Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: First all-grain, water concern  (Read 2864 times)

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2016, 09:04:57 am »
I'm no expert but make it easer on yourself and just use spring water.   It's your first AG batch, brew it and have fun


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Again, THIS^^^^^.  Too many advanced brewers tend to forget that it's supposed to be a fun hobby.  Just go get some spring or RO water and enjoy yourself.  There are lots of other things to deal with before you tackle water treatment.  I realize that may be heresy to some people, but I'm into heresy!  ;)  And really, that's how I approached it and it worked great for me.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Chronospa

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 11
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2016, 09:25:34 am »
I agree with this. Leave messing with the water till you have a few batches under your belt.

When I finally got back into brewing after a 12 year break my first 3 extract beers were horrible. I couldn't identify what was wrong so I blamed extracts. So I figured I'd just go to all grain. First 2 batches of that was horrible too. I began to get really disheartened and was questioning whether I wanted to really get back into brewing.

After talking with some local brewers and researching I learned about chloramines and that my local water uses them. They weren't something I ever came across when I was brewing 12 years ago. .

So I went to Giant brand spring water. Since then I've done 5 batches that all came out really well. Well enough that I still haven't started messing with the water chemistry. I will at some point when I want to make great beer but I'm still learning new things with all of the other ingredients and I'm happy with good beer.

I'm no expert but make it easer on yourself and just use spring water.   It's your first AG batch, brew it and have fun


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Offline gleece

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2016, 12:01:13 pm »
Thank you all for taking the time to help me and to also help me relax. I've brewed a lot of extract beers and every one of them seems to have some off-flavor that I can't really identify so I was just hoping that with my first all-grain beer that I wouldn't have that off flavor anymore.

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #18 on: August 28, 2016, 12:42:39 pm »
Thank you all for taking the time to help me and to also help me relax. I've brewed a lot of extract beers and every one of them seems to have some off-flavor that I can't really identify so I was just hoping that with my first all-grain beer that I wouldn't have that off flavor anymore.

Often that mysterious flavor comes from the chlorine in your water.  Do you use chlorinated water, and if so, do you do anything to remove the chlorine?
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Steve L

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 501
  • Rocky Mount, VA
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #19 on: August 28, 2016, 03:29:38 pm »
Often times if you check the label on spring water bottles from the big box stores, you'll find the company listed that bottled it. I've had good luck in the past, emailing those companies and asking for a water report. Just a thought for the future....
Corripe Cervisiam

Offline gleece

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #20 on: August 29, 2016, 06:49:51 am »
I usually use filtered water from the fridge, but when I don't have that available, I would use bottled spring water, distilled, a combination of the two, etc; I was on the move a lot with the Navy so my water sources were varied. There were times I wasn't able to keep my fermentation temps cool enough but even on batches where I felt like everything went well, I still had a strange flavor. A couple brewers have told me that they think it is just because of using extract. That's why I'm hoping to learn more about how to treat water to get it just right for all grain. I have a lot to learn...

Offline Steve L

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 501
  • Rocky Mount, VA
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #21 on: August 29, 2016, 09:01:20 am »
I usually use filtered water from the fridge, but when I don't have that available, I would use bottled spring water, distilled, a combination of the two, etc; I was on the move a lot with the Navy so my water sources were varied. There were times I wasn't able to keep my fermentation temps cool enough but even on batches where I felt like everything went well, I still had a strange flavor. A couple brewers have told me that they think it is just because of using extract. That's why I'm hoping to learn more about how to treat water to get it just right for all grain. I have a lot to learn...
IMO, I'd be less inclined to blame extract, unless you have the bad luck of always getting really old extract. There are brewers out there making award winning brews with extract. I'd be more inclined to look at fermentation issues or water, as Denny suggested. Unfortunately there are plenty of places to introduce off flavors.
Corripe Cervisiam

Offline theoman

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 640
  • Outskirts of Brussels, Belgium
Re: First all-grain, water concern
« Reply #22 on: September 08, 2016, 05:51:52 am »
You softener should have a bypass setting (knob, lever or something). Try to bypass it and taste the water. If it tastes ok, try brewing with the unsoftened water or even try half-and-half (which I've done often). I've also done brews with 100% softened water and they turned out fantastic. Granted, the softening settings on my softener are set pretty low.