Water Quality of Bottled Water

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Schlenkerla

Schlenkerla

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In my brewing I normally do extracts w/ steep grains, so I usually use bottled water. I like to use Wal-Mart Brand Drinking Water. Its carbon filtered & UV treated, micro-filtered and ozonated. Don't ask me what that last one is, I don't know.

SWMBO has been complaining that this same water has been tasting like plastic. I happened to agree with this. She thought that it was a result of freezing in the garage. I don't think so, I might be wrong... To my knowledge I haven't used it in my beer yet.

Have anyone you noticed this in any bottled water before?

I'm going to assume if it was used in beer making you could get off tasting beer too.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

What do you normally use for water if you do extracts & extracts w/ steeped grains?

Buy vs Boil

Thanks! :mug:
 
I went to Home Depot and bought a whole house water filter housing and put a carbon activated charcoal filter in it it's rated for 10,000 gallons before replacemant, The whole set up was $48.00. I have since just filtered my tap water and it seems very good to brew with, no taste what so ever. I figured most puchased water is just filtered tap water anyway. Ozination is a process of sanitation by killing all bacteria in the water, my spa has an ozination system so I don't have to add clorinated chemicals.
 
I use water right out of my tap...I have a nice water softener and am on well water and not city water so I dont have any chlorine or additives in my water. It is very clear and tastes good.

I am going to make some wine next week for the first time, and I was going to buy some store water for that.

Not to thread hyjack, but I also have a question about what kind of water to use when buying from the store.

Do you normally just buy the spring water, or distilled water?
 
I would buy spring water or drinking water. People will by distilled for AG and add gypsum, salts, calcium carbonates or whatever to get the desired end result. I think they do this if they have an element that they can't get out of the water.

I wouldn't bother with distilled unless you know exactly what you need mineral-wise. If you are making wine I would stick to drinking or spring water and add yeast nutrients and/or yeast hulls.
 
I've found spring water has worked best for me. I typically buy 6 1-gallon jugs, do a full boil with 5 gallons, top off any water that evaporated from the 6th jug, and use the remaining for the end of my blow off tube.
 
Ozonated means that the water is exposed to an ozone source. Ozone is really effective at killing bacteria.

If the bottled water tastes like plastic, it means either they used really cheap grade plastic for the bottles or the bottles were stored in bright sunlight, or both.

I would bet that WalMart stored them on a pallet somewhere and they got a good dose of bright sunlight which started to break down the plastic. The cheaper the grade of plastic, the easier it is to break down in sunlight.
 
feedthebear said:
Ozonated means that the water is exposed to an ozone source. Ozone is really effective at killing bacteria.

If the bottled water tastes like plastic, it means either they used really cheap grade plastic for the bottles or the bottles were stored in bright sunlight, or both.

I would bet that WalMart stored them on a pallet somewhere and they got a good dose of bright sunlight which started to break down the plastic. The cheaper the grade of plastic, the easier it is to break down in sunlight.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! - I was wondering why they would get that way.
 
I also use an undersink water filter--I use a quick disconnect to easily connect it to my hose.

removes almost all chlorines and chloramines. Of course, I almost always do AG, and if I do an extract beer, I do a full wort boil.

See pic.

3548-waterpurificationandgasline.JPG



3548-quickdisconnectonwaterfilter.JPG
 
Yeah, Ive topped off right out of the faucet many times. Ive been using a filter that attatches to my faucet lately. It all depends on the quality of your water though. I wouldnt do it if I was on city water
 
I would have thought untreated well water to be more risky. Potential for Biologicals is greater??? I don't have a well... I understand they are tested for bios on a regular basis.

Why do you say that you would not with city water?

Its chlorinated then the carbon filter should remove the chlorine.
 
Yes,Yes, Yes I'm very happy toping with filtered city water!!! Before I started filtering I used it stright out of the tap. So yes I'm happy.
 
Schlenkerla said:
I would have thought untreated well water to be more risky. Potential for Biologicals is greater??? I don't have a well... I understand they are tested for bios on a regular basis.

Why do you say that you would not with city water?

