11 replies to this topic

[Thirsty]

I really enjoy the ice cold stinging bite of cold soda, and sometimes take a slug before I go to bed, or even if I get up at night, it has almost become an addiction. Seems to give that purely quenching sensation. However I realize it is probably not the best and healthy act to be doing.So I have been playing around with some homemade soda lately, and made some ginger ales and root beers. Once I realized how easy it is to carb a bottle with the carbonator cap, I figured I would just carb up some plain old tap water, to remedy me of these late night unhealthy cravings. My tap water naturally tastes fine, and I have never felt there are any off flavors. When I brew I pass it through a pur filter, and I load my HLT the night before allowing for evap overnight. (been using the campden lately too)So I tried my carbonated tap water, and it tastes pretty horrible! I have extremely soft water, but I get a very minerally, almost salty off flavor from it, definitely does not taste neutral. So my curiousity is asking if this flavor is coming from the water, or from the CO2? I realize carbonation provides more surface area and enhances flavor that maybe could not previously be detected. If it is the water, I am wondering if I am carrying that over into beer flavors, or if it is the CO2, is that also present in the beer, but because the water is so flavorless the CO2 stands right out? So I am going to brew tomorrow, I will take a sample of the filtered, campdened, overnight water, and carb that up tomorrow, then do a side by side, and see if there is any difference.Any preliminary predictions of where this flavor is coming from?

[Patrick C.]

It's coming from both- plain carbonated water is nasty. There's nothing wrong with your water or your CO2. There's no real flavor, you're just tasting some sour and bitter from the dissolved CO2.

[Fatman]

I was just thinking about this yesterday, as I saw how much mineral water costs in the grocery store.Has anyone tried making their own mineral water?

[MolBasser]

Its your CO2We taste water with CO2 from our recovery plant all the time, and the dearated water that we use to push beer around is carbonated.If your water tastes fine, and then you carbonate it and it tastes like crap, the flavor is coming from your CO2.MolBasser

[MakeMeHoppy]

Got this from a soda website:Club soda and seltzer water are essentially interchangeable. Strictly, seltzer is just water and carbon dioxide (made by pressurizing water with CO2) and club soda may have some other minerals added (like salt). It's more like the difference between Aquafina and Dasani: yeah, there's a difference, but nobody really cares.So carbing water should not taste nasty. Drink some club or unflavored seltzer and see if you get the same off taste. I was going to do this myself because my wife goes though a ton of seltzer but she is afraid she'll catch some disease from homemade seltzer.Final thought, add a little lemon or lime juice to see if you like that better.

[MakeMeHoppy]

Basser got in before me:Basser, if there a flavor in the co2 causing the problem OR just the fact that the water is carbonated that makes you more sensitive to the flavor?

[denny]

I was just thinking about this yesterday, as I saw how much mineral water costs in the grocery store.Has anyone tried making their own mineral water?

I guess so....my water has minerals in it and I carbonate it....

[AiredAle]

I started making my own carbonated water since I was watching how much San Pelligrino my wife was swilling down. So, I tried it - 30 psi CO2 in my well water which is high bicarb and 80 ppm Ca, in a corny keg. She loved it, and I like it too. But, I used an experienced beer line to dispense it, and she complained about the funny tastes from time to time. Seems like the water sitting in the line was extracting the flavors out of the line. So, now we flush the line before filling a glass, and it's fine. And the line is getting lighter and lighter in color...

[No Party JKor]

To me, seltzer water tastes like crap, so I don't I'll be much help here.

[BrewerGeorge]

Easiest way to tell for sure is to get some distilled/RO water and try carbing that.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

To me, seltzer water tastes like crap, so I don't I'll be much help here.

+1

[Stout_fan]

Your water sounds like it was not deaerated. I did some from by BK and chilled / carbed it. Have yet to actually taste it.Could be your water source, it wasn't sanitary.The crazy side of me wonders what would happen if you pressurized it with methane.Would it really taste like....Oh well, you get the idea.