Here in Berkeley, CA, we have pretty nice water for brewing, but it is treated with chloramine. I had been dutifully filtering my brew water with a charcoal filter, but I read that chloramine isn’t removed through charcoal filtration. Is there an easy way to remove chloramine? Explain to me why I should/should not start buying RO water, too.
I believe you can use campden tablets but don’t take my word for it. I know there are threads here on the forum where you can find discussion of the topic. If you’re confident in your ability to “build” your mineral profile for your water I have no explanation as to why you shouldn’t use RO water for your brew, other than it’s probably a better method compared to using campden tabs.
similar problem. brewed my first brew using a filter rated for 4gpm or so. i ran the water at about 1/2-1gpm. did not pick up any medicinal taste after brew but won’t know for sure till done fermenting/lagering. i brew 2g batches and i was afraid of putting in too much campden tab because it only takes a little bit and i didn’t know if it would screw up my yeast
Remember reading somewhere that charcoal can technically do it but it has to be something like a ‘charcoal block’ (not the regular granular charcoal) and the contact time has to be five minutes so yeah, for all intents and purposes, a charcoal filter will not remove chloramine.
I had two batches in a row that tasted like plastic by using our tap water. It was filtered once through a brita tap filter and another through a brita pitcher filter. I never had problems before, but our municipality may have switched to chloramine during the time I’ve been brewing. I cant remember if I used tap water for brew water or just for cleaning. Either way, I switched over to regular store bought water for brewing and distilled water for Starsan and havent had any problems since. Havent tried the campden tablets yet. I may try them. or start building my own water profile…or just keep using store bought water. probably the last one.
Campden tablets are pretty cheap. Don’t know what you’re paying for your store bought water but for me it’s a lot cheaper to use the campden where I can.
this is first i heard that charcoal won’t work. next brew i will use both the filter (no reason tanotta) and campden and will compare the two and see. people still like the beers i have brewed but i can’t stand that underlying medicinal taste.
The sulfites are driven off in the boil. One thing we often do is put a Campden tablet in the mash, as it is an anti-oxidant. Picked that up on the old HBD years back.
Probably too much compared to using the tablets. Usually adds about $10 or so to my cost. I’ve been using store bought mostly during last minute brew sessions(which seems to be all I get to do anymore) and its faster to buy a batch worth of water than it is to filter it.
Yeah, I gave one of the batches away for my daughters Bday. It was a cream ale geared for my BMC friends and everybody liked it. Most didnt notice the phenol taste, but for me, it stood out.
My club just had a guest speaker from Calgon talking about water, filters, etc. As chloramine addition is a recent hot topic in W. PA the question was asked about carbon filters and their ability to take out chloramine. He said some carbon filters (Centaur?) specifically list chloramine as being able to be taken out.
Without any tests, it would be hard to say. My Pilsners last until late summer, when the last keg blows. Maybe that is the Campden, maybe not. It is just one of those things that we do now, like a mash out. One of those quick and easy things to do with no bad consequence, but maybe debateable benefits.
In full disclosure - sometimes we forget that step, and the beers last a long time too.
My water company (East Bay MUD) says that charcoal filters will not remove chloramine, though I can’t find the link that used to say that. But then the nearby San Francisco water company says that a charcoal filter (or a 20 min boil) will greatly reduce chloramine levels (San Francisco Water Power Sewer).
I imagine some type of charcoal filter might work, but not the standard kind that I have (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16762//Water_Filter_Kit_-_10_inch) or that is readily available for a low price. I believe local breweries use a series of charcoal filters to remove chloramine from their water. That kind of getup seems too expensive and time-consuming. Also, I can’t taste a difference between filtered and unfiltered water in Berkeley, though it was a night and day difference when I lived in Agricultural Davis, CA where the water was chlorinated.
If the chloramine is driven off by the boil, then is a campden tablet really necessary? I am concerned that I would be adding unwanted salts to the boil, as I have never used campden tablets. What will they be adding to my brewing water and how should I compensate?
By the time you get to the boil, I think it’s too late as the chlorophenol damage has been done. As for the campden tabs, they’re just potassium metabisulfite and you only need one quarter of a tablet per 5 gallons of water so you shouldn’t need any compensating measures.
I brew with RO water so no problem with that. You would want to put your campden in the water before you brew to get rid of the chlorine-chloramines before those have a chance to react with the malt compounds. I do this in the mash as it is a step to cut down on oxidation. Might be overkill as Denny points out.