[secretsquirrel]

Hi everyone,
New to home brewing and I love it.  I've read a bit about how the chlorine in my city water system can taint or alter the flavor of the beer. does anyone have any suggestions on how to de-chlorinate the water (other than purchasing bottled water)? Are there filtration systems? I'm trying to make my beer as chemically free as possible.  Thanks!
Squirrel

[Hokerer]

Chlorine can be eliminated simply by time and most water filters will take it out also.  Many municipalities these days, those, use chloramines which neither time nor normal filtering will eliminate.  The simplest way to get rid of chlorine or chloramines is campden tablets.  One-quarter tablet per 5 gallons will pretty much instantly eliminate them.

[gordonstrong]

Activated charcoal filter.

[Malticulous]

My watter has chlorine. I just fill watter bottles up at least a day before I brew. Putting them out in the sun helps, plus it can heat it up a little. Often I'll fill my bottles back up with watter from my IC after it's down to the 80s.

[tom]

Yes, check with your city water department to find out if they use chlorine or chloramines.

Chlorine can be boiled out in an hour or just by sitting out overnight. Carbon filters will get rid of chlorine, but not all of them will filter out chloramines.

Campden talbets will get rid of chlorine or chloramines in 20 gallons of water per tablet.

[etbrew]

I use campden tablets and they have made a huge difference in the beer quality.  Cheap and easy 

[boyle_brew]

I use a RV/boat water filter with garden hose fittings.  Mine has a flow rate of 2.5 gallons/minute.  Its quick and works great!

[richardt]

Someone already posted elsewhere on this forum that 5 minutes contact time with activated charcoal is required for adquate filtration.

If true, most RV filters would fail to accomplish that task unless the flow were reduced to a mere trickle.

Does anyone have any opinion regarding whether or not the use of a campden tablet (1/4 tablet in 5 gallons) to treat the brewing liquor creates any problems with getting the fermentation going when the yeast is pitched?

[freddy2]

I crush a full tablet in the 15 gallons I use for mashing and sparging. It has never caused a problem for me. It's cheap insurance at about $.035 each.

[Hokerer]

Someone already posted elsewhere on this forum that 5 minutes contact time with activated charcoal is required for adquate filtration.

If true, most RV filters would fail to accomplish that task unless the flow were reduced to a mere trickle.

The five minute requirement is for chloramines, for plain chlorine, the RV filters are probably fine.

Does anyone have any opinion regarding whether or not the use of a campden tablet (1/4 tablet in 5 gallons) to treat the brewing liquor creates any problems with getting the fermentation going when the yeast is pitched?

I always use a quarter tablet per 5 gallons and have never had any problems with fermentation.  Probably, since the campden gets boiled, there's really not much left that could possibly interfere.

[tygo]

Does anyone have any opinion regarding whether or not the use of a campden tablet (1/4 tablet in 5 gallons) to treat the brewing liquor creates any problems with getting the fermentation going when the yeast is pitched?

It's never created any problems for me and I probably end up using more than that dosage on a regular basis.

[brewdude75]

Ok everyone...old dude here trying to post his first question on The Forum, so please t-y-p-e s-l-o-w-l-y on replies! HA!

My municipality uses regular chlorine, not chloramines, and my standard procedure has been to bring all of my brewing and sparge water to a boil to drive off the chlorine, then cool to the needed temperature.

My Question: can I drive off the chlorine at a lower temp, say 180F rather than the 201F temp of boiling water here at 6700 ft. in Rock Springs, WY?  Obviously, it would save time and propane if I don't have to bring the water to boil, then wait to cool.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Tom Volner
Rock Springs, WY

[BrewArk]

Good question Tom,

My guess is that you won't get a straight answer yes or no (would you trust it if you did?).  At the lower temperature, it takes longer for the chlorine to dissipate.  If your trying to shorten the time & lower the temp, the two work against each other.

I think you'll have to give it a try.  Heat it up to 180°, pull off a sample (say a quart?) let it cool & use your nose.  If you're as old as I am maybe a grandkid's nose to see if you smell any chlorine.

If it was me, I'd use a Campden tablet.  Or, you could use some peroxide.  That leaves oxygen and chloride ion dissolved in your water.  But campden is probably gonna be cheaper.

[dbeechum]

Buy some of these: http://www.amazon.com/LaMotte-Chlorine-Test-Strips-Pack/dp/B0015T2DH8

And do an experiment and that should be what you need I think.

[Hokerer]

Buy some of these: http://www.amazon.com/LaMotte-Chlorine-Test-Strips-Pack/dp/B0015T2DH8

And do an experiment and that should be what you need I think.

Sure those'll work?  The fed standard for chlorine in municipal water is 4ppm.  Those strips only measure down to 10ppm.  Seems you'd get a negative reading whether any chlorine has been removed or not.