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 our water testing 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.

Need some help deciding on a carbon filter? Here’s your guide:

• Good:PC-600/PC-1000 – Reduces 97% of chlorine and prevents sediment 20x smaller than a human hair from reaching your brew tanks.
• Better:PSE1800-PUV-7/PSE2000-PUV-14 – Reduces 97% of chlorine and prevents sediment 20x smaller than a human hair from reaching your brew tanks, as well as is 99.6% effective at reducing hard water effects.
• Best:PSE1800-PRO-10/PSE2000-PRO-20 – Reduces 97% of chlorine and prevents sediment 20x smaller than a human hair from reaching your brew tanks, as well as has UV disinfection to zap unwanted bacteria, pathogens, and microorganisms.

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