As a new brewer, I consider my first three batches (extract w/ specialty grains) pretty successful. I've received mostly positive feedback from those I have shared with, but yet I'm not completely happy with them. Every beer so far has had a "band-aid" taste and aroma that only I see to be able to detect. Even with my APA, which is wonderfully hoppy and never fermented above 65, I occasionally get the flavor and/or smell. Took me awhile, but after much research, I'm pretty positive its caused by chloramine in my water supply. Here is the water report from my water supply company: Source: Your drinking water supply comes from a surface water source (either river or reservoir). Hardness: Your drinking water supply is classified as very hard. We've included the following information to help you set your domestic appliances, the hardness has been shown in different units below: Calcium (mg/l)Calcium carbonate (mg/l)Degrees Clark (°C)Degrees French (°f)Degrees German (°dH)millimoles (mmol/l of Ca) 126.7 316.75 22.046 31.675 17.991 3.168 (mg/l = milligrammes per litre or the same as parts per million) Fluoride: We don’t add fluoride to your drinking water supply, but there is naturally occurring fluoride present in all drinking water supplies. Chlorine: Disinfection is important to ensure there are no harmful organisms in the water. We use chlorine to disinfect drinking water supplies. We also add a small amount of ammonia in this process, so your drinking water supply is chloraminated. I recently purchased a three-stage RO filter not only for brewing, but to save money on the drinking water we purchase. The batch of beer I currently have in the primary, a Belgian Wit, I used a 50/50 of RO/Tap water, not realizing chloramine was my issue. My questions are: 1. Is the RO filter enough to solve my issue? 2. Is there any negative to using Campden tablets just to be safe? 3. Is there anything I am missing? Would I be better off using the tap water with Campden rather than RO water? I am about to start partial mash and move into AG as soon as I have the money to do so. Thank you!
If you are using extract... RO is fine, but if you have chlormines in your tap water, camden tatablet will help. RO is still fine with mashes if you add some CaCl and other trace minerals back.
Thanks Green! I know it may seem like a simple question, but given the amount of information on the internet its nice to discuss it on here. Just working through what the "band-aid" taste could be was a challenge. So much mis-information before finding out the real issue.
According John Palmer : ´Medicinal These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid™ like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.´ I think using campden will help to solve this ´medicinal´taste.It seems like your tap water is suited for dark beers, so i would use RO water plus ClCa-SoCa for pales.
Chloramines and free chlorine are not good for some RO membranes; make sure yours is cellulose acetate or put a carbon filter between the main and the RO.
Yeah, Wally world and Ozarka is lacking over here. Bottled water in general is pretty expensive over here compared to the states and not as common. It's a great suggestion, just not possible. Mine does have a carbon filter (stage 2) and claims to remove ammonia and chloride, which I assume chloramine applies also. I use Star-San for sanitation, so the chlorine is definitely a part of the tap water. Thanks all for the advice, I do appreciate the help. I can't wait until "Water" comes out. I know there is a lot of information on the internet, but a comprehensive source would be fantastic.
RO water is fine for an extract beer, and there is no need for Campden tablets if you are using RO water. Until you start brewing all-grain, you should be all set with what you have.
Is it possible to get RO water in bulk at the supermarkets over there? It's common in the US, and at about 35 cents per gallon, it's a relatively cheap and simple way to avoid potential problems with chlorine. As you probably know, for all grain brewing, this approach requires adding some minerals (usually just gypsum and/or calcium chloride), but this is not particularly expensive or difficult, using commonly available tools like EZ Water and Bru'N Water. This has been a necessity for me, since my municipal water is very hard and tastes awful. If you can't get non-chlorinated RO water in bulk, another potential solution is to boil your water prior to mashing/sparging. I've not done this, so I'm not familiar with the details, but boiling will drive off chlorine. Good luck!
Thanks MLucky! It's a great idea and I have looked. I can't get RO water in my area, which is why I bought a 3-stage RO filter and a pump. As far as boiling, my understanding is boiling only removes chlorine, not chloramine.
Hopefully billandsuz will chime in; he really knows water treatment stuff. You state that you have a 3-stage RO filter with a carbon stage. It is my understanding that the carbon filter will perform as you stated and remove the chloramine. IMHO, you are ‘good to go’. As others have stated, RO water ‘as is’ is just fine for extract brewing. If you ever transition to all grain brewing you will need to add minerals to your RO water. Cheers! P.S. Boiling is more effective at driving off chlorine. In theory you can boil off chloramine but you need to conduct a very long boil (something like 20 minutes or more) http://www.iuhoakland.com/Chloramine.pdf
Do you make yeast starters? Pitching the improper amount of yeast can give you odd phenols as well. I don't mean to say it's not your water, I just want to bring up that those off flavors could be from multiple sources.
Thanks Jack! I do not, but so far I have only used dry yeast. Each time I have used the Mr. Malty pitching calculator and I can't say I have had any fermentation issues, at least where reaching the FG is concerned.
