Water is the most important ingredient when it comes to brewing, so how does brewing with tap water affect your beer, and is it safe to brew with?

One of the most common water questions that we get is, can I use tap water?

Most people don’t want to run out and buy filtered water for brew day or as we learned earlier this year it may be hard to come by bottled water sometimes.

So, you can use tap water on your brew day. A general rule of thumb is if you drink your tap water than you can brew with your tap water.

However, if you have water that is high in chlorine than we would suggest not to brew with it. Chlorine is added to water in treatment facilities to make it portable and safe to drink. But chlorine can have negative effects on your beer.

According to our Brewmaster and resident brewing scientist Ashely, chlorine can bond with low molecular malts to create “Chlorophenols”.

These will translate a flavor to your beer which will taste like medicine or band-aids. Which no one wants in their beer!

If you want to be safe on brew day, then make sure you have good quality water. Use either bottled spring or drinking water or you can use filter water in your house. We use RO water in our brew room.

So to sum it up, you can use tap water but beware of high levels of chlorine that is in your water.

Cheers,

Robert