We got a first timer out here boys!

[TappedOut]

My understanding is that even charcoal filtering doesn't remove all the chloramines. I just add a camden tablet because it's cheap and easy, and it's one less thing to worry about. That said, I never noticed any issues before I started that.

[carrisr]

Logan,
I hope we didn't scare you off with all of this! As you can see, we have a great deal of super useful people in the group. But in our eagerness to help I fear we may have given you too much info.

Don't worry, relax, and make some home brew! If you are brewing today and have any questions, you can call me at seven two one two four four two.

[tony b]

My two cents - yes, CR water is better than the surrounding communities. But, we still filter all of our drinking/cooking water at home. The real test for me is coffee. Nothing will kill the taste of really good coffee faster than chlorinated water. I discovered this in my travels, as I use to take my own coffee & filters with me because most hotels had crap for coffee in the rooms. But, I noticed that the coffee still came out tasting different (and not in a good way) than here at home. Bells and whistles going off!! To quote an old Coors beer commercial - It's the water!

My advice, buy a Brita (or similar) filter or install an in-line one on your faucet. It's worth the money. Cheaper in the long run than buying bottled drinking water, even by the gallon.

[Matt F]

When I started I used the 5 gallon fills from Hy-Vee. Worked very well and won a few contests with both extract an all-grain beers. Then I switched to CR tap water with no treament. Beer quality went down significantly. Now I usually put 20 gallons of CR tap water split in to two kettles the night before I brew and throw 1/2 campden tablet in each Works great and is very cheap.

[kurtford]

I have a 3 stage reverse osmosis with a 2 stage de-mineralize system for my fish tanks and my beer. It brings the water pretty close to 0 parts per million. If I remember correctly it can process between 50 to 150 gallons of water a day. If anyone is worried about the tap water you can fill up at my place if you like, 5 gallons takes about around an hour I believe or I could fill up a sanitized 6 gallon bucket for quicker pick up.

I've also heard that Cedar Rapids also ammonia in the tap water which one ppm of ammonia can kill fish, not sure what ammonia does to our beer.