Extract brewing water.

If i use bottled water to do an extract kit, do i have to boil the "top-off" water? It seems it would be sanitary enough, but maybe im wrong.

I have never boiled the bottled water I use to top off.

I don't use bottled water, so take this with a grain of salt, but I seem to remeber reading somewhere that if you use bottled water, use mineral water not distilled because distilled water lacks certain trace ingrediants needed for the beer.

There are mixed feelings about this among some. Here's the skinny:

if your tap water is safe to drink out of the tap-- as in you'd give your young children/nephews/nieces a glass right off the tap-- then it's probably safe to use for your beer.

If you insist on bottled water because you don't consider municiple water suitable for consumption then, yeah, you better boil it.

kornkob said:

There are mixed feelings about this among some. Here's the skinny:

if your tap water is safe to drink out of the tap-- as in you'd give your young children/nephews/nieces a glass right off the tap-- then it's probably safe to use for your beer.

If you insist on bottled water because you don't consider municiple water suitable for consumption then, yeah, you better boil it.

Click to expand...

Thanks but I was looking into using bottled water for everything, no muni water. Do i need to boil the "bottled" top off?

I've also heard that you don't want distilled water because the minerals are needed for certain processes.

No. You do not need to boil it. It should be sanitary coming straight out of the bottle.

I never boiled the gallons of water I bought, with no issues. Never heard of anyone having a problem. I've also used straight, non-boiled tap water more often than not to re-hydrate my yeast.

Cool, thanks all!!

I don't even boil my top off water...it's straight from the tap.

homebrewer_99 said:

I don't even boil my top off water...it's straight from the tap.

Click to expand...

Me too.

I always do partial boils and for top-off water, i use bottled. My first batch i was anal-retentive enough to boil it (aren't we all). After i realized that i'm not performing surgery and beer has been born from streams of piss i say the hell with it. I've never had a trace of infection in my beers.

Regarding the minerals (or lack thereof) in distilled water, it is a non issue with extract brewing ... or at least it should be depending on your extract manufacturer.

The extract is made at the manufacturer by mashing grain just like any other brewer, in water which has likely has all the minerals you will need. It is very unlikely that the manufacturer is using pure H20 with no minerals.

During the evaporation process, the minerals remain with the extract. So even if you use distilled water, the extract should be sufficient supply of minerals for your yeast.

My tap water is horrible tasting so I buy jugs of spring water at the local grocery store. Boiled? heck when I did partials, I would toss 2-3 gallons straight into the freezer and use it to top off and chill the wort at the same time.

brewt00l said:

My tap water is horrible tasting so I buy jugs of spring water at the local grocery store. Boiled? heck when I did partials, I would toss 2-3 gallons straight into the freezer and use it to top off and chill the wort at the same time.

Click to expand...

my tap water is also horrible tasting! ill prolly start using bottled water and tap water

you never no, between tap and bottled, there might be a wider rage of minerals

I live in south Florida where the municiple water is at best highly chlorinated and still somewhat mineralized. Most people will note immediately (If your not from here) that the Florida treated water has a sulferic or iron smell and taste. I never use it, I never boil it either.

I buy the water I brew with and in the local grocery store, the generic store brand gallon of water labeled; "Drinking Water" is safe and about $0.67/gal. Now, I know that at 5 gallons a batch per let's say every two weeks or so, this can add up. Well, I still brew eg so, it's not like I'm in this for the savings on beer.....My end calcs for brewing leave me with a wash on the price per case.

If I want to share it with others, I buy the water. I'm already at 50% on risk assesment on off-flavors before I even start a batch, so why hike it another 10-20% with nasty water?

BrooZer said:

Thanks but I was looking into using bottled water for everything, no muni water. Do i need to boil the "bottled" top off?

Click to expand...

On thqat front it is pretty clear cut: water bottled for sale in the US is packaged in sanitary condition. The water and container are sanitary at the time you break the seal.