Erik <koehlere...@bellsouth.net> wrote: >I should probably avoid using water from the tap when making mead, right? >Should I go to the store and buy some Zephyrhills or something like that?
I would avoid using straight tap water due because the chlorine/chloramines in most city water will have a negative impact on your finished mead. However, you also don't want distilled water, since the trace minerals in "normal" water are essential for the yeast to be healthy. So either buy some sort of "spring water" that has minerals, or use distilled water and add back minerals and nutrients. (Google homebrew sites for more details.) -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
Droopy <Droopy68...@yahoo.com> wrote: >Nah, just go ahead and use the tap water, either boil it, or add >sulfite to the must and let it sit a day before pitching yeast.
Boiling doesn't remove chloramines. -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
Yeah, you are right. It is metabisulfite or a carbon filter (not a brita type filter, you need a longer contact time)
Since I do not bother with removal of chloramines I do not pay much attention to removing them. To tell the truth, most people do not remvoe them and never have a problem.
Droopy <Droopy68...@yahoo.com> wrote: >Yeah, you are right. It is metabisulfite or a carbon filter (not a >brita type filter, you need a longer contact time)
>Since I do not bother with removal of chloramines I do not pay much >attention to removing them. To tell the truth, most people do not >remvoe them and never have a problem.
It could be that I'm just sensitive to chlorophenols; my homebrew tasted like crap until I simply started filtering the water. I can still easily identify chlorophenols in other people's homebrew. Either way I suggest removing sources of chlorine from anything that gets fermented-- especially if there's even a slim chance I might be tasting it. ;-) -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
Droopy <Droopy68...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Yeah, you are right. It is metabisulfite or a carbon filter (not a > brita type filter, you need a longer contact time)
> Since I do not bother with removal of chloramines I do not pay much > attention to removing them. To tell the truth, most people do not > remvoe them and never have a problem.
With all sue respects, mi amigo, "most people" do not have chloramines in their water. And then there's College Station, Texas where the water is unfit for brewing anything.
Does anyone have a list of locations with chloramines in the water?
Most large metro areas do use chloramines to keep microbial growth down in the water mains. Here in Linclon, they disenfect the water in the city resivoir with chlorine, treat it with ozone and then before piping it out with chloramine.
Maybe that is why it is not a problem here, since it is jsut a treatment to prevent growth and not the only microbial treatment maybe they use a lot less. But be assured, if you get your water from the city, it most certainly has been treated with chlorine in some fashion. how much is a different issue.
Erik <koehlere...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > I should probably avoid using water from the tap when making > mead, right? Should I go to the store and buy some Zephyrhills > or something like that?
Before you buy Spring Water, call your County Water Department request a list of what chemicals are in the water. As long as chloramines are not on the list, it is probably ok to use your tap water.
Chlorine can be eliminated by letting pots of water stand for 24 hours, 48 hours if you have the time and space.
If you have any questions on specific chemicals in the water, post them here.
Checking online, 20% of municipal water systems use chloramines. Since that 20% are most liklely large metro areas (due to costs involved in installing such systems) I would think that there is agood chance there are clhoramines in most peoples water.
Water derived from underground wells is almost certain to have fewer chemical additives than water taken from surface sources as well.
Always contact your local water company when dealing with brewing water...if only just to know the water hardness. With mead, I would say it is not as important, esp if you come from the winemaking side and use sulfites.
Places that use ozone to treat water (as is common in much of Europe, and starting to be used in the US in some places, Disney, the Navy, and a few towns) use very little to no chlorine in the water. It is hardly needed at that point.
One thing that you would want to note is that ozone treatment generally lowers the pH of the water.
Dick Adams <rdad...@smart.net> wrote: >With all sue respects, mi amigo, "most people" do not have chloramines >in their water. And then there's College Station, Texas where the >water is unfit for brewing anything.
My understanding is that more and more cities use chloramines. "Most people" may include everybody that uses a well, but for us city folk, I'd be cautious about making any assumptions wrt chloramines.
>Does anyone have a list of locations with chloramines in the water?
Your water provider will (or should) be able to tell you your status. -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
You can have a filter installed under your sink that removes chlorine smells from the water. I have one and it's fabulous. It also removes giardia from the water, if that's a problem where you live, but it doesn't remove minerals. Your mead will be better, but so will your tea, your coffee, your drinking water, your pasta, etc.
It costs about $250 here; the filters only need to be replaced every few years.
Charlene <charlene.vick...@gmail.com> wrote: > You can have a filter installed under your sink that removes chlorine > smells from the water. I have one and it's fabulous. It also removes > giardia from the water, if that's a problem where you live, but it > doesn't remove minerals. Your mead will be better, but so will your > tea, your coffee, your drinking water, your pasta, etc.
