Tap vs Stream

[adeybambam]

I'm about to start AG brewing and want to avoid water treatment as much as possible until I'm confident with the AG process. My question is when brewing my first batch should i use my tap water (Guiseley, Leeds, LS20), or water taken from my parents house which comes straight off Longridge Fell (Nr Chipping, Lancs, BB7)? My parent's water is tested every year to ensure the filters etc are all working well so no worries there. Not sure, however, whether it is soft or hard and have no idea of the stone in the area. I'm thinking ity will still be preferable due to the lack of additives such as chlorine etc. Any help appreciated....

[sib67]

I'm only a few miles away from you - LS17. You'll get good results with your tap water. Just add a crushed campden tablet to your HLT to remove chlorine / chloramines.

I also add 1/2 teaspoon of gypsum to the mash, and another 1/2 teaspoon to the boil (I actually use 1 teaspoon, but I brew 10 gallon batches).

[chris_reboot]

don't know about stream water - I'd be worried about dead sheep upstream etc! , but joking aside, if that's what your parents drink anyway, I'm sure it'd be fine.

TBH though, unless you're looking into water treatment, either will be fine (sheep permitting!) in respect of they are both equally unknown in terms of water profile.

Yes, tap water will have chlorine in it, but at least it is rigorously tested to comply with standards, so I'd go with that (especially also as its at your home), but I'd add 1/2 crushed campden tablet to it first, and leave to stand before using it.

same goes for kit brewing as AG brewing in this respect.

long-term, investigate the water (by water analysis or water company website info) and treat accordingly.
hard waters can be good for dark beers/bitters.

short-term, just rid the chlorine and you'll make great AG beer I'm sure!

[leedsbrew]

Ey up matey. I live and brew in Guiseley. I've been AG brewing with Guiseley water for about a year adding nothing more than a campden tab to the water, and getting some great beer out of the other end.

Water treatment is not as scarry as you think once someone has gone through it with you
I'd be happy to go though the basics with you if you want.
I've just started out with water treatment over the last 3-4 brews or so a d would defo recommend it for AG. You can get all the analysis you need from the Yorkshire water website apart from total alkalinity

[adeybambam]

Cheers for the help chaps and also the offer of assistance. I think I'll just use tap water initially and follow the advice about Campden / Gypsum. Once I've got a few brews under my belt I may investigate further.

Thanks again.