03/11/2022
How Filtered Water Improves Beer Quality/Taste
There's a reason it's called craft beer — there's a lot of craft in the brewing process. You need the highest quality ingredients, from the hops to the water. Any old water simply won't do. You need water that tastes great and doesn't have high mineral content that messes with the flavor. Using a water filter for beer making is one way to ensure your next brew comes out just the way you want it.
How Does Water Affect the Taste of Beer?
The mineral content of your water can affect any drink you prepare at home, including coffee. Home-brewed beer is no different. If you're using regular tap water, you have to worry about the hardness of the water. Hard water has higher amounts of dissolved calcium and magnesium, two minerals that can affect the beer’s taste.
That said, having hard water isn't always bad for beer. In fact, for a typical pale ale, you want 50mg/L to 150mg/L of calcium. For magnesium, it can range anywhere from 0 mg/L to 30 mg/L.
Alkalinity is also an important quality for brewing. You want water that's not too alkaline, meaning you don't want it to have too much carbonate. Generally, it's best to have at least 150 ppm of calcium carbonate in your water for the best mix of complex flavor.
What Type of Water is Ideal for Your Home Brew?
While you'll likely want to avoid using water softeners for your beer, you'll still want some kind of water treatment. It's vital to make sure problematic contaminants, like manganese or iron, are filtered out of the water. These can mess with your beer's flavors.
That said, buying bottled or distilled water is also not a good choice. When water is distilled, it's boiled and condensed, which removes the minerals you need to start the fermentation process.
Your best bet? Filtered tap water. With a good filtration system from Pentair, you can reduce levels of many of the most common contaminants, including lead, chlorine, VOCs, and mercury.
Different Types of Water Filtration Systems for Home Brewing
Wondering what the best water filtration systems for brewing are? We have a couple of options that can help take your beer to the next level. Start with a water test to see what kind of filtration system you need.
Reverse Osmosis
Using reverse osmosis water for brewing beer is an excellent choice because it results in great-tasting water. It collects contaminants by using a semipermeable membrane. Water can pass through it, but unwanted molecules can't. The result? Water confidence. In particular, Pentair's reverse osmosis water systems can reduce up to 98% of contaminants for beer that ends up tasting great.
Not sure what system to choose? We've got you covered:
- Good: FreshPoint 3-Stage RO system — Offers chlorine taste and odor reduction, contaminant and impurity reduction, and better tasting water.
- Better: FreshPoint 4-Stage RO system — Offers chlorine taste and odor reduction, contaminant and impurity reduction, twin carbon block protection, and better tasting water.
- Best: FreshPoint 5-Stage RO system — Offers chlorine taste and odor reduction, contaminant and impurity reduction, twin carbon block protection, volatile organic chemical filtration, and better tasting water.
Carbon Filters
On the other hand, carbon filters are an excellent option if your water is highly chlorinated. Chlorine is great for disinfecting water, but it can leave behind a foul taste and odor. Not cool if you're trying to craft an award-winning IPA. Carbon filters from Pentair use coconut-shell-based carbon to reduce chlorine levels and provide you peace of mind.
Make sure your next brewing session is set up for success. Choose one of Pentair's undersink and countertop filtration solutions. They'll help you reduce expensive, wasteful single plastic bottle consumption. All while delivering water that tastes great. Trust in Pentair. Make sure your next brewing session is set up for success. Choose one of Pentair's undersink and countertop filtration solutions. They'll help you reduce expensive, wasteful single plastic bottle consumption. All while delivering water that tastes great. Trust in Pentair.