Its chlorinated then the carbon filter should remove the chlorine.
Click to expand...

It removes the chlorine, but the water should be pretty sanitary prior to the removal of the chlorine.

I've topped up with tap water before without problems before I had the capacity to do full boils. But as I have that capacity now, I don't have to worry about it.
 
smogman said:
Yes,Yes, Yes I'm very happy toping with filtered city water!!! Before I started filtering I used it stright out of the tap. So yes I'm happy.
Click to expand...


Gotcha smogman.

I'm not discounting your comment. I have always heard use bottled water or boil. I didn't recall you saying that you topped off with it, before you stated it made good brewing water. I didn't know whether you did full or partial boils. That makes a difference to me. I haven't gotten a wort chiller yet.

So it duely noted now. I'm going to look into getting a filter.

Thanks!!!
 
A word of warning for those who use water filters. Filters actually become a breeding ground for bacteria when water is not actually being passed through the filter. You need to let the water run through the filter for 5 - 10 seconds to flush out any bacteria before using the filtered water.

-a.
 
ajf said:
A word of warning for those who use water filters. Filters actually become a breeding ground for bacteria when water is not actually being passed through the filter. You need to let the water run through the filter for 5 - 10 seconds to flush out any bacteria before using the filtered water.

-a.
Click to expand...

Thats a good point! If one goes that route it would be best to have it on a line thats used regulary.
 
Here's a true story for you all..

My family is close friends with a winery owner in Upstate, NY. Something like 10 years ago, he was requested to submit a sample of his water for testing for certian bacterial creepies. They used filtered well water, and the test showed that there was bad "stuff" in there. I'm not sure what they found in the water. At any rate, the winery was forced to upgrade their water systems to help combat these particular bacteria, and they had to submit another water test. Again it failed. This is the same water they have been using for years with no problems, so the owner got pissed and submitted a sample of bottled water for the 3rd submission. IT FAILED!!

Moral of the story, don't believe the hype about all this fancy bottled water or filtration systems ;)

Like others mentioned, there is a possibility of your filtration system to get infected, and there are no controls on bottled water. IMHO, unless you have off flavors or taste (sulfur), or live in a 2nd or 3rd world country, I'd just stick with tap water.
 
sirsloop said:
Here's a true story for you all..

My family is close friends with a winery owner in Upstate, NY. Something like 10 years ago, he was requested to submit a sample of his water for testing for certian bacterial creepies. They used filtered well water, and the test showed that there was bad "stuff" in there. I'm not sure what they found in the water. At any rate, the winery was forced to upgrade their water systems to help combat these particular bacteria, and they had to submit another water test. Again it failed. This is the same water they have been using for years with no problems, so the owner got pissed and submitted a sample of bottled water for the 3rd submission. IT FAILED!!

Moral of the story, don't believe the hype about all this fancy bottled water or filtration systems ;)

Like others mentioned, there is a possibility of your filtration system to get infected, and there are no controls on bottled water. IMHO, unless you have off flavors or taste (sulfur), or live in a 2nd or 3rd world country, I'd just stick with tap water.
Click to expand...

I know what your talking about with water infections. I'm an engineer at a major window mfg'r. One of our plants had continual bacterial problems and water spotting on glass. They used RO water to source the glass washing equipment. Which uses DI for spot-free rinsing. The DI system had a bank changer that changed to spare tanks as the water resistance went up. Got dirty.

The trouble was the RO water at 25ppms total disolved solids was really clean so the DI only knocked off 15ppms. Long story made short - one set of tanks lasted 6-8 months. The back up set was infected whenever the switch-over occurred. The water was stagnant in the back up tanks !!!

All of the other plants used city water and the tanks got changed every 3 weeks. No problem. The city water at our plants can range 400-700ppm so it taxes the DI system more.

I would think having a constant supply of water passing through a home system is as important as changing the filter regularly.
 
Schlenkerla said:
I know what your talking about with water infections. I'm an engineer at a major window mfg'r. One of our plants had continual bacterial problems and water spotting on glass. They used RO water to source the glass washing equipment. Which uses DI for spot-free rinsing. The DI system had a bank changer that changed to spare tanks as the water resistance went up. Got dirty.

