47 replies to this topic

[MtnBrewer]

for a long time I filtered my water through a brita pitcher. holy snot did this suck. once I discovered campden tablets I was a happy, happy man.

And a Brita pitcher is just a carbon filter right? So that's not going to remove chloramine either.

[positiveContact]

And a Brita pitcher is just a carbon filter right? So that's not going to remove chloramine either.

i must not have much then b/c that was never an issue.

[ColdAssHonky]

I thought I heard somewhere that when using campden tabs you have to let the water sit out for a long while for the chloramine to dissipate. Any opinions on this?

[positiveContact]

I thought I heard somewhere that when using campden tabs you have to let the water sit out for a long while for the chloramine to dissipate. Any opinions on this?

i think it's pretty fast acting. zymot did a test I think.

[ColdAssHonky]

i think it's pretty fast acting. zymot did a test I think.

I hope that's true. I've been measuring out my water the night before so I can let it sit. I'll probably still do this since it shaves time from the brew day, but nice to know if I get lazy I can just toss in the campden and go.

[MtnBrewer]

i must not have much then b/c that was never an issue.

I should say that charcoal doesn't remove all chloramine. Only about half is what I've read.

I thought I heard somewhere that when using campden tabs you have to let the water sit out for a long while for the chloramine to dissipate. Any opinions on this?

The FAQ says 5 minutes.

[ColdAssHonky]

The FAQ says 5 minutes.

Ah ha. I was mixing up the procedure for chlorine all along.

[MyaCullen]

if one overdoses the K-meta, like it sounds many are, how could this affect the water profile?

[Brauer]

so let's say 450 mg which would be good for 150 L or about 40 gallons. so yeah - I've been overdosing my 10 gallon batches

I read somewhere that a lot, of the weight was binder. The common stance is that 1 tab is good for treating 20 gallons of water.

[Brauer]

There's nothing much left to really let dissipate, after metabisulfite. You basically add a very few ppm of salt and a few ppm of sulfate. If you have little or no chlorine or chloramine, you might have a few ppm of sulfite left over. I don't know if that will survive the mash, boil and fermentation, though.

[positiveContact]

I read somewhere that a lot, of the weight was binder. The common stance is that 1 tab is good for treating 20 gallons of water.

ah - sounds like my practices are about right then. 1 tab for about 14-15 gallons of water needed for a 10 gallon batch and 1/2 tab for about 7 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch.

[djinkc]

ah - sounds like my practices are about right then. 1 tab for about 14-15 gallons of water needed for a 10 gallon batch and 1/2 tab for about 7 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch.

That's what I've been doing forever. Half tab to start, and use the smaller half to top off the EHLT.

[Clintama]

I treat 15 gallons with a whole Campden tablet. Works great.

[SteveMillerTime]

On this topic, I had picked up one of those home depot "free" water tests and sent it in...I got a phone call today and the lady says you're water tested positive for hardness, chlorine, and (something else i can't remember). Then she started talking really fast, before I could get a word in, about how they'll send someone out to do further testing. I was like wait what? So your telling me it's chlorine not chloramine? She's like yup, thats what it says. So I told her that I'm a brewer and started talking about how chlorine can be boiled out but chloramine can't and she says "oh, I didn't know that" at which point a red flag shot up. She said someone will call and schedule an appointment to come out.At this point I hung up the phone and started thinking that she really sounded like a sales person...so I googled home depot water testing. Sure enough, it's a sales person that comes to your house to do all of these "tests" and then tries to sell you a $6,400 purification system, which has gotten tons of bad reviews...hah. I guess I'll just pay for a legit water test so I can actually get some useful information. I'll make sure to say something about that when the person tries to schedule an appointment. I'll probably say, hey, all I wanted was a paper with useful information, not someone trying to sell me crap.

[denny]

I thought I heard somewhere that when using campden tabs you have to let the water sit out for a long while for the chloramine to dissipate. Any opinions on this?

Nope. It's a pretty much instant chemical reaction.

[positiveContact]

On this topic, I had picked up one of those home depot "free" water tests and sent it in...I got a phone call today and the lady says you're water tested positive for hardness, chlorine, and (something else i can't remember). Then she started talking really fast, before I could get a word in, about how they'll send someone out to do further testing. I was like wait what? So your telling me it's chlorine not chloramine? She's like yup, thats what it says. So I told her that I'm a brewer and started talking about how chlorine can be boiled out but chloramine can't and she says "oh, I didn't know that" at which point a red flag shot up. She said someone will call and schedule an appointment to come out.At this point I hung up the phone and started thinking that she really sounded like a sales person...so I googled home depot water testing. Sure enough, it's a sales person that comes to your house to do all of these "tests" and then tries to sell you a $6,400 purification system, which has gotten tons of bad reviews...hah. I guess I'll just pay for a legit water test so I can actually get some useful information. I'll make sure to say something about that when the person tries to schedule an appointment. I'll probably say, hey, all I wanted was a paper with useful information, not someone trying to sell me crap.

send it to ward labs. someone here will tell you which test to run that will have everything you need without any BS or hassle.

[denny]

www.wardlab.comTest W-6 for $16.50

[SteveMillerTime]

www.wardlab.comTest W-6 for $16.50

I was just talking to dan about that this morning. Will definitely be buying that kit from them...I don't get why the brewer's kit costs $20 more...

[positiveContact]

I was just talking to dan about that this morning. Will definitely be buying that kit from them...I don't get why the brewer's kit costs $20 more...

i'm sure they offer something extra but I'm guessing not $20 more. i'd stick with the old stand by. it has everything you need as far as I know.

[MtnBrewer]

I was just talking to dan about that this morning. Will definitely be buying that kit from them...I don't get why the brewer's kit costs $20 more...

I think they send you a sample jar or something like that.