First brew with RO water

[Tknishi]

I just sampled my first brew using RO water (with gypsum), and what a difference water makes. I brew mostly IPAs in BIAB, and all my previous brews just were just meh, no real hop flavors or aromas, not matter how much more hops i kept adding, or played around with the hop schedules. They also had a slight twang to it, which i now attribute to my tap water.

This batch taste clean and crisp, and i can actually taste the hops. I didn't really play around with the mash pH in this batch, but will look into doing that for the next batch. I just wanted to share in case others were in the same boat with their brews and were considering RO water.

 

[Beer-lord]

I also noticed a huge difference when I started with RO last year. I'm still playing around with the mineral additions but I won't be going back.

 

[JamesonFan]

I also made my first batch with RO water this weekend. I can't wait to get it in the keg and taste it. I'm sure it will make all the difference in the world.

 

[jalc6927]

What about campden tablets? Any experience with these?

 

[Rob2010SS]

RO or distilled water is the way to go. One of the biggest improvements one can do for their brewing. Congratulations on the improvement!!

 

[Braufessor]

What about campden tablets? Any experience with these?

Campden tablets generally serve one function in brewing beer - removing Chlorine/chloramine from tap water. If you are using RO water, you should not need to use them unless you are also using some level of tap water.

 

[Steveg229]

For the last 2 years of brewing I have exclusively used RO water with mineral additions dependent of the brew. I prefer doing it this way with being able to control the water profile. I moved earlier this year and thought I would give the Chicago tap water a try. I used it in a couple different brews and have since gone back to RO. The beers just weren't quite as good. I used campden tablets and also tried filtering the water. Back to RO for me. If its not broke, don't fix it, right?!

 

[jalc6927]

So an RV type water filter will
Work as well?

Do you have a filter or buy the water when you brew

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I use a double carbon filter and campden tablet, its so low in everything i can brew a German lager and its perfect

 

[jalc6927]

Where did you get filter?

And did I read correct that Camden need to be in water for 24 hours prior to use?

 

[Braufessor]

Reverse Osmosis filters take out basically all minerals and everything from the water. Carbon filters don't take anything out in terms of minerals for the most part - they might take out chlorine or some other types of things that are undesirable in water - but they don't make "RO water." Only an RO filter will do that.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I use 2 of these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000246SMS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[outdrosman]

I use a double carbon filter and campden tablet, its so low in everything i can brew a German lager and its perfect

Do you mind sharing some more about your mineral levels? I am interested in brewing German lagers and my water is pretty low in everything but I'm not sure if it's quite low enough. My water looks like this:
Calcium: 33
Magnesium: 5
Sodium: 30
Chloride: 8.5
Sulfate: 25
Alkalinity: 130

Do you think I need to dilute with RO?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

had my water tested after the filters only so I couldn't tell you what it changes but its very low anyway, you have way too much sodium

29 7 12 13 2 114

 

[Braufessor]

Do you mind sharing some more about your mineral levels? I am interested in brewing German lagers and my water is pretty low in everything but I'm not sure if it's quite low enough. My water looks like this:
Calcium: 33
Magnesium: 5
Sodium: 30
Chloride: 8.5
Sulfate: 25
Alkalinity: 130

Do you think I need to dilute with RO?

Your sodium is "ok" - Alkalinity is high and is what is going to give you problems with brewing light colored ales, IPA's, lagers, etc.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Alkalinity drops when adding brewing salts and grain especially bigger batches of grain then calcium and acid for ph reduction, if you go through the brewers friend water calculator you can experiment

 

[Tknishi]

I will be buying mine every time I brew. And the reason I made the switch to RO when I did was that the local CVS store recently brought in a RO machine. $.50 a gallon was a great price too.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

that is good! although not so much for me I use 30 gallons every time I brew

 

[Tknishi]

Edit: Sorry double post

 

[outdrosman]

I've been experimenting with the Bru'n Water spreadsheet but I didn't notice that calcium can lower alkalinity. I can just use lactic acid to get to the right pH no matter what my alkalinity is right?