The trouble was the RO water at 25ppms total disolved solids was really clean so the DI only knocked off 15ppms. Long story made short - one set of tanks lasted 6-8 months. The back up set was infected whenever the switch-over occurred. The water was stagnant in the back up tanks !!!

All of the other plants used city water and the tanks got changed every 3 weeks. No problem. The city water at our plants can range 400-700ppm so it taxes the DI system more.

I would think having a constant supply of water passing through a home system is as important as changing the filter regularly.
Click to expand...



Uhhhhh...... ummmm....... yeah. I agree with that. :drunk:
 
For anyone interested here's an informative web site. It talks about the various kinds of filters how they work and even has a link to you tube showing how to build your own. From common items like cotton, activated carbon for an aquarium and a plastic bottle.


http://heartspring.net/water_filters_guide.html#ceramic


Also here's a small commercial filter that contain impregnanted silver a natural bacteriastat

http://doultonusa.com/commercial_industrial_filters/commercial_and_industrial_water_filters.htm
 
Sorry Guys - I'm home sick today. I had a fever going... I was babling away... mindlessly...

I think what I wanted to say was this. The more pure the water is the greater the risk to bacterial infection. Especially if its idle.

So without proper maintenance you can get infected water quite easily.
 
Generally speaking, you should start with good tasting hard water for making beer. There is a whole laundry list of minerals that different yeasts need to survive so you need hard water. If your water comes from a lake, you may need to add gypsum. When I brew, I draw all the water (our town has hard well water) I will be using the night before and let the water sit overnight in open containers to allow any chemicals that the city adds to evaporate out. I also get the PH right by adding about 5 ML of Phosphoric acid to the 6 gallons of water and using PH sticks to check the results and make adjustments. At this point you don’t need to worry about bacteria because you will be boiling the water for at least 1 hour and nothing will live through that. Happy brewing!!
 
cefmel said:
Generally speaking, you should start with good tasting hard water for making beer. There is a whole laundry list of minerals that different yeasts need to survive so you need hard water. If your water comes from a lake, you may need to add gypsum. When I brew, I draw all the water (our town has hard well water) I will be using the night before and let the water sit overnight in open containers to allow any chemicals that the city adds to evaporate out. I also get the PH right by adding about 5 ML of Phosphoric acid to the 6 gallons of water and using PH sticks to check the results and make adjustments. At this point you don’t need to worry about bacteria because you will be boiling the water for at least 1 hour and nothing will live through that. Happy brewing!!
Click to expand...
OK - so I am at a loss as to which way to go here - I've been using bottled spring water for the mash, and I pre-boil my tap water (city) for the sparge water - I do this first, then let it cool while doing everything else.
My water is city water, but very soft.

My water tastes OK, but it does contain chlorine/chlorimines. A filter would be more convienent (sp?) but not if it is going to harbor bacteria. To filter or not to filter, that is the question.
 
MA_Brewer said:
OK - so I am at a loss as to which way to go here - I've been using bottled spring water for the mash, and I pre-boil my tap water (city) for the sparge water - I do this first, then let it cool while doing everything else.
My water is city water, but very soft.

My water tastes OK, but it does contain chlorine/chlorimines. A filter would be more convienent (sp?) but not if it is going to harbor bacteria. To filter or not to filter, that is the question.
Click to expand...

You know, someone mentioned the aquarium chemicals that remove the chloramine - and I saw them at WalMart but didn't dare to trust an associate there to know if there are any other additives in that aquarium stuff that would mess with my beer. So I just used bottled water -- half of it distilled, half of it spring water (would have bought all spring water but they ran out) last time I brewed.
I thought I had an off taste in my first batch and wife said it was a bit of a chloraseptic taste (I thought it was funny she said that, I didn't perceive it, but I had read about it and she hadn't). Anyway, then I looked it up and my town uses chloramine which causes that chloraseptic taste in beer.
I think someone also said you can use camden tablets to remove chloramine, too.
 

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