Water is, arguably, the most important ingredient in brewing. In addition to making up over 90% of a bier’s volume, water plays an important part in the flavor of bier. Differences in mineral content, ions, and alkalinity can significantly affect the way a bier tastes, and bier brewers have used this to their advantage for centuries. For example, the soft (low-mineral) water of Pilsen, Czech Republic, played a large part in the invention of the Czech Pilsner, as this type of water allows subtle flavors to shine through. By contrast, hard water (high-mineral content) can help balance out the acidity of dark malts, and is often used in brewing dark, bitter biers like Irish Stouts or English Bitters.
Rainfall Causes Change in Kansas City Water
Last week, Kansas City experienced heavy rainfall, and Kansas Citians started noticed a strange odor and flavor in their water. “It tasted extra chemically with extra minerals,” said a Kansas City resident for an article from KCUR. “It doesn’t taste bad, it just had a different taste.” KC Water soon took to social media to clarify that the difference in taste and odor in the water was due to significant runoff in the Missouri River, the area’s water source. This runoff brought along ammonia and other chemicals from surrounding farmland topsoil. KC Water Utility Operations Manager Jarreck Lucke assured the public that the water was safe to drink, and in the meantime, KC Water scientists worked to find a combination of additive treatments to mitigate the affects on the water’s flavor (Azim, KCUR, 2025).
Because water is one of the main ingredients in bier, we saw discussions pop up online about local breweries and how they would be affected. “Is the bier brewed during this time going to taste weird, too?”
The short answer? No. Here’s why:
Charcoal Filtering & Overnight Rest
While all brewing water used at KC Bier Co comes directly from municipal Kansas City Water, it makes a couple of stops in the brewery before it is used in bier.
24/7 and 365 days a year, our brewing water passes through a large charcoal filter before entering any brewing equipment. Charcoal filtering is extremely effective in removing unwanted colors, odors, and any chlorine from water. In addition to this step, all water used in each batch of bier spends the night in a Hot Liquor Tank at a high temperature (80°C or 176°F). This prolonged hot rest will volatilize and precipitate out most other unwanted chemicals that may remain, making the water even better suited for brewing.
While we trust our systems in place, our brewing team ran additional tests on water from the Hot Liquor Tank during this time, and detected no perceptible odors or flavors. So, it was business as usual in the brewhouse!
Commitment to quality control is a commitment to consistency. Regulating the water that goes into bier is just one of many steps that KC Bier Co takes every day to ensure that all bier that reaches your lips is of the highest quality possible.
Additional References:
Azim, B. (2025, July 1). Kansas City water expected to be odorless and back to normal by Wednesday, officials say. KCUR – Kansas City News and NPR. https://www.kcur.org/news/2025-07-01/kansas-city-water-expected-to-be-odorless-and-back-to-normal-by-wednesday-officials-say
