What's your water source?

I'm currently designing the brew area at my new house, and unfortunately it looks like it will land in my garage. The good news is that there is enough space in there to make it semi-permanent, the bad news is that it's detached from the house by over 100'.

In the past, I have used bottled water for my brews with great results. But as I go to larger batches, purchasing 15-20 gallons of water seems less feasible. Not to mention more wasteful and a pain in the backside to pour.

We have a good filtration system in the kitchen, but moving that water to the garage also seems unfeasible.

I can't plumb the garage (too many hurdles to do it legally), but am considering running a long garden hose in there and hooking up a filtration system and a sink that dumps into the yard.

So with that in mind, I'm wondering what all of you do to get your water into the HLT.

Any and all suggestions for how I could rig a decent/temporary water supply to a severely detached garage are all appreciated!

What about an RV hose attached to your hose bib on the house?

Attached garage. Plumbed hot and cold off of the water heater. Having hot water in the brewery is life changing.

Last time I used garden hose water I its had that garden hose taste to beer, oddly as that is I thought it would have boiled out.

RV Filter on my hose faucet in a marked fermenter.

rj_hockey said:

Last time I used garden hose water I its had that garden hose taste to beer, oddly as that is I thought it would have boiled out.

Click to expand...

They have potable water hoses. Haven't used mine, so I'm not sure if it's better or not.

I like the idea of a potable water hose and a decent filtration system. I'll have to look into the cost of a really, really long one....

drat said:

I like the idea of a potable water hose and a decent filtration system. I'll have to look into the cost of a really, really long one....

Click to expand...

I have been using the RV Hoses for going on 4 Years now. Go to any RV store and you can purchase them. They are special Drinking Water Sanitary Hoses that come in 25 ft. sections.

I have a couple of RV hoses, a 10' and a 25'. I also use them for cleaning kegs, so I don't get chlorine from my PVC-lined garden hoses. I bought mine at Wal-mart.

Bought both my water filter and potable water hose at Walmart's RV section.

Hand truck and a few 5 gallon plastic buckets with lids if you don't want to do the RV hose which could be a pain in the winter. Or get out the shovel and dig a trench for 100' of PEX.

samc said:

Hand truck and a few 5 gallon plastic buckets with lids if you don't want to do the RV hose which could be a pain in the winter. Or get out the shovel and dig a trench for 100' of PEX.

Click to expand...

The trench would be a problem. I've got a 12' cement slab behind the house that I couldn't easily get under, and I could almost guarantee that the city would catch me doing the digging and fine me...

I would go with PEX or even the semi-opaque polyethylene stuff. Just because RV hose is safe, meaning not manufactured with lead, doesn't mean it doesn't make water taste like rubber.

You could just put a hose bib on the house, closest to the garage, and shuttle the source water with buckets. For chilling, use a garden hose.

My ultimate goal is to have a filtration system in the garage by my brew sculpture (just hook up a hose and fill the HLT). Right now, I'm relegated to filling buckets and shuttling them to the garage, which is a real pain.

So if anybody has any links to a cheap option for a hose or whatever that won't end up making rubber beer that could be hooked up to an outside spigot, I'd appreciate it...

My brewery is right next to the pump house for the well. I use an RV hose that's run through a filter first, just keep out any sediments. No off taste from the hose, that I've noticed.

I've only seen 12' RV hoses at Lowes and HD. Get yourself 100' of 1/2" ID Polyethylene and throw some garden hose barbs on it.

I don't know if lowes has it in 1/2" ID, but Mcmaster has it for $24 for a 100 roll.

50375K51
High-Pressure Polyethylene Vacuum Tubing 1/2" ID, 5/8" OD, 1/16" Wall Thickness, White

drat said:

I can't plumb the garage (too many hurdles to do it legally), but am considering running a long garden hose in there and hooking up a filtration system and a sink that dumps into the yard.

So with that in mind, I'm wondering what all of you do to get your water into the HLT.

Any and all suggestions for how I could rig a decent/temporary water supply to a severely detached garage are all appreciated!

Click to expand...

I have the same situation but only about 50-ft away. I use an RV hose with no issues. I plumbed the inside of my garage with pex to my hlt, hose bib for chiller and sink with cold and hot water(from the hlt). I also just dump the water on the ground from the sink/chiller.

I connect to the garage plumbing with a hose connection on the outside of the garage/hose/hosebib on house. I have a woodstove in the garage so we brew in there all winter. If I leave the water in the sink run a bit my hose doesn't freeze even with a few -10 brewdays so far.