Campden Tablets

[Martkos]

Gidday Beer Lover's

Quick question do Campden tablets kill bacteria etc in water. ie rainwater?

Cheers

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

6 minutes ago, Martkos said:

Gidday Beer Lover's

Quick question do Campden tablets kill bacteria etc in water. ie rainwater?

Cheers

No it won't. It's good for getting rid of chlorine and chloramines and also adding to beer once fermented to prevent oxidation. If your using rainwater in you brews then you really need a boiling vessel so you can boil the water.

[Pale Man]

15 hours ago, Martkos said:

Gidday Beer Lover's

Quick question do Campden tablets kill bacteria etc in water. ie rainwater?

Cheers

You can use them mixed in water as a separate sterilant for bottles, fermenters or whatever.

But as Greeny mentioned, boil rainwater to kill the bugs. I do that for my all grain water, then add salts.

Below is courtesy of threechinsbrewing.

Edited February 21, 2023 by Pale Man

[iBooz2]

5 hours ago, Pale Man said:

But as Greeny mentioned, boil rainwater to kill the bugs. I do that for my all grain water, then add salts.

 

@Pale Man what the hell?  You boil your rainwater to kill the bugs then cool it to mash temps then boil it again later in the normal AG process? 

I can understand some brewers wanting to boil their rainwater and allowing it to go cold if doing K&K but there is no need when you do AG.

[Martkos]

Cheers for the answers, the question was raised due to being able to use it as a steriliser bottles and fermenters  so surely the water must be sterile as well.

[Pale Man]

8 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

@Pale Man what the hell?  You boil your rainwater to kill the bugs then cool it to mash temps then boil it again later in the normal AG process? 

I can understand some brewers wanting to boil their rainwater and allowing it to go cold if doing K&K but there is no need when you do AG.

Oh yeah my man, I sure do. Its no extra effort, and probably not necessary, but after the problems I had with water when I first got into AG, that little bit for me is insurance.

I nearly gave up brewing AG using mains tap water, my beers where rubbish. So I turned to my rainwater and went to the extreme of two boils to doubly kill any nasties.

Then adjust it with some simple chemical additions. Mainly a bit of calcium chloride to lower PH ( I have a ph meter i use for the mash ).................I digress, my beers ever since have been a massive improvement, and kept me in the game. For the sake of boiling the whole kettle of water pre brewing and then boiling the wort is no extra work at all apart from hitting the control button on the Brewzilla.

[Pale Man]

8 minutes ago, Martkos said:

Cheers for the answers, the question was raised due to being able to use it as a steriliser bottles and fermenters  so surely the water must be sterile as well.

Rainwater is not sterile. Boil every little bit of it before you use it. Then cool it ready for brew day.

[Pale Man]

14 minutes ago, Martkos said:

Cheers for the answers, the question was raised due to being able to use it as a steriliser bottles and fermenters  so surely the water must be sterile as well.

Are you using an extract can or all grain brewing?

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Rainwater is not sterile. Boil every little bit of it before you use it. Then cool it ready for brew day.

I sure as hell would, an old mate of mine uses rainwater & pigeons & everything else sits on his tank & guess what is beer tastes like 

[Martkos]

Only do extract cans. Tap water here is pure shite. You the water is bad when the Council install rainwater tanks on their houses. I have been using 50/50 mix of town and rain water but it still taste like town water. The rain water taste good by itself. I have been using Camden tabs to neutralize the chlorine before brewing.

[Pale Man]

14 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I sure as hell would, an old mate of mine uses rainwater & pigeons & everything else sits on his tank & guess what is beer tastes like 

My tank is covered and my gutters are clean. But what i like is using my rainwater as a blank canvas. Thats why I boil the @#$% out of it, then build it from there.

Its a trade off. Whyalla mains water is chockas with chlorine, and other chemicals, especially now that the Murray River has been in flood. Its really hard to cover all that shite up in a small brewery. I'd rather rely on my rainwater.

I'd love @Hoppy81 thoughts on Whyalla water. I'm sure he's not giving too much away because his beers are A1 

[Pale Man]

Just now, Pale Man said:

My tank is covered and my gutters are clean. But what i like is using my rainwater as a blank canvas. Thats why I boil the @#$% out of it, then build it from there.

Its a trade off. Whyalla mains water is chockas with chlorine, and other chemicals, especially now that the Murray River has been in flood. Its really hard to cover all that shite up in a small brewery. I'd rather rely on my rainwater.

I'd love @Hoppy81 thoughts on Whyalla water. I'm sure he's not giving too much away because his beers are A1 

Why is my reply all pink??

[Pale Man]

4 minutes ago, Martkos said:

Only do extract cans. Tap water here is pure shite. You the water is bad when the Council install rainwater tanks on their houses. I have been using 50/50 mix of town and rain water but it still taste like town water. The rain water taste good by itself. I have been using Camden tabs to neutralize the chlorine before brewing.

So what I'd do if I were you, if its possible. Boil your whole batch of rainwater for your next brew. Pain in the utter ar#e. But do it a few days before brew day, and have it cooled ready to go.

 Theres your brewing water right there.

Dont use campden tablets, or any chemicals whatsoever. The brew cans have everything in them you need in that regard.

[Martkos]

Thanks for that Pale Man.  Next brew I will give it a crack. I'll have to do it all the day before I brew and use the brew fridge to help cool the water.

[iBooz2]

@Martkos , if you cannot boil 23 or so L at once, buy yourself a 25 L cube then boil the rainwater in smaller batches and when cool, pour and store in the cube and keep adding to it until you have enough for brew day.  Obviously, a subsequent boil top-up does not have to be cooled beforehand as the previous cooled water in the cube will work its magic on that, and so on.

