Using tap water and not enough

[JasBeaverBank]

Hey all, total newbie to following anything but the most basic directions here. I did a search and didn't see anything in the first page of results concerning my questions.

I have been making Fiesta kits for the last year and have loved them. Moved from bottles to a keg system since Christmas (gift for myself with the wife's permission). Never had any trouble so I figured I better mix it up and got one of the canned kits at Noble Grape and their liquid sugar mix with the hops added. I was thinking it would be close to the Blonde Fiesta I normally make, but enough of a change that I may be motivated to be more adventurous in the future.

I probably should have read more......

So I probably used about 3 litres too little water that I didn't realize until I went to transfer to my secondary (Please note, I bulk age my brews so the beer stays in the carboy about 2 months before it hits the keg). At that point I got concerned and started with the Google where I discovered that TAP WATER IS THE DEVIL!

I'm out in Beaver Bank on city water, how concerned should I be?
Band-aid smell?
Dump it?
Who cares about the water, you needed to add more water!!
or
Hold out and keg it, C02 is cheap and there isn't any bottling so if it sucks I can dump it in the toilet where it belongs?

I don't ask so much for this kit, but more to plan for the next one. Don't want to repeat mistakes of this batch.

Thanks for any help and suggestions

[CartoonCod]

What did you discover that is bad about tap water? As long as you boil the water it should be fine for beer. It might not be the absolute best water to make beer, but chances are it will be ok. If it's the chlorine you can add campden tablets or boil it to get the chlorine out.

I'm in Bedford and use city tap water in my beers and they turn out fine.

[Keith]

I'm on the same water. With 3 liters less topped up you will just have a higher abv beer. Nothing to worry about.

If you ever want to sit in on an all grain session. Let me know.

[GuingesRock]

I don't see any worry about being 3 litres short. Brewing is often like that. It will be something else next time. Often these things improve the beer. The guy who invented late hopping forgot to put his hops in, and threw them in all at the end when he finally remembered.

[LiverDance]

Hold out and keg it, C02 is cheap and there isn't any bottling so if it sucks I can dump it in the toilet where it belongs?

I see this as your best option, our water isn't that bad. I used to top up wine kits from my tap water and they turned out fine.

[bluenose]

there's a festa kit hack recipe that calls for half the water addition. I think those kits call for 8L of water IIRC, so only adding 5 of the 8 wouldn't be a problem at all. Makes for a less watered down beer

[JasBeaverBank]

Thanks everyone, less stressed now.

Cod, I didn't boil, that was my discovery.... Not sure why I didn't think of that. Next time I will fill the primary the day before and let it sit to disperse the chlorine.

[Keith]

Thanks everyone, less stressed now.

Cod, I didn't boil, that was my discovery.... Not sure why I didn't think of that. Next time I will fill the primary the day before and let it sit to disperse the chlorine.

If you are doing half boils and topping up, you should be fine. I've never had a chlorine flavor in any of my beers this way and we are on the same water supply.

[GasMD30]

I use tap water

[GuingesRock]

You can also plumb in a carbon filter to get the chlorine out, and run the water through it slowly. This is what I have: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/rainf ... 1025p.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This will also remove chloramine.