People that understand water chemistry, please help

[muddywater_grant]

So I have not done a water report of my own, but ran across this today.

Is there anything in it that would work for a brewing water report?

http://www.charlestonwater.com/download ... report.pdf

The ppm starts on page 2.

[muddywater_grant]

there is this as well. Looks to be a year newer.

http://www.charlestonwater.com/download ... report.pdf

[pkrone]

Not a bad report, but not quite as detailed as one you’d get from Ward Lab or somewhere similar. You’ve got pretty decent water there with its low sodium and alkalinity. You might be able to get a more detailed report if you called them.

[muddywater_grant]

@pkrone

Not a bad report, but not quite as detailed as one you’d get from Ward Lab or somewhere similar. You’ve got pretty decent water there with its low sodium and alkalinity. You might be able to get a more detailed report if you called them.

i really need to just go ahead and get an actual test down.

But I will try to email them and see if they have the other info handy.

[ken_lenard]

There’s nothing like having your own report. I sent in a sample of my tap water years ago and just last week sent in a sample of some bulk RO water that I get at the grocery store and have been using to dilute my water when making pale-colored beers. But I have no idea what is in this RO water… better to be sure. You’ll be relieved once you get your results back and then you can post them here and get some advice from the waterheads… I mean … brewing water enthusiasts.

[dmtaylo2]

Looks like the water in Charleston is softened quite nicely and will be suitable for any style. You may want to add salts for European styles where they traditionally use harder water with the primary exception of Pilsen which has very soft water. One very important thing that I noticed is that they use both chlorine bleach AND chloramine which is a tougher version of chlorination that does not go away when the water is boiled. If you leave this in the brewing water, you can potentially end up with chlorophenol in your beer, which tastes like medicine or band-aids. Not to worry – You can easily remove both types of chlorine using Campden tablets, also known as sulfite or K-meta or a multitude of other names. An eighth of a tablet will treat 5 gallons of water, and the effects are instantaneous. Crush up about an eighth of a tablet, and stir it into your brewing water before adding any grains or anything else, and the chlorine will be gone and you can brew as normal, and never have to worry about your beer tasting like band-aids (yuck!).

[ken_lenard]

@dmtaylo2

Looks like the water in Charleston is softened quite nicely and will be suitable for any style. You may want to add salts for European styles where they traditionally use harder water with the primary exception of Pilsen which has very soft water. One very important thing that I noticed is that they use both chlorine bleach AND chloramine which is a tougher version of chlorination that does not go away when the water is boiled. If you leave this in the brewing water, you can potentially end up with chlorophenol in your beer, which tastes like medicine or band-aids. Not to worry – You can easily remove both types of chlorine using Campden tablets, also known as sulfite or K-meta or a multitude of other names. An eighth of a tablet will treat 5 gallons of water, and the effects are instantaneous. Crush up about an eighth of a tablet, and stir it into your brewing water before adding any grains or anything else, and the chlorine will be gone and you can brew as normal, and never have to worry about your beer tasting like band-aids (yuck!).

Also, chloramine (as far as I know) does not filter out with your standard carbon-block filter so be warned. I have heard people using Campden for this with good results so look into it if necessary. My water is pretty highly-chlorinated but a run through the carbon block removes it, thank Jeebus. If my area ever goes to Chloramine… hello Campden tablets! Cheers.

[silentknyght]

Can a campden tab be tossed into the strike water as it is heating (i.e., ~20 minutes prior to the mash), or does it need additional time to do its work and/or dissipate?

[nate42]

As far as I know campden tabs do their thing more or less instantly. I measure out my strike water, toss in an appropriate amount of campden, and then start heating. I have VERY high chlorine in my tap water (smells like a swimming pool), and I’ve never ended up with any off flavors in the finished product.

[baratone_brewer]

The campden works almost immediately.

@Ken Lenard

Also, chloramine (as far as I know) does not filter out with your standard carbon-block filter so be warned.

An activated charcoal filter should remove chloramine.

[lynux]

@Silentknyght

Can a campden tab be tossed into the strike water as it is heating (i.e., ~20 minutes prior to the mash), or does it need additional time to do its work and/or dissipate?

This is exactly what I do for both my strike and sparge water. I crush the tablet and put half in strike, half in sparge. More than you need but I doesn’t seem to hurt.