is there a recommended grocery brand of water to brew with

the tap water is not sutiable for brewing where i live and i was wondering if there is a recommended brand that would be more suitable for homebrew. i even thought about brewing with smart water because i can get it real cheap at hundsons and it is delicious. i think i did my first batch just with a kroger brand and it came out fine just wondering if i would get better quality beer from using better water.

For your location I'm sure you can find Kentwood or Abita Springs water in the local stores..

Both of those brands come from the same place pretty much and its what Abita Brewing uses in its beers, Its also what I use.

I use Ozarka, simply because their specs are easy to find online.

http://www.nestle-watersna.com/pdf/OZ_BWQR.pdf

I use Wal-Mart's store branded "drinking water" which is actually from Magnetic Springs. It's worked very well for me.

Walmart or Krogers Brand

thanks dudes, but would i end up with a better tasting beer using better tasting water? like Figi or Smartwater

I use half tap and half walmart spring water. I boil my tap water before I begin my brew. So essentially I am boiling my water twice. You could get a reverse osmosis system probably cheaper than buying fiji water.

You should buy distilled water and either (1) add appropriate amounts of brewing salts or (2) mix with appropriate amounts of bottled water. You can find the water anaysis for various brands. It would be a bad idea to use Fiji water by itself, unless you want a lot of bicarbontes (140 ppm) and a high initial pH. Evian is even higher at 357 ppm for HCO3.

Here are the water analyses for several common bottled waters:

Ice Mountain
Ca 1.30
Mg 1.30
Na 1.10
SO4 4.70
Cl 1.10
HCO3 46.10
pH 6.98

Aquafina
Ca 35.00
Mg 22.00
Na 11.00
SO4 8.00
Cl 71.00
HCO3 46.00
pH 7.00

Fiji
Ca 17.00
Mg ??
Na 13.00
SO4 17.00
Cl 7.00
HCO3 140.00
pH 7.50

Evian
Ca 78.00
Mg 24.00
Na 5.00
SO4 10.00
Cl 4.50
HCO3 357.00
pH 7.20

source: http://www.mineralwaters.org/
here is another source: http://www.finewaters.com/

If you dillute distilled or RO water with bottled water, and you know the concentrations of various compounds in the bottled water, you can figure out the mix ratio to approximate a target water profile.

I know you probably don't want to hear this, but it's all about personal preference. Do you like the way that the water tastes from your kitchen sink? Then use that. If not, just try a few types of bottled water. I personally don't mess around with brewing salts or anything like that.

Just keep in mind that most companies these days simply sell bottled tap water. Tap being the operative word.

jwheeler85 said:

Just keep in mind that most companies these days simply sell bottled tap water. Tap being the operative word.

Click to expand...

False.

7890

i'm in mississippi as well as you and i have had good luck with kentwood spring water. you shout have that as well in the 'burg.