> It costs about $250 here; the filters only need to be replaced every > few years.
> > You can have a filter installed under your sink that removes chlorine > > smells from the water. I have one and it's fabulous. It also removes > > giardia from the water, if that's a problem where you live, but it > > doesn't remove minerals. Your mead will be better, but so will your > > tea, your coffee, your drinking water, your pasta, etc.
> > It costs about $250 here; the filters only need to be replaced every > > few years.
> What brand is it?
I installed a RO filter at our home as it removes Flouride as well as cloride componds and agents that keep pipes from rusting! After researching the internet, I settled on www.freedrinkingwater.com, I've been very happy with our unit. And, I've had samples tested to confirm purity. It's a 5 stage unit, it was ~$300.
> > I should probably avoid using water from the tap when making > > mead, right? Should I go to the store and buy some Zephyrhills > > or something like that?
> Before you buy Spring Water, call your County Water Department > request a list of what chemicals are in the water. As long as > chloramines are not on the list, it is probably ok to use your > tap water.
> Chlorine can be eliminated by letting pots of water stand for > 24 hours, 48 hours if you have the time and space.
> If you have any questions on specific chemicals in the water, > post them here.
Bottled water tends to be the least regulated item in the grocery store.
Dick Adams wrote: > Erik <koehlere...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>I should probably avoid using water from the tap when making >>mead, right? Should I go to the store and buy some Zephyrhills >>or something like that?
> Before you buy Spring Water, call your County Water Department > request a list of what chemicals are in the water. As long as > chloramines are not on the list, it is probably ok to use your > tap water.
> Chlorine can be eliminated by letting pots of water stand for > 24 hours, 48 hours if you have the time and space.
> If you have any questions on specific chemicals in the water, > post them here.
> Dick
Boy am I glad I still have well water. :)
-- Michael Herrenbruck DragonTail Ale Drunken Bee Mead
First rule: If you don't like the taste of your water, you probably do not want to use it for brewing. My area does use chloramines but it has not seemed to inhibit my yeast.
Ray
"Erik" <koehlere...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> I should probably avoid using water from the tap when making mead, right? > Should I go to the store and buy some Zephyrhills or something like that?
>"Erik" <koehlere...@bellsouth.net> wrote: >> I should probably avoid using water from the tap when making mead, right? >> Should I go to the store and buy some Zephyrhills or something like that? >First rule: If you don't like the taste of your water, you probably do not >want to use it for brewing. My area does use chloramines but it has not >seemed to inhibit my yeast.
It's not yeast inhibition that's the concern. It's that the chlorine will react with phenols during fermentation to form chlorophenols. The average human palate is sensitive to small amounts of chlorophenols, and trust me, it's not a pleasant flavor. I've tasted homemade beer and mead that had what I considered very unpleasant amounts of chlorophenols. Invariably when asked about process the brewer/meadmaker said they used straight, unfiltered city tapwater. -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
Besides some amino acids, there really are not any. In beer and wine there is a lot in the proteins and tannins. But honey really does not have that problem. Mels and such could be a problem, but if you add fruit in the secondary, I doubt it. Chloramines do fade away over time.
Droopy <Droopy68...@yahoo.com> wrote: >Where do the phenols come from in mead? >Besides some amino acids, there really are not any. In beer and wine >there is a lot in the proteins and tannins. But honey really does not >have that problem. Mels and such could be a problem...
Yes.
>fruit in the secondary, I doubt it.
As long as there's fermentation...
>Chloramines do fade away over time.
Chloramines in water will break down into free chlorine, and then dissipate, or so I hear. Chlorophenols won't. -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
Droopy <Droopy68...@yahoo.com> wrote: >Where do the phenols come from in mead? >Besides some amino acids, there really are not any.
From the honey. A PubMed search yielded some tests for phenols in honey that gave a range of 0.05-5.88 ppm in the subject samples. Chlorophenols can be detected by humans in the ppb (parts per billion) range. -- Joel Plutchak "If you got the grits, serve 'em!" - Stanley Crouch plutchak at [...]
Do not make the mistake in assuming that because you have 50 ppb of phenols in honey thatif you add chloramine that you will end up with 50 ppb of chlorophenols. It does not work that way. The reaction will reach a point of equilibrium with all three species being present. The realitive quantites of each is determined by a equilibrium constant. With chloramine I do not know that the constant will be all that high, chloramines are used BECASUE they are relatively stable. It it was hypochlorous acid, then I would be more apt to believe that the water could cause ppb level with that level of phenolics in honey.
Like I said. We have chloramine in the water here. I have never tasted bandaids in my beer, wine or mead. Nobody else has either.
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