179 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

mashing in and my strike water seems to be turning the same color.

 

I also confirmed that they haven't recently flushed the pipes in my area.

[matt6150]

What kind of beer this time? Curious if you notice the green during the entire brew session all the way into the fermenter.

[neddles]

So are we assuming then that iron is/ has been a regular part of your brewing water?

Edited by neddles, 15 November 2016 - 07:14 PM.

[Big Nake]

So are we assuming then that iron is/ has been a regular part of your brewing water?

Are we sure it's iron or is copper a possible culprit?

[neddles]

Are we sure it's iron or is copper a possible culprit?

Yeah, that's part of what I am asking. Are we just assuming its iron? Sounds like there is some credible evidence for this but I guess I dont know for sure. Did it show up on his wards test?

[Big Nake]

I thought I remember his water being really soft and I thought he said that is iron and copper were really low like < .001 or < .003 or some crazy low level. Could it be the pot he's heating the water in? We just saw someone else get some blue water didn't we?

[positiveContact]

ESB this time. Srm will be 9ish.

Everything the water is touching is either ss or plastic.

My water info is just old info from the municipal supplier. Never had a ward test. My house was built around 2005 so all plumbing should be modern.

Edited by Evil_Morty, 15 November 2016 - 07:47 PM.

[neddles]

I thought I remember his water being really soft and I thought he said that is iron and copper were really low like < .001 or < .003 or some crazy low level. Could it be the pot he's heating the water in? We just saw someone else get some blue water didn't we?

I really don't know. 

 

Yeah, Darter said he had some blue water a page or two back.

 

The remaining questions I have are, assuming this is simply the tannic acid binding with metals in the water, is it removing all the metals from the water? Or is the brewtan getting used up binding to metals where it could be serving a better anti-oxidative purpose? I just don't know.

[positiveContact]

Well my Porter tastes good so far so I decided to go with it. Well see how these come out soon enough.

[Big Nake]

There is a 58-page brewtan conversation in the "ingredients" subforum on the AHA site. I know we have chemists here but there is a bit ore traffic over there and I was hoping someone may have seen this already or may be able to take a shot at what's happening. I would wonder what would happen if it the water turned green and you were making a pale helles or something. Would the color carry over?!

[Brauer]

Are we sure it's iron or is copper a possible culprit?

Cupric Tannate should appear brown. Maybe it's what makes the foam seem pink.

[positiveContact]

well just as a reminder the guy from brewtan said that my strike water looked normal.  I guess it would be interesting to know when most people are adding brewtan during their process.  it takes my water a while to turn that nasty green color.  probably 20 mins or so.  if you mash in within 10 mins of adding the brewtan you might never notice this.

[matt6150]

I never treat my strike water first. So I add water to MLT, then the grain, then brewtan and other salts/acid. Never seen any colors or pink foam here.

[matt6150]

Actually now that I say that I add all the salts and stuff with my grain as a measure it out and add it to the grain bucket.

[Big Nake]

I get my ~5 gallons of strike water onto the stove and start heating. Then I add the acid, CaCl and/or CaSO4 and brewtan. Then it takes about 30-40 minutes to reach the 160° or so that I'm shooting for. I'm pretty sure that the pot I'm using for this is heavy aluminum but I have never seen the water change color.

[Brauer]

Would the color carry over?!

I don't expect it to. Most of these compounds seem to be insoluble in water.

There's also a compound formed from tannic acid and formaldehyde that's red.

Edited by Brauer, 16 November 2016 - 06:49 AM.

[Darterboy]

I'm pretty sure the bucket heater is the source of iron in my water. There's actually some rust on it where the thermostat tube is welded to the heating element. If so, I've had iron in my water since I began using it and now the Brewtan is complexing with it and pulling it out of solution. So that's a good thing. I'm going to order an aquarium test kit for iron and see what it shows in my strike water before and after heating with the bucket heater.

[denny]

well just as a reminder the guy from brewtan said that my strike water looked normal.  I guess it would be interesting to know when most people are adding brewtan during their process.  it takes my water a while to turn that nasty green color.  probably 20 mins or so.  if you mash in within 10 mins of adding the brewtan you might never notice this.

 

Just brewed with it on Mon.  I have copper pipe delivering the water to my brewery.  I add Brewtan to mash and strike water in an AL pot before heating.  Absolutely no green tint here.

[positiveContact]

Just brewed with it on Mon.  I have copper pipe delivering the water to my brewery.  I add Brewtan to mash and strike water in an AL pot before heating.  Absolutely no green tint here.

 

so the iron content seems more and more likely I guess.  we do sometimes get the pink stains in the toilets which I guess is usually caused by iron.  I'm just kind of surprised since I have city water.

[Big Nake]

There is some discussion OVER HERE starting with my post near the end of the page. There have been a good 10-15 responses (many are guesses) but maybe something there would push things in a different direction. They seem pretty confident that it's NOT copper... just as Denny mentioned 2 posts ago.