Philly Water

[Cellardwellerbrewer]

I live outside Philadelphia, and I was wondering if anyone knows what region in the brewing world our water is comparable to. I only treat my water with campden tablets. I know it's not soft water. I'm just getting curious about water chemistry.
Thanks

 

[Cellardwellerbrewer]

So through the great internet gods I've found that my water is best suited for English style brews which is good news for me

 

[tgolanos]

To be quite honest, I think it depends where in the Philly-area you are. I remember the water being rather soft where I grew up but the water where my parents have since moved to is noticeably harder.

Good luck with the brews!

 

[Brew_G]

I've had best results with RO. The levels of minerals in my local wooder fluctuate from month to month, so I fill my 30L Speidel with RO from a local Whole Foods and add minerals to hit my Bru'n Water numbers.

Even if you don't need RO, it might not be bad to try to amend your wooder to bring it in line with whatever beers you're trying to make.

 

[ZigZagMarquis]

I live outside Philadelphia, and I was wondering if anyone knows what region in the brewing world our water is comparable to. I only treat my water with campden tablets. I know it's not soft water. I'm just getting curious about water chemistry.
Thanks

I would not recommend using water straight out of the Schuylkill River.

 

[CGVT]

I thought Philly had woorder

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

I am in the Pottstown area and my water is hard as $h!t. I typically brew with distilled unless I am making a stout

 

[Cellardwellerbrewer]

Thanks I don't think I'm ready to do the RO water. Still getting my system down besides the wooder isn't that bad. I live in Delco.

 

[milldoggy]

Just filter and you are fine for any style. The only way to really know is send a sample to wards lab

 

[Cellardwellerbrewer]

Just filter and you are fine for any style. The only way to really know is send a sample to wards lab

I did send a sample with the FREE Home Depot sample kit. Joke. I'm for the cheap and easy home brewing. I wonder if Denny does anything with his water. I like British brews. Thanks

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

There's this. That might confirm your suspicion that Philly water is ideally suited to things like English-style bitters. Basically, from what I could glean in the article, Philly water is somewhere between hard and soft.

I live in Philly, but I'm not a very experienced brewer. I've been told that the municipal water in West Philly has very high levels of chloramine during the summer, but less during the week. It apparently varies a lot. I don't know what water outside of the city is like.

 

[Cellardwellerbrewer]

I'm in the same boat as you as a brewer. I think it's the same water source. I read that same article ty

 

[bucketnative]

I live in Philly, but I'm not a very experienced brewer. I've been told that the municipal water in West Philly has very high levels of chloramine during the summer, but less during the week. It apparently varies a lot. I don't know what water outside of the city is like.

Just use a Campden tablet to get rid of chlorine or chloramines. I live in So. Philly, and that's what I do. I use 1/2 tablet per 10 gal. I crush the 1/2 tablet into a powder and dissolve it in two cups of boiling water (It dissolves much faster in hot water). Then add that to the bulk of my water and stir vigorously. After 10 min, the chlorine smell is gone from the water, and it's off to the races.

 

[Cellardwellerbrewer]

Just use a Campden tablet to get rid of chlorine or chloramines. I live in So. Philly, and that's what I do. I use 1/2 tablet per 10 gal. I crush the 1/2 tablet into a powder and dissolve it in two cups of boiling water (It dissolves much faster in hot water). Then add that to the bulk of my water and stir vigorously. After 10 min, the chlorine smell is gone from the water, and it's off to the races.

Exactly what I do