Store bought water VS. tapwater

My first batch of beer was a stout, just tried it today; tastes just fine after 2 weeks bottle conditioning.

I used store bought water (not distilled).

My second batch, which I am making today is using my tap water. I live in Tempe, Arizona. I really couldn't see spending the extra dough on store bought water, so I just am using tap water today.

I boiled all of the water I'd be using for the beer.

The guy at my local brewstore was pretty adamant about NOT using tapwater. Should I be worried about my beer?

I checked a recent water report and everything looked alright to me. I used John Palmer's water report guide as a reference to determine that my local water was "OK".

Well, you're going to find out. I use nothing but the RO (reverse osmosis) water from the machine in the grocery store. We're on a well, and the water has way too much calcium and iron to brew successfully. The 33 cents a gallon for the RO water produces good beer, and is a cheap investment, considering that water is the chief ingredient.

Do you know WHY the LHBS guy said no tap water? If you've checked water reports, cross-referenced with Palmer, and boiled... I don't see a problem.

I do a partial boil extract currently and recently went from all store bought water to half charcoal-filtered tap water (the boil) and half bottled water. No change in beer quality.

Cheers.

I've used both, no diference noticed.

Now I always use Bottled water, so I don't spend time boiling and chilling my top off water.

Depends on the tap water where you live, Bottled water is the greatest marketing scheme ever invented, A home water filter is going to give you water that's better than most bottled for far less than $4-6 a gallon

Are you brewing all grain? If your just extract or partial mashing, I'm not so sure your water quality will make much of a difference. Do you do full length boils? If so, then even boiling to remove the chlorine won't be needed. Are you on a well? Does your City use Chlorine or Chloramine (sp?) ?

I've been using tap water for 20 years, in four states. Never had a problem. Aside from the wort, I don't boil top off water, sparge water, etc. I have noticed a big difference since I went to all grain, and some of that may be from boiling the full volume, which eliminates the chlorine.

What i've done is used tap water for the partial boil (fist 2-3 gallons of extract), and then used bottled water to top off at the end in the bucket. I didn't want to spend the money on all that water, but didn't want to mess with boilig all the water either. i thought this was a good compromise... plus the bottled water is already cool!

I am still doing extract brewing. No AG yet.

As for water quality for brewing aren't we basically just concerned about the pH? As long as you boil your city water and the pH is where you need it, it all should be fine, correct? It seems to me that all grain brewers are kind of required to use tap water(?).

I'm still new to brewing, so just a quick question. Is a "partial boil" simply meaning that you're not boiling the whole volume of the batch?

Berreta, what do you mean "full length boil"? I boil for the whole 60 minutes, if that's what you mean...

We use chlorine in our city water here.

I do PM partial boils. I use tap water for anything I'm planning on boiling and bottled for my top up. So, my mash and sparge water is tap water that has been brought to a boil for 10-15 minutes, then cooled to temp.

But... my tap water tastes good and has no chlorine taste to it. I boil it to make sure nothing's living in it and as a just-in-case measure against any chlorine in it.

I really wouldn't have any qualms about using my tap water for everything, but I don't feel like boiling that much water. Plus, I can put the jugs of store bought water in the fridge to help get me down to pitching temps when I top up.

budbo said:

Depends on the tap water where you live, Bottled water is the greatest marketing scheme ever invented, A home water filter is going to give you water that's better than most bottled for far less than $4-6 a gallon

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Where do you get $4-6 a gallon? I just brewed a hefe and got 6 gallons of distilled water at Walmart for $0.78/gallon.Thats less than $5 for 6 gallons.

I use store water at .32 cent a gallon ... I think it tasted great alone ... and I think it added flavor to my first beer. If im gonna consume it, I want it to be the best I can afford. At $1.70 for 5 gallons I think it was worth it.

Most bottled water is just filtered tap water anyway.

You will get very varied results. This is because of our water supply here in the metro phoenix area. We get water from different sources depending on the reservoir levels, etc. The water chemistry can swing wildly. I use carbon filter in my fridge and can always tell when they change up the water supply (one of them has a very metalic/chlorine taste to it, that even carbon filter cannot fully remove.)

Here is an interview from the guy at 4 peaks mentioning it, and why they installed a RO system to control it. You will make beer, but have a hard time with consistent results due to the varied water chemistry on a given day/week/month... I always just use store bought jugs or at least refilled at a local water store... Oh and I do extracts only currently, so don't worry about if it is distilled, spring, RO, etc. I just get what is cheapest. Since extract will have chemistry for the water anyways, if your doing AG it will mater more from what i have learned.

Any Ingram - 4 Peaks Brewery - Tempe, AZ

Water makes a huge difference regardless of how you brew.

And if you don;t know the details regarding the ion/mineral content of whatever water you use you cannot make an informed decision about either.

I have known folks who have use bottled water for years oinly to learn that their tap water was cleaner.

Never bothered with bottled water but then again, I've always known what the tap water was like.

Right now I've super hard water from a well. Makes great bitters, pale ales and stouts but lousy Pilsners. *shrug*

markcubed said:

As for water quality for brewing aren't we basically just concerned about the pH? As long as you boil your city water and the pH is where you need it, it all should be fine, correct? It seems to me that all grain brewers are kind of required to use tap water(?).

Click to expand...

pH is one of many concerns, but is really more an issue for mashing than extract. Mash pH is a major player in extraction efficiency and enzymatic conversion. Outside of pH, minerals have big impacts on flavors as well. Sulfate, calcium, sodium, chlorine, chloride, etc. all have their own effects.