Experiences with High Iron's Effect on Beer Clarity, Yeast, Flavor?

[Dornbox]

So I'm in a new house with awesome ridiculously soft, makes Pilsen water look hard, well water... minus the fact that the iron level is around 0.15ppm which I've always know was over the recommended max 0.1ppm for brewing. It's generally not enough to taste in my beers (usually) so I ignored it while battling with clarity, yeast performance, and often a lack of perceived malt flavor in my beers. I also built a new seriously upgraded brewery when we moved so I had no solid direction to look. Many things I have been able to overcome by endlessly reading and tweaking my water chems, PH, pre treating mash water, changing processes etc. but I've never fully solved my issues.

Then this AM I was reading online some excerpts from a well known brewing book that mentions high iron and its effects on tannin extraction, yeast health, and other issues. I'm now convinced that the iron level is my problem. I've been fairly sure there was something going on with my water that my lab reports did not check for but now I'm thinking that that that might not be true. I have recently started cutting my well water with distilled in my last few batches but those are all in the fermentors still and I don't think that I used enough to get my iron below 0.1ppm anyway, assuming that it's wasn't over the 0.15ppm that was measured a few years ago.

Any way, has anyone dealt with this before and had similar issues? It's probably going to be a month or more before I can truly test this. I need to re a firm that i can still make clear super tasty beverages before I go freaking nuts.

@Nosybear ? You seem the have experience with all things esoteric to brewing! lol

Thanks

 

[Minbari]

I would try a batch of beer you have made many times, but entirely with bottled water and see if all the issues you have go away.

the water here is SOOO hard that I dont even bother with it. carbonate and calcium is off the charts. walmart has great water dispencers from Pure water company.

 

[Dornbox]

Never thought about Wallmart! I feel like I use to see those water dispensers at every grocery store when I was younger. I can't remember seeing one in a grocery store for a long time. Then again I grew up in Southern California. Maine doesnt have the water issues that California does.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[GFHomebrew]

You can boil your brew liquor apparently and the iron will drop to the bottom of the kettle then rack this boiled liquor off the top of the settled iron and then use this liquor to brew with.

Hey not me man I herd it on YouTube Dr Hans has high iron in his lake near his house I'll look for the video I saw it on.

Sounds like a lot of faffing about...

OK maybe this isn't iron but reducing alkalinity which you dont have issues with anyhow good luck with it

 

[Ward Chillington]

$20 at walmart...plus is the iron really that noticeable? Do you taste that bloody taste when you drink it? .15 ppm is just .1 taken to 2 decimal places right?

https://www.camco.net/tastepure-kdf-carbon-water-filter-filter-with-hose-protector-bilingual-40013

 

[Dornbox]

@Trialben I like that Dr Hans Guy! Lol. Although I have pre boiled my water and don't get any precipitation out of it.
@Ward Chillington that's 50% over the max ppm by my reading! I don't get too much of what I consider to be off flavors (light beers when ice cold they can be perceivable) but I certainly get other negatives that can be associated with high iron, like chill haze that I cannot get rid of with fines and I have to really have everything on point to get my yeast to perform.

I did end up purchasing an Iron & Manganese filter last night which is cheaper than an RO filter and free from all of the other things you have to deal with when using an RO setup, mainly being waste water and slow flow rates. We shall see if this is the silver bullet to my troubles but it will be 4-5 weeks before I can even get my first batch ready. That is why I was really hoping someone else here had been through this or something similar just to give me some piece of mind.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Our water is horrible at home. When I was first learning, I got the tip to use spring water. I only brew 5-gallon batches, so it isn't stupid expensive. The Publix spring water works very well for just about everything I have tried.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

That iron level is pretty low. I have not heard of above .1 ppm being too high before, where did you get this information?

The other thing you could do is to add a chelation agent like Brewtan B. It will help drop any metals out of the water, but I'm not sure you have a problem with your water. It's sound really good. I wish mine were that good.

Iron or metallic flavors can come from yeast autolysis. Sometimes people describe as "meaty" or has a taste of blood.

 

[Megary]

This is stolen from Bru'n Water's water knowledge section.
General 5 | Bru'n Water (brunwater.com)

Iron may be tasted in water at concentrations of greater than 0.3 parts per million (ppm or mg/L) which may also be reported as 300 parts per billion (ppb or µg/L). Iron has a very metallic taste that is easily conveyed into the finished beer. Popular guidance says that the iron content of brewing water should be below 0.1 ppm to avoid tasting it in beer. Rust-colored deposits on plumbing fixtures may be an indicator of elevated iron content in water. Even in the absence of metallic flavor, iron in brewing water can produce a Fenton reaction that can oxidize beer and reduce its life.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

This is stolen from Bru'n Water's water knowledge section.
General 5 | Bru'n Water (brunwater.com)

Iron may be tasted in water at concentrations of greater than 0.3 parts per million (ppm or mg/L) which may also be reported as 300 parts per billion (ppb or µg/L). Iron has a very metallic taste that is easily conveyed into the finished beer. Popular guidance says that the iron content of brewing water should be below 0.1 ppm to avoid tasting it in beer. Rust-colored deposits on plumbing fixtures may be an indicator of elevated iron content in water. Even in the absence of metallic flavor, iron in brewing water can produce a Fenton reaction that can oxidize beer and reduce its life.

I learned something today! Boy, does my water suck, more than I realized. I guess that’’s another good reason to use RO.

 

[Dornbox]

@HighVoltageMan! Megary’s quote is pretty close to what I got. I believe I found it in an excerpt from a Greg Norman book. It used 0.1 as a hard number though and talked about the irons effects in yeast, tannins, and chill haze.

 

[Donoroto]

Maybe a big magnet?

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

@HighVoltageMan! Megary’s quote is pretty close to what I got. I believe I found it in an excerpt from a Greg Norman book. It used 0.1 as a hard number though and talked about the irons effects in yeast, tannins, and chill haze.

I don’t doubt that iron is a problem but I’ve brew with at least 2ppm of iron without chill haze problems. I didn’t like the beer, it was harsh, but very clear.

 

[Nosybear]

Never thought about Wallmart! I feel like I use to see those water dispensers at every grocery store when I was younger. I can't remember seeing one in a grocery store for a long time. Then again I grew up in Southern California. Maine doesnt have the water issues that California does.

Thanks,
Chris

Those water dispensers are simply RO water. Great for brewing!