[blatz]

I would use potassium metabisulfite powder.  It does the same thing, is cheaper, and is already powdered.  You're paying a premium to have it in tablet form, and then you're crushing it.  It's a little harder to measure, but less than 1/8 tsp of the powder will cover 20 gallons.

seems really silly to crush it frankly - I collect all my filtered water in 5 gallon buckets, and use a pill cutter (or utility knife when I inevitably lose said cutter) and partition the pills into four pieces - voila!  By the time I get my other equipment out and ready to start heating water, the pill chunk is long gone - maybe 10 min or so, if that.

measuring 1/32 of a tsp is going to be difficult at best.

[tschmidlin]

You should be able to get it at your LHBS in the wine section right next to the campden tablets.  If you're ordering online it's easy.  At morebeer click the morewine link, the search for "sulfite" and it pops right up.   Easy to find on the northernbrewer site too.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/default/sodium-metabisulfite-8-oz.html
http://www.northernbrewer.com/default/potassium-metabisulfite.html
http://morewinemaking.com/view_product/15526//Potassium_Metabisulfite_-_SO2_4oz

Any of these will work.  You might want the sodium metabisulfite since it is cheaper, and you are using so little it will add negligible amount of sodium to your water.

[tschmidlin]

seems really silly to crush it frankly - I collect all my filtered water in 5 gallon buckets, and use a pill cutter (or utility knife when I inevitably lose said cutter) and partition the pills into four pieces - voila!  By the time I get my other equipment out and ready to start heating water, the pill chunk is long gone - maybe 10 min or so, if that.

measuring 1/32 of a tsp is going to be difficult at best.

It might dissolve better in your water than in some others, I used to use them and they never really dissolved all that well.

If you can't measure 1/32 tsp, just use a pinch.  Anything left over will probably boil away anyway, and even if it ends up in the final wort it won't be enough to inhibit the yeast.

[blatz]

It might dissolve better in your water than in some others, I used to use them and they never really dissolved all that well.

good point - I had not considered that - perhaps because my water comes out the tap at 80df!

[jeffy]

All of this makes me appreciate having a private well.

[denny]

All of this makes me appreciate having a private well.

A-freakin-men!  Not only no chloramines, but absolutely great water.

[blatz]

All of this makes me appreciate having a private well.

A-freakin-men!  Not only no chloramines, but absolutely great water.

woohoo - six more months and I will have my own as well (pun intended)!!

[tschmidlin]

I'm on a private-ish well, does that count? I guess it's private, but it's not mine if that makes any sense.  It's a community well.  No chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, nothing added at all as far as I know.  Great tasting water!

[hopfenundmalz]

I'm on a private-ish well, does that count? I guess it's private, but it's not mine if that makes any sense.  It's a community well.  No chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, nothing added at all as far as I know.  Great tasting water!

Having lived on well water most of my life, the taste depends on the location.  Envy some of you guys. 

Here in the midwest we do not lack for minerals in the well water (including iron). 

[majorvices]

I was referring more to the canister's efficiency in stripping out chloramine.  I'm not worried about the rest.

Unless you trickle the water through the canister extremely slowly, it's basically buying you nothing.  Campden tabs are cheap.

If that were the case, then an in-line canister filter for home (like the ones found attached to a well filtration system) are useless too.  Not trying to be argumentative, I'm just trying to understand the effectiveness of a active charcoal canister filter.

If I understand correctly, the pressure from a well averages around 40 psi and from city water it can be anywhere from 40 psi to 70 psi.  So any implementation of an active charcoal canister filter in either of these scenarios is pointless.  If so, what is the maximum pressure rating for a active charcoal canister filter?  If GPM is a better way to rate it, let me know.

Yeah, I don't buy that the filters don't work. I basically use two house hold filters in conjuunction at my brewery and had the water tested and had 0 ppms of chlorine - and the city water here is not only full of chlorine but dirt and sediment as well. I'm in the process of putting a 3 stage filtration system at teh brewery, but I can assure anyone that the charcoal filters work. How many pro-breweries do you really think are treating their water with campden tablets? For me, charcoal filters are not only cheap but far easier that screwing around the day before your brew with campden tablets.

[blatz]

For me, charcoal filters are not only cheap but far easier that screwing around the day before your brew with campden tablets.

campden only take about 5-10 minutes to work I believe.

[majorvices]

OK, fine, but you still have to collect all the water you are going to use before hand. That doesn't work for me. And charcoal filtering removes that step. And it works. And its cheap. I just don't get the campden camp I guess. 

[dbeechum]

Yeah, I fill my HLT, dose it with some potassium metabisulfite powder, stir and wait 5 minutes and test for chloramine levels.

And I bought a bag of pm from more beer 2 years ago for $5. Hella lot cheaper to just dose a little more into the water when I refill the HLT then buying new filter cartridges.

[majorvices]

My water is prefiltered and then gets heated through an instant hot water heater to 170 degrees before going in my MT or HLT.

[Hokerer]

Yeah, I don't buy that the filters don't work. I basically use two house hold filters in conjuunction at my brewery and had the water tested and had 0 ppms of chlorine - and the city water here is not only full of chlorine but dirt and sediment as well. I'm in the process of putting a 3 stage filtration system at teh brewery, but I can assure anyone that the charcoal filters work. How many pro-breweries do you really think are treating their water with campden tablets? For me, charcoal filters are not only cheap but far easier that screwing around the day before your brew with campden tablets.

Did you really mean to say "full of chlorine"?  If so, then it makes sense that you're not seeing an issue.  Chloramines, though, are an entirely different ball of wax.