Reverse Osmosis / DI Water

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Cytosol

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I had a quick question about water to use in brewing.. I am brewing with one of those simple no-boil kits, but I heard that reverse osmosis water is not a good medium for yeast to grow in since essential elements have been removed from the water.

I have a RO/DI filter I use for my reef aquarium and it yields a 0-1 PPM water (almost 100% pure H2O). Since I already have the filter, I would like to use this water in my beer brewing as well, but again, I am affraid it won't work too well with the yeast.

I heard that there might be an additive I can put in the batch that adds the essential minerals that yeast feeds on.. Does anyone know of such an additive that would work? The tap water here is pretty bad tasting, and mineral water is expensive.. I think this might be the way to go if I can get a good additive.

Thanks,
 
All the essential elements for yeast production are already in the extract, so adding more with tap water can mess up the water profile. Using RO water reconstitutes the wort as it was when they put through the extraction process.
 
well with an extract brew the extract has allot if not all the elements your yeast need. your LHBS will have plenty of yeast nutrient/energizer mixes for you to use. they will all work as advertised.

when you finally get to AG brewing then you need to use spring water or drinking water. not RO or DI water. but that is a ways off and you have plenty of time to learn what you need before then.
 
Thanks for the info, guys. I think it will be at least a few more batches before I move onto anything more advanced than the extract kits.. I think the RO/DI water should improve things quite a bit though. Even with an extract kit, is a yeast energizer usually recommended, and will it speed up the fermentation process at all?
 
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