Rain Water....

Has anyone ever tried to use this for mash / sparge / boil? Its coming down hard here and I am about to brew. Just curious. I am filling 5 gallon buckets now.......

It's generally not considered all that healthy around here, but I don't know about TX. I'd be keeping an eye on pH at all stages during this experiment.

I would be worried about all the polution in the rain.

I imagine the biggest concerns would be contaminants in the water that don't boil off.

Rainwater would contain all the contaminants found in the air. Acid rain also comes to mind. Course the further away from large cities and not being downwind from them would help. The real contamination would probably be in the rainwater collection system though. I think a good spring water would be better choice.

If you were to do this, i would think about running it through a britta filter, or the like, first.

I dont think PH would be that big of a deal, if you think about it, your drinking water is basically the same thing, but with bleach added, which would make it MORE acidic. They filter it through some sort of a mineral filter (same effect a brita has) and then add chlorine and floride (in some amounts).

Since you mentioned it, I was wondering if flouride might present an off taste in brewing. Don't have it here, but I once lived in Gila Bend Arizona. The water was so loaded with flouride (naturally) it turned teeth brown, but rarely did anyone get cavities. Water from the Arizona CAP is really hard with calcium and phosphates.

I hate the water in Phoenix. There is no way you can brew with it or even drink it

Beermaker said:

Has anyone ever tried to use this for mash / sparge / boil? Its coming down hard here and I am about to brew. Just curious. I am filling 5 gallon buckets now.......

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Aren't there 500 chemical plants / refineries within spitting distance of you? Might make the water taste kind of funky.

The water in Phoenix used to be better. I could tell the difference between Verde (good) river water and Salt River (bad) water. Now it all gets mixed with Colorado River water from the CAP. And that water comes from too far downstream on the Colorado (which has pretty damn good water closer to its headwaters). Some big cities like Chicago and Milwaukee have really good water. It's definitely a real advantage if you have good water available and consistant in quality. I am in a small town and the source of water city water from a well on the mountain behind my house. Good water generally. But if it were to get polluted I would be the first to find out. Best water I ever had came from a spring next to the highway just east of Logan Utah.

I originally grew up in Idaho. The water there is crystal clear from the fausett. The best water was from a spring coming out of a mountain by cherry springs. I would definately use that in my brew And yes, Logan does have some good clear, clean water.

Dependent on the source, I'd use water from a spring since it has been naturally filtered but I'd not use rainwater...TOO MANY CONTAMINANTS from airborne particulates, etc. I use bottled water and then tap water in a pinch. But that's just one scientist's point of view.

i had a friend that used to collect water from all types of weird places to brew with. some places which i know are dirtier than rainwater. he'd filter it and boil it. always tasted fine and no one ever got sick. it was his brewing schtick i guess.

I know of people who drink water right out of the lakes and rivers around here. Great way to get a case of giordia. That is an illness that keeps coming back, caused by feces in the water (usually blamed on beavers). Maybe they are lucky to have good immunity, but I wouldn't chance it. For all the complaints, city water is pretty safe usually. I know of some places with high arsenic in particular. But, once in a while some have toxins in the water and warn to not use or boil. Most often bad water is mainly hardness, iron or too much chlorine. Polluted water has a lot to do with the popularity of beer up till a bit over a century ago. At least the process makes it safe to drink in nearly all cases. Once upon a time rainwater was probably a lot safer than other sources. But industrial pollution was then pretty light.

For clarification, giardiasis is the name of the disease, and it's caused by the Giardia intestinal parasite that is passed from host to host via fecal matter (that's "****" to you and me.) They are foundin both drinking water and recreational water all over the USA (and most of the rest of the world, too.)

But, the good news is that 1 minute of boiling the water kills the little boogers.

-walker

Maybe I should rethink my position that city water is usually safe. Seems the biggest problem around here is high arsenic in well water, naturally occuring. They shut down some of the Interstate Rest Stops because of the problem every now and then.

