I've got 3 batches going right now ( 2 in bottles after 2 weeks in primary and 1 batch in first week of primary). My question is about water. In each of the batches I used mostly bottled spring water. I put one gallon of tap water (preboil)in with the others just for the mineral content. My question is if my water happens to be chlorinated will this one gallon be enough to throw off the flavor? I've tasted them and they taste pretty good, but are very very slightly soapy or medicinal tasting. Not sure if it's because of their age or the water.
You don't mention how big your batches are. But it doesn't really matter - I wouldn't sweat it. Give the beer a little more time and I doubt you will end up thinking that chlorine is a problem. That said... bottled spring water could have a lot of minerals, and it could have more than tapwater. If you are doing extract brewing, you can't go wrong with distilled or RO water (the malt extract already has plenty of minerals). That would definitely prevent this problem in the future. If you are brewing all-grain, then you should probably be a little more precise about your minerals. The other thing you can do is measure out your tapwater into a pan (you could use your kettle) for 12-24 hours before you brew. The chlorine should degas. However, there is a complication here... if your water contains chloramine (which some municipalities use because it is more persistent than chlorine), then it will not degas nearly so easily. You can throw in a very small amount of vitamin C (a tablet would be fine, they also sell a crystalline powder form), and this will get rid of both chlorine and chloramine. If you take that route, add the vitamin C before the water hits the malt.
Other methods for removing chlorine/chloramine from tap water: Filter using a block carbon filter Add Campden tablets to the water Cheers!
I would be concerned that yes, a gallon of chlorinated water could lead to medicinal flavors. If you're already tasting it, then I would say yes, the water is most likely the culprit. Are you brewing with extract, or all-grain? If using extract for most of your fermentables, you might want to consider using distilled or RO water for 100% of the water. The reason being, extract already contains minerals as part of the manufacturing process, so if you use tap water or spring water, you are effectively doubling the minerals in your beer. Using distilled or RO water puts you on even ground with other brewers. If you want to add extra minerals for flavor, that's fine, but understand that you might be doubling up if you use a lot of extract.
Spring water can be very low in mineral content to very high. Some brands have the mineral content on their web page. You need to know what you are starting with for mineral content tif you are adjusting water.
True but *typically* the mineral content is quite high. Every brand is totally different but usually high.
Depends on the geology at the spring. Low, both Nestle http://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/Documents/PS_ENG.pdf http://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/Documents/AR_ENG.pdf Arrowhead is fairly low too.
Thanks -- it is good to know there are clean spring waters available, especially for those folks who want to keep close to nature, "organic", etc., or who just want a clean slate to start from.
And some tap water has low levels of minerals (just need to ‘treat’ the chlorine/chloramine issue). For example, NYC tap water: · Chloride: 11 mg/l · Calcium: 5.9 mg/l · Magnesium: 1.3 mg/l · Sodium: 9 mg/l · Sulfate: 4.2 mg/l http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstate14.pdf Cheers!
What people do is just use it with no idea of the content. This is a mineral water, 2500 ppm TDS! It was a favorite in Germany. http://www.scientificpsychic.com/health/gerolsteiner-mineral-water.html
They sure do. I've even seen some recipes that call for spring water. Probably because people think it's somehow better than tap water. And I suppose if all they care about is chlorine/chloramines, that would be true.
Thanks for the replies. It's starting to taste a little better with time. I think I'm just being impatient because it's the first few batches and want to enjoy the product. I'm gonna buy some camden tabs for further batches just to be safe. Seems like the cheapest solution. All of the batches are brew in a bag by the way and seem surprisingly good for how cheap the start up cost has been thus far.
Some of us just keep on brewing in a bag forever! Cheap and easy for sure. And you're correct -- Campden is the cheapest and easiest insurance against effects of chlorine.
for the over whelming majority of brewers, not just homebrewers but all brewers, US tapwater is by far and away the best and most economical choice. use it unless you have a reason not to. chlorine and chloramine are the issue though, and that must be dealt with. not too hard to correct usually. so called "spring water" is just as often municipal water that has been passed through a chlorine filter. know this before you assume that is is somehow better than what you already get cheap and easy. the water you buy at the store might even be less than ideal for the beer you are brewing in fact. American tap water is probably one of the greatest advancements in public health the world has ever seen. use it. Cheers.
If these are all-grain batches, then I think you should pay a bit more attention to water chemistry. It's not nearly as difficult as it might seem at first. Once you get a sense for how it works, you can figure out your mineral adjustments for a batch in 10 minutes tops. That said, if your beer tastes good... then don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong.
