Im wondering what water everyone uses. I just use my city water. Is there a better way I can brew that doesn't add a ton of cost? I'm curiouheir the options.
Some cities have better brewing water than others, it depends both on what's in the water, and what styles of beer you're trying to brew.
It depends. Like HB42 said. I just boil all my water the night before (to remove chlorine) for a Hefeweizen or Wit and for hoppy beers I filter with a britta and add salts to approximate what I have read other brewers recommend. It has worked out well in all but one case where I got an overly minerally flavor.
Water is the last thing you should tackle in brewing. My tap water is maybe good for porters and stouts. I brew a lot of lighter colored lagers (Helles, Pils, Festbier) so it does not work for those. To make better beer in my situation, I was forced to understand brewing water and how to adjust for the mash. RO water is cheaper than distilled, and you can then add salts to get the water to match the beer you are brewing. Don't over do the salts. Don't try to match a cities water profile - it can be difficult to do and it might not be what the brewers use (Munich water and Helles is an example). There are a couple of good spreadsheets that help one do this. I like Brunwater, and if nothing else, read the water knowledge page to get some deeper understanding. Ezwater is said to be good too.
Just FYI, most municipalities use chloramine to chlorinate their water these days, which cannot be removed by boiling. Chloramine can be removed by treating the water with campden tablets at a rate of one tablet per 20 gallons.
Get your municipal water report, it is the first step,then you´ll be able to know what styles match your water
Are you extract brewing? If so, water chemistry is not as critical. (Though relatively soft (or very soft) water would be a good thing in this case.) All Grain brewing is a different challenge though, from a water chem perspective. I'd recommend finding out what your city water's profile is (you can probably get it from your water authority) when you switch to all grain, if not before.
Good to know! Either I've been lucky or Bamberg doesn't use them. I'll have to re-translate my water report.
I use the main boil to remove chlorine. It's worked out well for me since I stopped using bottled water.
if your water is not broken, there is little need to fix it. honestly, of the 100 items you can "fix" in your home brewery, water places maybe 90 to 100. most all brewers using city water are happy to use a carbon block filter to eliminate chlorine and the highly unlikely volatile organic that may end up in your brew. you can also cut (not replace) your brewing water with some distilled if you think you need less minerals. but until you have bothered to examine the chemical analysis of your water supply it is all just a guess, if you do have a specific problem you think might need fixing, let us know and our resident water gurus can probably figure a solution. Cheers.
i dont know about most. many, but my estimate not anywhere near "most", are using chloramine. chlorine is cheap, and most importantly, very effective. if i had to guess, more systems than not are using chlorine. i have not found an analysis of municipal treatments and assume most systems do not have any need to change. that is my guess backed up by years of water sampling in the northeast anyway. Cheers.
I used bottled water for a long time and always felt the beer was missing something. I recently received a water report from Ward Labs and found out that I'm better off using my city water. Also, for various styles I now have a basis for water additions if necessary.
