So I need about 20+ gallons of water.

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pjewell

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So I am brewing a couple of big batches of beer. I need about 20 gallons of water. Problem is that water is a lil bit expensive when buying spring water at 1.25 a bottle.

I do however have a 8 stage Reverse Osmosis / De-ionize water purifing filter. I make water at zero tds. I can produce 80 gallons per day of Very pure water. Is there something I can add to that water to reconstitute into "spring like water"?
 
Get 1 or 2 5 gallon culligan bottles from wal-mart. The bottle is around 10, and the water is at $0.33 per gallon. Tastes great, but they suck to lug up 2 flights of stairs. And No, I wouldn't suggest trying them out as carboys.
 
I am brewing a blue moon clone. And a strawberry ale. Using 2 row and white wheat.

No I don't trust my water. I live in NOLA. So I am down river from the Mississippi. All your poop in the north comes down here.
 
I buy the RO (reverse osmosis) water at the grocery store for 39 cents a gallon. Our home well water has a ton of dissolved iron and calcium, making it unsuitable for brewing. I won't own a RO unit of my own, because I won't waste the amount of water that is inherent in operating any RO unit. I tote it around in 5 gal. Coleman plastic containers. The Coleman is durable and has a handle that makes it easy to carry. I have been brewing 3 years, and have always had good luck with RO water. There's a certain amount of nonsensical opinion floating around the homebrew forums that states that RO water is unsuitable for brewing. It works fine for me, and if I'm doing a style that requires additions, e.g., Burton salts for an ESB, well, then, I just add it......
 
pjewell said:
I am brewing a blue moon clone. And a strawberry ale. Using 2 row and white wheat.

No I don't trust my water. I live in NOLA. So I am down river from the Mississippi. All your poop in the north comes down here.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I probably wouldn't either.
 
rico567 said:
I buy the RO (reverse osmosis) water at the grocery store for 39 cents a gallon. Our home well water has a ton of dissolved iron and calcium, making it unsuitable for brewing. I won't own a RO unit of my own, because I won't waste the amount of water that is inherent in operating any RO unit. I tote it around in 5 gal. Coleman plastic containers. The Coleman is durable and has a handle that makes it easy to carry. I have been brewing 3 years, and have always had good luck with RO water. There's a certain amount of nonsensical opinion floating around the homebrew forums that states that RO water is unsuitable for brewing. It works fine for me, and if I'm doing a style that requires additions, e.g., Burton salts for an ESB, well, then, I just add it......
Click to expand...

Right. I heard that RO is not good for beers for there lack of minerals. I am thinking about just pulling off the RO unit and running it through the carbon. I can keep the lead and heavy metals out and minerals in.

Anyone rejects that?
 
pjewell said:
Right. I heard that RO is not good for beers for there lack of minerals. I am thinking about just pulling off the RO unit and running it through the carbon. I can keep the lead and heavy metals out and minerals in.

Anyone rejects that?
Click to expand...

Sounds good. Make use of existing equipment wherever possible is my motto.
 
Ew. New Orleans water. Only thing I'll consume out of Louisiana is the crawfish! (and thats sometimes a gamble!)

Good call with yanking off the RO unit, I think that'll be best in the long run. Good luck with the brews!
 
MyNameIsPaul said:
Ew. New Orleans water. Only thing I'll consume out of Louisiana is the crawfish! (and thats sometimes a gamble!)

Good call with yanking off the RO unit, I think that'll be best in the long run. Good luck with the brews!
Click to expand...

Not only I brew my own. I catch my own crawfish.
 
pjewell said:
No I don't trust my water. I live in NOLA. So I am down river from the Mississippi. All your poop in the north comes down here.
Click to expand...

Gross. I hate New Orleans water. Good thing Baton Rouge has excellent tasting water that is consistently ranked in the top in the country.
 
RO water is great to brew with! Just add a teaspoon of calcium chloride to each batch if you feel you need to mess with it. Or, read the first post in the "water chemistry primer" linked to above and you'll be all set!
 
Thanks for all the replies. I forgot all about brewing salts. I never used them before. I just want to make sure my mash pH is straight. I mean buying 8 gallons of spring water is fine but I am looking at 20 or so. Kinda makes things expensive.

I re read some john palmers book on brewing salts. So I am straight now.
 

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