Question about Water

[Odangdude]

Hi, i'm very new to this website; my friend and I are looking into brewing some beer and have pretty much no experience.

i've been reading about how water chemistry affects brewing and don't really know what to do. I found the water report from my city and it did not include everything listed on this site. It really only had Cl, Na.. not even pH which is kind of weird.

Anyway, Im wondering if it would be better just to use bottled water and adjust its concentrations, cause the water companies have their specs on their websites. And this site was saying to dilute the tap water with adjust from there.. so idk

Also another question... Does using a gas burner vs and electric stove stop make a difference? Im tempted to buy a burner, but want to know if its worth it

Sorry if this is an easy question, I just havent been able to find an answer

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

to start out buy some Campden Tablets, use your city water and brew on!!

the burner is more power but not necessary unless you have a bigger pot, so what it your pot size

 

[Odangdude]

I haven't bought a pot yet. The lady at the store was saying a 20 qt pot would be good to start out with, but that sounds a little small to me.

 

[GernBlanston]

Brew some beer.

Taste it.

Then worry about your water.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

if you buy a propane burner don't buy anything smaller than a 10 gallon pot, after you start getting into brewing more; you'll be hooked and want more and more bigger and bigger.......wait thats just me lol

I suggest you start out with a 5 gallon cheap pot on the stove, brew a few kits before you get too carried away....like me

 

[Nosybear]

20 quarts is not a big enough pot. 40 is getting into the right realm, assuming you plan on eventually doing full boils. I use my 20 quart pot to heat water now and boil in a 9 gallon pot and it's not quite big enough....

On water: Brew a few batches with it. If you don't get off flavors, don't worry about it. I use an activated charcoal RV water filter to strip the bit of chloramine our water has in it and haven't had off-flavor problems. You should be able to get the complete water report from your city water works - they're required by law to report a lot more than chlorine. Call them, ask to speak with one of the engineers, you should be able to get the important stuff which is calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, sulfate, hardness (be sure you find out what units are used) and carbonate. Anything else in a negative range would show up as a flavor, for example, blood-like for excessive iron.