How about artesian spring water? There's an artesian spring by my folk's place that a lot of people get drinking water from. I wonder how good that would be to brew with?

MMMMMMMM, rainwater brew! With car exhaust off-flavors! YES!

Well, here in Beaumont, the rain water has natural oils and chemicals in it.....Shell, Gulf, Huntsman, etc. I'll prolly hold off and just use the city water, and cool with the well. Here is a dumb Q I should know.....How can I get a sample of my well water analyzed free?

I would think that would be good water to use in brewing. My city supplied well water is an artesian about 150 yards away. But, it pumps into an umpteen thousand gallon tank and still gets the chlorination treatment. Downline from me the city water is combined with water from the river. That goes through all kinds of filtration and treatment.

The county here will test well water for free 2 times a year. More than that they charge but not much. Check with your county's sanitation dept. It may have a similar setup. Some places do so through the university too. Here done with a pint sample in a very clean mason jar.

Cool, I will try to get both and compare them. THX

Any brewers around places like Yellowstone? Highly sulferated water around the thermal activity. That is probably about as unusable water as a person would find.

Walker said:

For clarification, giardiasis is the name of the disease, and it's caused by the Giardia intestinal parasite that is passed from host to host via fecal matter (that's "****" to you and me.) They are foundin both drinking water and recreational water all over the USA (and most of the rest of the world, too.)

But, the good news is that 1 minute of boiling the water kills the little boogers.

-walker

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i read alot of stuff this summer that said that incidents of giardia are often mis diagnosed and the numbers on the amount of incidents are inflated because of this. its actually fairly rare to get it, my dog has gotten it, but she eats other animals crap, most humans don't do that. i guess i should make it clear that i'm talking about water from the backcountry, not just a lake or stream close to a town. most incidents of 'giardia' in the backcountry are just other stomach problems. i have and will continue to drink straight from creeks when i'm in the mountains, sometimes i filter but usually not. i'm more worried about uranium and heavy metals from the old mining operations than anything else that would be in the water. a little common sense about where your water comes from can prevent most cases of illness.

The metals are something that bothers me. I know of communities with high arsenic content to their water. So, they marginally keep that below the Federal limit. But, how many glasses of that water can a person drink without it becoming a problem? And apparently they only solve the problem by adding water from another source. Parts per million is the key or "the solution to pollution is dilution."

Then there is Glendale Arizona which has had a high cancer rate attributed to high levels of Tri-Chlor Ethylene in the well water. Supposedly, now corrected, but was a problem for years due to electronic industry pollution.

As a "scientist" in the environmental field I offer the following...

City water is regulated...if they deliver it to your house it has to be drinkable and should be good for brewing.

If you live next to a spring or "flowing" body of water...use your own judgement but I would be very weary unless you live in the boonies with very little industry UPSTREAM.

If you are drinking out of a stagnant pond...you are asking for trouble...beaver crap or not.

Others in this post have a point however...an hour boil does wonders for even pond water.

I live 40 minutes south of Boston and unless it comes from a bottle, I'm a bit nervous. Conversly, when I'm at my buddy's land in Maine, I drink from the stream next to the tent and campfire with little hesitation....I suppose it all depends on your perspective and where you are in the world.

The rain is really adding up this year. We have been setting new records. Rivers are at the highest flood levels in 50 years, roads washing out, houses sliding. On the plus side it makes perfect brewing weather. Less worry about airborne contaminants. And the temperatures hold more evenly for lagering. UPS just brought me another shipment of brewing supplies. That will keep me busy. Right now I have beer in secondaries and three of those ready to bottle. I ran out of the ready drinkables yesterday. So, I am going full tilt to prevent future droughts.

I dont think I would want rain water... however I am sure the EPA could help you. Where do you live? Place like Montanna you might have some hope.. place like Chicago or San Fransico ... your going to kill yourself

We're getting record rainfall here in Oregon. But it makes great weather for brewing. All the contaminants get washed from the air.

Got a case of SNPA , a case of Lagunitas IPA and a case of Terminal Dravity IPA to last me through the weather.