Brewing with... snow?

So here's the question...

Is the water chemistry of rain water/snow okay for brewing beer?

With the 3rd blizzard/nor'easter/snowstorm of the PA winter, I thought why not commemorate this awesome winter with a beer made from the actual snow??

I'd say go for it. It might not be your best ever, but it should certainly be drinkable. And the story would be great! Just make sure to try to get clean fresh snow and a lot of it. And I would avoid using snow for anything you don't boil if you're not doing a full boil.

slowbie said:

I'd say go for it. It might not be your best ever, but it should certainly be drinkable. And the story would be great! Just make sure to try to get clean fresh snow and a lot of it. And I would avoid using snow for anything you don't boil if you're not doing a full boil.

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I'm not up to full boils yet, but I was planning on boiling the water that I added to my partial in the fermenter.

This is a cool idea. I'd say melt a glass of it first and see if it tastes nasty or not.

I believe that snow and/or rain would be more like distilled water and wouldn't have the minerals you'd want for mashing. If you're doing extract, go for it! Just be careful where you collect it. Don't want anything bad in there i.e. collecting rain water from your roof. If you find a nice field of snow and get just the top layer, it could be fun to try. And if you find yellow snow, you're already halfway to making Budweiser!

How many cubic yards of snow does it take to get 5 gallons of water? Also, it's been a while but doesn't snow usually taste a little funny?

taste funny? just the yellow kind

Neat idea, melt some taste. Taste good? Yes? Proceed.
Melt anough for say a lb of 2 row, mash it and check gravity to see if conversion is good. Good?
BREW that true winter warmer

withak said:

Also, it's been a while but doesn't snow usually taste a little funny?

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Sure, when it's not white ^_^

Sounds like a great idea! I know there is a brewery in Japan that makes beer from icebergs that drift from the Arctic to the shores of Japan. But like chshrecat said, it won't have minerals essential for mashing... but extract is a-ok.

As far as the amount.... I dunno, try a square meter to start, let it melt, observe and go from there!

take your pot and use that for the area, and the depth of your pot when it has 5 gallons in it and multiply by 10 (normal snow pack, not compressed) for the depth. That will get you kind of close, but with the many different types of snow ymmv.

What ever is in your atmosphere is in your snow/rain. Ever heard of Acid Rain? Snow/Rain is nowhere close to distilled water.

Melt it, taste it, decide.

Snow crystallizes around dust particles in the air. Melt it in a white bowl, you might be surprised at what ends up in the bottom. Not that it would make the water bad for brewing.

HSM said:

What ever is in your atmosphere is in your snow/rain. Ever heard of Acid Rain? Snow/Rain is nowhere close to distilled water.

Melt it, taste it, decide.

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That's what I was somewhat worried about. I'm not in the most polluted part of the country, but not necessarily the least either. Got some melting in a jar right now... taste test to follow.

As far as volume goes I've figured it out and 7.5 gals of water is about 10 cu. ft. of snow.

I would carbon filter the melted snow to remove the pollution from it. Then if you are mashing, add minerals to suit the beer that you are making. Sounds like a cool plan to me. Good Luck!

I agree that what ever is in your atmosphere is in your snow but I'm fascinated by this idea all the same. I'm already trying to think of what I can cleanly collect falling snow in. Maybe 5 gallon plastic buckets? Hmmm...

Ugh there was a slightly similar post a while back about brewing with water collected from your roof which is usually a HORRIBLE IDEA.

Unless you live in some remote wilderness, there's no way I would want to drink that beer. There can be some seriously nasty stuff in the air if you live anywhere near a city/highway/factory, and I would not trust that the snow fall would be clear of toxins.

You can get distilled or filtered spring water from any grocery store in bulk these days for a few bucks. I can't see any reason to risk a batch of beer (or worse, your health) to save $3 on water.

ghpeel said:

Ugh there was a slightly similar post a while back about brewing with water collected from your roof which is usually a HORRIBLE IDEA.

Unless you live in some remote wilderness, there's no way I would want to drink that beer. There can be some seriously nasty stuff in the air if you live anywhere near a city/highway/factory, and I would not trust that the snow fall would be clear of toxins.

You can get distilled or filtered spring water from any grocery store in bulk these days for a few bucks. I can't see any reason to risk a batch of beer (or worse, your health) to save $3 on water.

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A simple no would have sufficed.

And the idea was not to save $ on water either (my water is free as I have my own well, and yes I've had the water tested and I filter). The idea was to commemorate the fact that we have had two blizzards here in less than a week by using some of that snow to make a batch of beer.

HSM said:

What ever is in your atmosphere is in your snow/rain. Ever heard of Acid Rain? Snow/Rain is nowhere close to distilled water.

Melt it, taste it, decide.

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I've never lived where it's been an issue and rain water wasn't safe to drink. Unless you live in certain parts of eastern europe or china, I wouldn't sweat it. I was more referring to the lack of mineral content when I said it was like distilled water.

frazier said:

Snow crystallizes around dust particles in the air. Melt it in a white bowl, you might be surprised at what ends up in the bottom. Not that it would make the water bad for brewing.

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This is a good point. I got a white coffee mug and tried this and there were quite a number of little bits of "sediment" in the bottom.

I think my Pur filter will take care of that. It's about time for a filter change anyways. :rockin:

I've never lived where it's been an issue and rain water wasn't safe to drink. Unless you live in certain parts of eastern europe or china, I wouldn't sweat it. I was more referring to the lack of mineral content when I said it was like distilled water.

