Getting water ready the night before

On thursday my friends and I are gonna wake up extra early and brew 12 gallons of an IPA.

My plan is to measure out the strike water the night before so I can wake up and start heating it right away. He seems to think the water will be "stagnant" and not good for brewing. I think its fine since it will be heated up and then boiled.

Who is right?

Well... You are.

The water isn't going to go stagnant. If you're using tap water then it gives the water a chance to come to room temp before heating it up meaning a bit shorter brew day. It's what I do even though I'm brewing extract not AG. Temp is temp, though.

You are boiling the water so it doesn't really matter that you've let the water sit over night. No difference.

You're right on this one. I measure out the strike water the night before every time I brew.

Sitting may help dissipate some of the chlorine in the municipal tap water..?

In the winter time I measure out the water the night before and put a "brew belt" on the tank just to get it up a few degrees for the next day.

Stangant? Really, where is the logic in that?

Water can sit for a while. My water isn't the best so I often bring ten gallons home from work. Sometimes it sits for a week before I brew. I carry the water in 5 gallon coleman water jugs or a ten gallon cooler. So far no problems

listen people it boils at some point, driving off anything that needs to be driven off.

pacebrew said:

listen people it boils at some point, driving off anything that needs to be driven off.

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I know this. I just needed the people of homebrewtalk to back me up and prove that I am right.

yea and im just putting itout there so others dont fall prey to the superstition.

I once theorized about collecting rainwater to make a brew. but figured it would be to acidic with the smog clouds, now im not sure if boiling could fix that but i decided not to try.... lol

Your friend is high on the crack.

I also get my water ready the day before brewing so I don't have to worry about it during the brew session. Ask your friend if he has drunk water out of a Brita pitcher from the day before. I always leave my pitcher on the counter and there's no difference in taste after a few days.

I like to do it the day of. Simply because my Hot Water Heater is an over achiever and get my water to about 130* right out of the tap. This way I don't burn as much propane from my portable tank. But if you don't use your tap water this post is useless to you. I'm fortunate to be on my own well with pretty good water.

i don't measure water the night before, but not because of any worries about it being stagnant. I just don't see it as saving me any time. I mean... it takes all of 1 or 2 minutes to measure the water out. Not exactly what I consider a big task.

I measure my water and grind my grain the night before, but I do it for a slightly different reason. I often brew on weekdays and can work from home when I do. On brewday, about 2 hours before I'm done working, I go out to the garage and flip on the ranco to heat the water (with a heatstick). About an hour later, I go out and dump in the grain. I'm ready to sparge by the time I'm shutting down the laptop! It's wonderful!