the_bird

Recipes 

No. Is this just filtered (not RO)? Basically, if your water tastes fine, it IS fine. The substantial majority of water in the US has a perfectly fine composition for use in brewing, so unless you want to do something like re-create Burton water, don't mess around.

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syd138

Recipes 

Shoot.. I brewed my first batch with distilled water.

So is this going to taste like crap or what?

nickhead

Recipes 

+1 for R/O and distilled water being OK for extract brewing since the minerals are in the malt. R/O water is delicious.

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Primary : Righteous American Real Ale, Random crappy Porter kit that was on sale, EdWort's Apfelwein
Secondary : Reggae Red Ale
Bottles: Cream Ale, Northern Lights IPA, Chocolate Lab Brown Ale, CA Steam Lager

the_bird

Recipes 

Yeah, they're OK but unneccesary for extract. You can't use either distilled or RO for AG brewing unless you add minerals back.

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Come join Yankee Ingenuity!

"I'm kind of toasted. But I looked at my watch and it's only 6:30 so I can't stop drinking yet." - Yooper's Bob

GroovePuppy

Recipes 

I missed this when I skimmed through John Palmer.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Water Chemistry Adjustment for Extract Brewing

"Water chemistry is fairly complex and adding salts is usually not necessary for extract brewing. Most municipal water is fine for brewing with extract and does not need adjustment. So, if you are brewing from an extract recipe that calls for the addition of gypsum or Burton salts, do not add it."

I need to buy his book. Yet another strike against the already 0 for 2 LHBS!

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Primary - I'm on a break dammit!!!!
Secondary - sold it!
Kegged - Commercial beer
Yet Another Keezer Build

Pelikan

Recipes 

Let's see, how did I rationalize the addition of minerals in the past...

Extract has had about 80% of the water removed for liquid (100% for dried). So if 3ish pounds comes in about a half gallon container, figure that represents about 2 gallons of [reconstituted] water. If you're using DME, every 3 pounds represents about 2.5 gallons...not exact numbers here, but round-about.

So lets say your recipe calls for 6 pounds of DME. That six pounds is "mineralizing" your whole 5 gallon batch, by my reckoning. LME might fall slightly short, but probably not enough to worry about.

My primary concern with adding minerals or not adding minerals is not for taste so much as yeast health. So I may not use salts in the future, but I'll most certainly be adding yeast nutrients.

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On a brewing hiatus. Will get back into the fray eventually, methinks...