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I'm extract brewing, so mineral content is not really an issue, but this is a good point.

Haha, well I might steal this idea and brew a winter warmer with it. It just snowed a good 8 inches over here

There was a post last year from a guy who climbed a mountain and collected glacier ice that had been locked away for thousands of years and planned to brew from.

It was suggested he use glacier hops.

ChshreCat said:

There was a post last year from a guy who climbed a mountain and collected glacier ice that had been locked away for thousands of years and planned to brew from.

It was suggested he use glacier hops.

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Amazing. I'm sure the beer wasn't so great, but I definitely would have paid for a bottle of something like that, regardless.

Make a very light beer and call it "Yellow Snow Beer". Of course meaning a yellow beer that was made from snow, but everyone will get the other reference.

hmmm...maybe this is the way I should get rid of the 15" inches all over the backyard...

Let me know how it works out. I might try it. I have gots tons of snow here in the mountains. I would not worry about anything in the atmosphere. You are going to be boiling the hell out of it. Just like camping man. Boil or filter the water, it will be fine.

I am thinking about a similar project for next summer. I am going to take my ATV up to a high mountain lake. Pull out a couple of carboys of water and make some beer from it. We have some pristine lakes around here. Like I said boiling it will make it plenty safe.

if you're in doubt - maybe make a smaller batch so less is at risk.

but I think I'd just run with it.

That sounds like a great idea... I just wonder what kind of pollutants is dissolved in it though. Kind of like the acid rain idea.

I like this idea, and wouldn't mind trying it myself, or like Brewmoor, with Colorado mountain lake water.

A little OT, and not wanting to be a total buzzkill, such craziness might be illegal (of course) in Colorado

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-christopher/a-colorado-watershed_b_209937.html

BSBrewer said:

hmmm...maybe this is the way I should get rid of the 15" inches all over the backyard...

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We could be on to something here. I can imagine the news reports in the future... "The blizzard has the entire metro area shut down, but the National Guard says they are airlifting 3700 homebrewers into the area and they expect to have everything clear by the weekend."

when you melt the snow, be sure to put some water in the bottom of the pot before turning on the heat. scalded snow makes horrible tasting water.

I cant help but laugh at what the neighbors would think when they see you outside shoveling snow into a plastic bucket.

"What is that crazy bastard up to now?"

Just make sure that you laugh hysterically and maybe dance a jig.

GearJammer said:

I like this idea, and wouldn't mind trying it myself, or like Brewmoor, with Colorado mountain lake water.

A little OT, and not wanting to be a total buzzkill, such craziness might be illegal (of course) in Colorado

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-christopher/a-colorado-watershed_b_209937.html

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Oh for sure. Water is worth more then gold in this state. There are more water rights lawyers per capita in this state then any other I think.

This would be a on the sly project. For research purposes

jdp said:

when you melt the snow, be sure to put some water in the bottom of the pot before turning on the heat. scalded snow makes horrible tasting water.

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Good point. When you go to back country huts in the winter. You get all your water from snow. They have big kettles with ball valves on them. You go outside and scoop up some snow and sit it on the wood stove. Inevitably someone "dry" melts the snow. You can definatly taste it.

jdp said:

when you melt the snow, be sure to put some water in the bottom of the pot before turning on the heat. scalded snow makes horrible tasting water.

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This is good to know, I've never melted snow for drinking water before so I wouldn't have known that. Thanks.

I'll let you guys know how it goes. I'll be "collecting" my water soon.

And as far as the neighbors go, they already know I'm a crazy bastard. LOL

During the blizzards here in MD last week I used the snow to chill my wort after the boil. It worked out pretty good just placing the kettle in the snow with an umbrella over it to keep the falling snow out of it. Kinda need 30" of snow to do it though.

Nice idea! I'm tempted to do the same with the huge amount of snow I have at my place (28 inches from the first storm, then 24 from the second.)

TheBroonery said:

During the blizzards here in MD last week I used the snow to chill my wort after the boil. It worked out pretty good just placing the kettle in the snow with an umbrella over it to keep the falling snow out of it. Kinda need 30" of snow to do it though.

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I'm surprised your BK didn't sink right to the bottom. Bumping an old thread as I'm looking to brew with snow soon. Anyone do this yet? I'd like to hear about it!

I haven't yet, but seeing as they make vodka with melted iceberg chunks plus we live in a 'fairly' pristine part of the world I think I'll give it a try with some fresh snowfall.

I'd like to hear of others' experiences, too.

B

BBKing said:

I cant help but laugh at what the neighbors would think when they see you outside shoveling snow into a plastic bucket.

"What is that crazy bastard up to now?"

Just make sure that you laugh hysterically and maybe dance a jig.

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i've been getting looks all day lol,

sorry to res an old thread but anything ever come of the snow beer? I live in steamboat springs CO and we just had about 70" of powder in like 3 days so i decieded to give it a shot.(well at least the making water part as of now) of course the water will be filtered, and i have no idea what to make yet

It is a cool idea. But if you have lots of industrialization or farming in your area you might want to pass. All the chemicals that evaporate into the air will end up in the snow. Not all that stuff you want to drink, even after you boil your water. My aunt lives in an area of Montana that has lots of farming which means lots of fertilizers pumped into the ground. If you use their well water for sun tea the water will react and actually coagulate and congeal. According to the county water inspector it is considered safe for consumption, but they pass and drink bottled water. So if I were you, unless you know what is in that snow, I would pass.