Water quality and phenols: what to do?!

[smbenn]

Hi All

My latest AG brew was practically ruined by the overriding medicinal bouqet (TCP, etc) which I assume is phenols due to the water quality. Is this due to excess chlorine (which I didn't boil off first), water hardness, both or something else entirely? (I'm pretty scrupulous about sterlisation so hopefully I can rule out bacterial infection.)

As we get our water filtered through the South Downs (I live in Brighton) I'm assuming the water will be chalky and pretty hard. Went to the Southern Water website and they supply an analysis (see below).

So folks, what should I do? Boil the water beforehand and chuck in a Camden tablet at some point? I haven't measured the Ph of the water yet. Please let me know what to do, in very easy to follow instructions!

Cheers
Si

----
Average hardness of source:
CaCO3 219
Ca mg/l °87.6
Clarke 15.33
°French 21.9
°German 12.26
-----
Full Report:

ALDRIN ug/l 0.03 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
DIELDRIN ug/l 0.03 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
GAMMA HCH ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
OP'- DDT ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
PP'- DDT ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
PP'- DDE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
PP'- DDD (TDE) ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
HEPTACHLOR EPOXIDE ug/l 0.03 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
PENTACHLOROPHENOL ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.009 < 0.009 < 0.009
HEXACHLOROBUTADIENE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
TRIFLURALIN ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
DIFLUFENICAN ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
CHLORTHAL DIMETHYL ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
TOTAL PCB ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.035 < 0.035 < 0.035
ATRAZINE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.002 < 0.005 0.007
SIMAZINE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.009 < 0.009 < 0.009
PROMETRYN ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.002 < 0.002 < 0.002
PROPAZINE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.004 < 0.004 < 0.004
TRIETAZINE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
TERBUTRYN ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
FLUTRIAFOL ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.004 < 0.004 < 0.004
CHLORTOLURON ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
ISOPROTURON ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
LINURON ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.004 < 0.004 < 0.004
DIURON ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.005 < 0.005 < 0.005
CARBETAMIDE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
METHABENZTHIAZURON ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
MCPA ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.009 < 0.009 < 0.009
MCPB ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.011 < 0.011 < 0.011
2,4-D ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.011 < 0.011 < 0.011
MECOPROP ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
DICHLORPROP ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
DICAMBA ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.013 < 0.013 < 0.013
TRICLOPYR ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.015 < 0.015 < 0.015
PIRIMICARB ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.002 < 0.002 < 0.002
BENDIOCARB ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
BENTAZONE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
BROMOXYNIL ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
CHLORFENVINPHOS ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.009 < 0.009 < 0.009
CLOPYRALID ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.02 < 0.02 0.03
DIAZINON ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
FLUOROXYPYR ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
GLYPHOSATE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
HEPTACHLOR ug/l 0.03 8 < 0.003 < 0.003 < 0.003
IPRODIONE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
IOXYNIL ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
BENAZOLIN ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
PROPYZAMIDE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
TRIALLATE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
MALATHION ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01
ENDOSULPHAN (ALPHA) ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.005 < 0.005 < 0.005
BENOMYL ug/l 0.1 8 < 0 < 0 < 0
CYANAZINE ug/l 0.1 8 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01

[staplefordbill]

Hi smbenn,

My sympathies are with you. I had to chuck away 5 gallons of my latest brew due to dodgy tap water so I know how it feels.

I'm not an expert but I know half a Campden tablet will neutralise the chlorine and chloramine which can react with wort to make chlorophenols and spoil your brew. You'll want quarter of the tablet for the mash liquor, the other quarter added to the sparge liquor. Stir it in and leave it to work for 15 minutes each time to react. You can crush the tablet between two spoons.

Softness / hardness of water is a bit of an umbrella term. It's the alkalinity of the water which is important for determining mash pH, but I don't think it affects clorophenols.

[smbenn]

Hooray! AG#3 conditioning nicely and not a single hint of TCP/plasters! Get in. Two things I did: boiled my liquor for 15 mins first AND added half a campden tablet - both to drive off the chlorine. Cheers Bill et al.

[Dr. Dextrin]

You don't really need to boil to remove chlorine/chloramine - the campden tablets will do that on their own. That's how to get rid of the TCP taste.

Boiling does help quite a bit, however if you have a lot of temporary hardness in your water (as seems likely from where you live). This can lead to harshness in the beer. After boiling, let the water cool and rack it off the chalk that should settle out.

[smbenn]

Cheers Dr, I sit corrected. Knew that boiling it did something though, and as I need to get it up to strike temp, I didn't see the harm in taking it beyond that first.

(You did lose me a bit on your last bit though - when and how does the racking off take place?) Cheers.

[Dr. Dextrin]

When you boil, you drive off carbon dioxide. This has the effect of converting bicarbonates (which cause temporary hardness) into carbonates - like calcium carbonate (or chalk). As I understand it, the carbonates are fairly insoluble, but tend to be somewhat more soluble in hot water. This means it's best to let the water cool after boiling so they precipitate out and you can then rack them off. If they remain in the water, they'll affect the mash pH, which is what can cause harshness.

So boiling and then cooling to mash temperature will do some good, but boiling and then cooling to room temperature and racking will do better. Of course, whether this is all worthwhile depends on how bad your water is to start with. You probably need to experiment.