Sounds like RO is the way to go anyway and it's cheap.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

not sure how good this is I think the replacement filters might be the gotcha but this looks good
https://www.rakuten.com/shop/yescom...S_buy/?scid=em_Promotional_20171204_Dedicated

 

[outdrosman]

It's cheap and looks good. It says it doesn't remove metallic ions though which I think sodium and calcium are. I am not sure on that though.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

not sure if this is going to work since its my record but this is what I was talking about, this is an example if you add these into the source water and click update calculations look at the very bottom overall water report, now I have acid in both the mash and sparge water and i increased my calcium 50 ppm
29 7 12 13 2 114
https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=D48YDRZ

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

oh the ph is 8

 

[chris000]

Campden tablets generally serve one function in brewing beer - removing Chlorine/chloramine from tap water. If you are using RO water, you should not need to use them unless you are also using some level of tap water.

Well RO systems are not that great of removing chloramines. So (aside from adding more chemicals) once they are in there, activated carbon is a better option IMO. Problem is that not all activated carbon filter are the same with respect to chloramines. It is basically a catalytic reaction (leaving more chloride in the water).
A non-acclimated cheap filter might require a bed contact time of 10min!
Problem is little under the sink filters just have a bit over half a liter of carbon, i.e. 3-4l/h if you want to stay on the super cheap/super safe side

 

[Br3w4u]

not sure how good this is I think the replacement filters might be the gotcha but this looks good
https://www.rakuten.com/shop/yescom...S_buy/?scid=em_Promotional_20171204_Dedicated

This is just a filter. Not a reverse osmosis filter. Your ionic concentrations would not change much but you would effectively remove chlorine and pesticides as well as other impurities.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

yes kind of what I thought too

 

[Br3w4u]

I bought two 5 gallon jugs of purified water from Walmart and just kept the empty jugs. Now the day before I brew I take the jugs to Walmart and fill them at the RO machine for 37 cents per gallon. Cheap and easy.

 

[jalc6927]

Is Ro and distilled the same

 

[Braufessor]

I bought two 5 gallon jugs of purified water from Walmart and just kept the empty jugs. Now the day before I brew I take the jugs to Walmart and fill them at the RO machine for 37 cents per gallon. Cheap and easy.

^^^ This is what I do as well.

 

[Yooper]

Is Ro and distilled the same

No, but close enough that it doesn't make a difference.

 

[Braufessor]

Is Ro and distilled the same

For "practical" brewing purposes, yes. RO will have minimal levels of various minerals - but very low, close to none. Distilled should basically be "0."

 

[Braufessor]

Well RO systems are not that great of removing chloramines. So (aside from adding more chemicals) once they are in there, activated carbon is a better option IMO. Problem is that not all activated carbon filter are the same with respect to chloramines. It is basically a catalytic reaction (leaving more chloride in the water).
A non-acclimated cheap filter might require a bed contact time of 10min!
Problem is little under the sink filters just have a bit over half a liter of carbon, i.e. 3-4l/h if you want to stay on the super cheap/super safe side

True - Generally though, if one is buying RO water in the store, or installing RO filter, there is a Carbon prefilter. So, RO filtration does not usually happen in the absence of Carbon filtering as well. I was more pointing out that campden tablets are not a "solution" in place of RO filtering if high mineral content is the issue.

 

[chris000]

True - Generally though, if one is buying RO water in the store, or installing RO filter, there is a Carbon prefilter. So, RO filtration does not usually happen in the absence of Carbon filtering as well. I was more pointing out that campden tablets are not a "solution" in place of RO filtering if high mineral content is the issue.

well the reason for the carbon filter is to reduce the chlorine, that is correct. but the goal here is primarily to protect the RO membrane. Larger RO systems use bisulfite dosing instead. Chloramine is not such a big deal for RO membranes (well unless you have a Cu2+ source that catalyzes the Chloramine, but that's an entire different discussion).
What I'm trying to say, the amount of Chloramine in RO water you get from the corner store might vary depending on the system and the source water...

 

[MaryB]

I bought an RO filter from these guys http://www.buckeyehydro.com/premium-ro-systems/ the 100gallon per day RO cartridge which is more like 40 GPD with my cold water and only 40PSI water pressure. It will pay for itself in a year. But I do brew 2-3 times a month(myself or friends using my rig to brew for themselves, they chip in on equipment costs). They sell a LOT to home brewers and I believe they are a forum sponsor. Very responsive to questions!

Advantage of RO or distilled water... you can build your brewing water to match the style AND location that style comes from!