I used to use this technique back when I was K&K brewing lagers and had some 15 L cubes as they were easy to lift into the chest freezer to pre-chill prior to a lager brew day.  With Ales I did not need to pre-chill and just used the cubes at ambient temps which had been done sometimes a week beforehand.

Edited February 21, 2023 by iBooz2

[iBooz2]

53 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Oh yeah my man, I sure do. Its no extra effort, and probably not necessary,

@Pale Man Yep sure is not necessary in AG brewing.  A double boil is a waste of time and precious energy IMO.  So we can blame you on this global warming huh?  Ha ha.

With my AG brewing I run my rainwater through a double water filter first and just use it like that and add any required salts etc. as its going to get boiled during the process anyway.

[Martkos]

@iBooz2 I have a second fermenter that I use for bulk priming and chilling water down, I will see how that goes and take it from there. I have 14 milk crates of odd tasting beer to get through as well. Although I find a quarter slice of lime makes it better, even a dash of Jager Meister goes quite well. 

[DavidM]

2 minutes ago, Martkos said:

@iBooz2 I have a second fermenter that I use for bulk priming and chilling water down, I will see how that goes and take it from there. I have 14 milk crates of odd tasting beer to get through as well. Although I find a quarter slice of lime makes it better, even a dash of Jager Meister goes quite well. 

I hope you find a way to make Fine tasting Brews, we all need Fine tasting Beers, we made ourselves!

[Martkos]

15 minutes ago, DavidM said:

I hope you find a way to make Fine tasting Brews, we all need Fine tasting Beers, we made ourselves!

I've only been here about 9 months was in Richmond NW Queensland before. They have artesian water which is treated and it made a fine drop of beer.  The water here In Alpha is treated bore water which I wouldn't give to my worst enemy (maybe I would). Hence I started with the rain water. The only thing that has change is the water.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Pale Man said:

Why is my reply all pink??

Paley you must have used a potty word 

[Classic Brewing Co]

57 minutes ago, Martkos said:

Thanks for that Pale Man.  Next brew I will give it a crack. I'll have to do it all the day before I brew and use the brew fridge to help cool the water.

I fill FV's with water a day or 2 before a brew & store them uncovered in the laundry, &  it helps get rid of the rid of the nasties but I am lucky as I have a Puratap.

[iBooz2]

4 hours ago, Martkos said:

I've only been here about 9 months was in Richmond NW Queensland before. They have artesian water which is treated and it made a fine drop of beer.  The water here In Alpha is treated bore water which I wouldn't give to my worst enemy (maybe I would). Hence I started with the rain water. The only thing that has change is the water.

Yep I know where you are, quite well actually.  I travel to and from Melbourne to Cairns by road quite a lot and quite often when I am towing the 3.5 T caravan back to home I come via Charters Towers, Claremont and then the back road to Alpha then on to Jericho.  From there I cut down the dirt, bull-dust track into Blackall (which I say is just up the road from FA) ha ha. 

My son's in-laws come from Blackall, born and bred.   I used that joke on them when they asked me once if I knew where Blackall was.   But it's a real nice town and I just love camping overnight down on the Barcoo River reserve, which is right in the town, a fantastic spot and a credit to the locals.  I always make a big donation to its upkeep.

Edited February 21, 2023 by iBooz2

[Martkos]

5 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

Yep I know where you are, quite well actually.  I travel to and from Melbourne to Cairns by road quite a lot and quite often when I am towing the 3.5 T caravan back to home I come via Charters Towers, Claremont and then the back road to Alpha then on to Jericho.  From there I cut down the dirt, bull-dust track into Blackall (which I say is just up the road from FA) ha ha. 

My son's in-laws come from Blackall, born and bred.   I used that joke on them when they asked me once if I knew where Blackall was.   But it's a real nice town and I just love camping overnight down on the Barcoo River reserve, which is right in the town, a fantastic spot and a credit to the locals.  I always make a big donation to its upkeep.

Yeah there is FAll in Blackall. Is a nice little town though. It was the halfway stop when we travelled south from Richmond. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Martkos said:

Yeah there is FAll in Blackall. Is a nice little town though. It was the halfway stop when we travelled south from Richmond. 

Al, years ago I used to travel all through that are & my visit to Blackall was memorable, I was in the pub after work relaxing playing darts by myself & a guy approached me & challenged me to a game, I said OK & he said 'give us yer darts' - I said nobody uses my darts, use the pub darts, he repeated 'give us yer ******* darts'  I refused & he took a swing at me which I was able to block & being younger & fitter I put him on the floor.

The Barman rang the police & the guy produced Police ID, he was off duty & drunk.

The local SGT cuffed me & took me back to the station & said he could hold me overnight but a short time after a couple of guys I had been drinking with earlier turned up & said the cop took the first swing, so he had no option but to let me go.

I decided not to hang around & went to Tambo.

I passed through there a couple of years later but didn't stay long.

 

[Martkos]

7 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Al, years ago I used to travel all through that are & my visit to Blackall was memorable, I was in the pub after work relaxing playing darts by myself & a guy approached me & challenged me to a game, I said OK & he said 'give us yer darts' - I said nobody uses my darts, use the pub darts, he repeated 'give us yer ******* darts'  I refused & he took a swing at me which I was able to block & being younger & fitter I put him on the floor.

The Barman rang the police & the guy produced Police ID, he was off duty & drunk.

The local SGT cuffed me & took me back to the station & said he could hold me overnight but a short time after a couple of guys I had been drinking with earlier turned up & said the cop took the first swing, so he had no option but to let me go.

I decided not to hang around & went to Tambo.

I passed through there a couple of years later but didn't stay long.

 

Strewth you will never forget Blackall then.