IAN Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Hi all. I have just moved into town after being in the country and on rainwater for a long time, the water in town here isnt that nice to drink( tastes of chlorine), I am wondering what impact this is going to have on taste. Does anyone else go to the trouble of spring water? And will it take longer to ferment because of the chlorine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 water has a fairly major impact on taste, considering at the end it makes up over 90% of the volume of your beer! In adelaide, I always used spring water. Here in melbourne I've used spring and tap, and there is not much difference since the water is much softer. Adelaide's tap water is quite hard because there's a lot of work put into it, to change it from the muck you see in the murray river, to the relatively clear stuff that runs out your tap. It would be interesting to see the mineral profile for adelaide tapwater though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Ian, There's some info on chlorine at this thread (a disclaimer: this is my site) http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... .php?t=261 The bottom line is that chlorine boils at -34C and once the water is out of the tap the chlorine evaporates very quickly. Unless your water is really bad, don't worry about it. A mate of mine lives at Jan Juc (down past Geelong, Victoria) and the water quality is variable, to say the least, but he always brews good beers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleMan Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Ive heard that using rain water straight from the tap ( unboiled ) is the worst thing to do, and the easiest way of introducing bugs to your brew. Apparently all the nasties on your roof, including bird poo that the water makes its journey over. Then theres all the crap in the gutters. :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 alot of people say they hate the taste of chlorine (and its friends) in tap water, but its there for a very good reason! (to kill bugs!) :) The quality of your rainwater will vary greatly depending on the condition of your roof/gutters and any leaf litter that may be in your gutters, or any moquitoes that may have laid eggs in your water.. all of which can introduce bacteria. If you do an all-grain homebrew, rainwater will be fine because you boil the full 23-odd litre wort for over an hour which will kill any bacteria that might have been in your rainwater tank anyway, and the denatured bacterial protein will likely end up in the trub after your cold break which is avoided during moving the wort to your fermenter. In a kit brew though, you dont have the luxury of having pre-sterilised water at your disposal, so unless you pre-boil your rainwater, let it cool down to room temp, and then use it you might get some problems.. but that's not to say that all rainwater tanks are bacteria-ridden! Some are fine.. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 ... not forgetting the fact that boiling drives oxygen out of the water, which you'll need to reintroduce so that the yeast can get off to a good start. Make sure you splash lots when you're pouring the cooled boiled water into the fermenter and you should be right. So people even use a paint-stirring attachment on an electric drill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 of course.. or you can give your fermenter a bloody good thrashing before pitching your yeast. Its actually quite amazing to see the array of ready-made ultra-expensive gear to do just that! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg B Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 I brewed for many years with tank water, and had no problems. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brew Master Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 Good one Adam, you"re on the ball with the bird poo. I am yet to see a bird perched on a spout with it's tail pointing away from the roof. :oops: Has anyone used spring water that you can buy in supermarkets in 10 or 15 litre containers. Regards, Peter. "Don't waste time keep drinking" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 yep. I always did in adelaide.. but i never did a tap water one so cant tell you the difference. I just never trusted it, that's all. Its variability in quality was somewhat of a concern to me. I've done a spring and a couple of tap water ones over here in melbourne, but from what I can taste, the water quality over here in melbourne is much improved over the stuff in adelaide. It certainly is a lot softer (you get bubbles in the shower when you use soap, even! I was amazed when it happened the first time I had a shower over here last year!). Each to their own though! But I do wonder why so many breweries source their water from springs/aquifiers or even boars. Probably more to do with consistency more than anything, but I reckon they'd monitor their water quality vary carefully, and treat it appropriately to provide consistant water for their brews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Remember guys that soft water (eg Melbourne) is ideal for brewing lagers (just look at the great beers they produce in the Czech Republic) and harder water (eg Adelaide) is good for ales (Burton-on-Trent in England is renowned as a great ale-brewing centre). So one water doesn't fit all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Hey you blokes how are ya? I've been brewing for the last 15 years in five different country locations in Queensland. Each place had a rainwater tank at the house. I have had very few infected brews in this time and probably from my slack cleaning more than anything. Other than that I wouldn't have had any crook brews. I suppose living in the city would give different deposits on your roof too like from all the cars and any industry about the place. If I had the choice of water I would prefer rainwater, especially in the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkubaSteev Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Well i am from the country too and all my brews i have done are from my water tank and i have mate mate here that does tap water, and i must say that the rain water makes a difference, and i havent had an off brew yet... but thats just from my experience anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Its good to get a bit of a consensus here anyway guys, thankyou all for your input.. Sounds like country rainwater is sweet sweet stuff :D I've had a bit of a look at the water profile here for melbourne, and yes it is certainly very close to Pilzen water.. and a Cooper's Lager that my housemate certainly tasted very good indeed. :) I'm dying to give my finished Coopers' Ginger beer a thorough tasting this easter break! and I have a few Coopers' Australian Pale Ales to enjoy when the sweetness gets too much!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 I have used the 10L spring water bottles and then kept the empties. When I put down a brew I simply fill them up from the tap then let them sit in a sunny location. The sun helps to break down/drive off the chlorine and in a week or so the 10L bottles are ready to add to the next brew. Helps me keep track of the amount of water added and keeps consistency with the brewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleChevron Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Are these the water bottles from the supermarket with the wine cask like taps ?? The reason I ask is I used to collect these and cut the tops of them so I could store car parts in them. Any bottle that's left in the sun goes extremely brittle, then next time you move it the bottle simply shatters in your hands evenly distributing car parts all over the floor (I wonder what chemicals it leaches into the water from the plastic when the bottles are in the sun). seeya, Shane L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 I haven't yet had any problem with the bottles going brittle from being in the sun, but they aren't in the sun/heat? constantly (sometimes I'm a lazy brewer) A good point from Shane though about the possibilities of chemicals leeching out of the plastic. I guess I hadn't really thought of it like that. Anyone know what baddies :evil: live in the plastic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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