Yay - I found a place in Lewisville right on 1171 that sells RO water at $0.30 a gallon. Brewed my first batch using it and some mineral additions today, utilizing various calculators and whatever. Noticed a little bit of cloudiness in the water (Is this normal?). Assumed it was from the chalk or whatever, but we will see how this turns out. The cloudiness is not going to make a difference, since I'm making a stout .
Happy about the RO place - the guy even took me on a quick "tour" of sorts and showed me his entire system (even to the point of measuring the chlorine versus city water with some small tester). Anyway, I got two big 5 gallon jugs and if this turns out well, I'll happily pay the extra $3.00 a batch to get water from there.
Strangely enough, it's called "Donuts and RO Water" - it is a small little shop that is split in two (a donut side and a water side). It is in the shopping center with Big Lots! at the other end of the strip. Guy uses Lewisville water supply but then runs it through RO filters which are monitored and cleaned and a carbon filter. He also has an outside vending deal that might even be cheaper ($1.25 I think)? And the outside hookup is 24 hrs open and (he claims and it appears to be that) it is sourcing from same water source.
He also has an "ozone sanitation" deal inside to sanitize your bottles before filling them - not sure how that works - I have some more research to do on that.
Thanks Cameron. I'll get my water there next time. (I like the idea of sanitizing the containers prior to filling. Every time I empty my containers I tell myself to Star San them...and I never remember to do it. I'm probably introducing all kinds of bacteria, tadpoles, and other scum into my beers...).
Chris Mewhinney
There's a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness".
No, I simply use RO water, heated to 170 for the sparge and whatever the mash temp is going to be. But I was kidding about getting bacteria in the water...that's one of the few things I don't worry about. But I should do a Star San rinse every now and then...
Chris Mewhinney
There's a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness".
Yeah - I'm not concerned with an infection from water - anything pre-boil generally gets cleaned and dried - just more concerned if it got moldy or something that might impart some flavor I don't want or affect my mash...
Cameron,
Cloudiness is normal if you added chalk as it does not resolve. You can wait and add chalk to the mash and then some to the boil to get the full effect. At any rate, I think you will be pleased. What did you brew?
truckpoetry wrote:Noticed a little bit of cloudiness in the water (Is this normal?).
Cameron, are you adding your salts into your HLT? If so you may be leaving some of your salts behind.
I was adding salts to my HLT, and was noticing that after the end of the brew day, I found some salts still in the bottom and the sides of my HLT, never making in into the brew pot.
I listened the Brewing Network's, Brew Strong's 4-part "Water Series": http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/ ... ong/Page-2. They do a pretty through job of discussing Water and modifying it for brewing. In it they discuss how some salts do not dissolve well in plain water and they suggest that you add your salts to your mash and boil. I have since adopted this tech and now I believe it is the way to go.
Orlando
Orlando Guerra
"You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start In The Morning"
Yes, Orlando - and I realized after cleaning the sides of my HLT that perhaps the way you are describing is the way to go.
Thanks for the heads up, though. I still think this one is most likely to be better off in water-quality than my last several beers, but I was likely leaving some of the salts behind, and have room to improve this process.
Here are some very interesting water treatment recipes, from A.J. DeLange. It may be only my opinion, but this guy is pretty much an authority on water. Water Recipes
You might find a lot of his stuff very informative. WETNEWF HOMEPAGE
The long version of the article on removing chloramines from municipal water is there. BT used to have it online, but not any more. I do have a hard copy that I can copy/scan if you are interested.
Is your beer intimate, hand crafted, and artisanally made?
Fairfax county is in Virginia I believe. Without looking it up, I think Eeklo somewhere in Europe - I ain't got a clue. Okay, let's look it up. Wikipedia says East Flanders.
Is your beer intimate, hand crafted, and artisanally made?
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