mika

 

[vlbaby]

OK my 2c worth.
I don't like Perth Tap water (grew up on a farm), so I use bottled water. Maybe an extra $10 per brew. Tastes good to me. I've tried a mates brew and he uses tap water, tastes good to me. So I use the bottled water more for peace of mind than anything else.

We always left the gutter pipes off on the farm for the first rain, wash the dust and bird poop away. Best not to look in a water tank, more so if it tastes a bit funny. All our tanks were open and birds have a nasty habit of dying in there :blink:

Know someone who used to work in a laboratory and got to test a bunch of water filters. Inline filters rated poorly as compared to jug type filters. With inline filters, as the water is forced thru, there is alost no retention time and most filters simply don't have the time to take out the nasties.

As I say, just what I think

Cheers
Mika

[post="105600"][/post]​

Dont like to knock other states , but I have been to perth a few times, and I'll be damned how anyone could drink let alone brew with that water. It has such a high chlorine / salt content!
I'd be buying spring water too if i lived there.
That said, melbournes water probably aint that much better either.
I've been lately considering a water filter setup myself.

VL.

 

[Simon W]

It depends alot on which suburb your in, which dam the water comes from, which plant it gets treated, how old the pipework is it flows thru. No different than any other big city I'd imagine.
Rockingham water isn't too bad, very low chlorine smell and my years old kitchen kettle has no lime precipitate in it at all, clean as a whistle, so I'm guessing theres little salt here.

 

[timmy]

I have a pilsner lagering now which is brewed purely from water run through my $10 R/O unit. It took quite a while in primary (about 3 weeks) which i guess is because the water was incredibly soft therefore not many nutrients.

I'm keen to see how it turns out.

 

[Jazzafish]

I find sydney water (prospect) quite good, however it can be high with chlorine... but still fine for brewing. Normally don't need to worry. So I know where Linz is coming from.

State to state, the water can get undrinkable for me... gut aches in Melb, Perth and Brisbane.

I personally use pro mash for water help, but this link is a free online water converted that may help: http://ourworld.cs.com/EdgeAle/beer/water.htm

Back in the kit and kilo days, I found buying spring water made a huge improvement (that after my sydney water rant)!

However my next pilsner will have treated distilled water.

 

[Twizzel]

I come from a village in Wales called Magor. It is the site of a Whitbread brewery that has been built on a large underground lake. The local beer is Flowers IPA and Flowers Original. I am certain that the natural spring water played a big part towards the awesome taste of the beer.
When visiting Wales, I make special efforts to get to Magor for a pint or two.