Type of water used

Hi Everyone,

When I brewed my first batch 2 weeks ago I used distilled water (thinking I wanted the purest possible). After doing some research I have found the the brew needs minerals and salts to be healthy. I had a vigorous fermentation during the first 36 hours then it died down quickly. I had a broken hydrometer in my kit so I was unable to get a OG reading. However, my current gravity reading is 1.018 (for several days). I decided to rack to a secondary to re suspend the yeast. I now have a layer of foam building on the brew and a bubbling airlock again.

Am I on track with this brew? Did the distilled water have a negative effect on my beer?

Suddy

I used distilled water in my first brew for the exact same reason. I only realized later that you probably should not. Having said that, the beer turned out just fine, so don't worry. You sound like you are doing good.

Distilled water removes the minerals and PH that is optimum for brewing: it's mainly for getting a better tasting beer (PH is important for all grain, so I wouldn't worry about particular water profiles now). Sounds like you've roused the beer some more to keep it fermenting. Probably the bigger culprit in why it didn't go all the way down in your primary is that *I'm assuming* you didn't aerate the wort before pitching the yeast?

Don't worry too much about the distilled water....you should still have good tasting beer: optimal water profile just makes it taste that much better.

I stirred the wort and used a measuring cup to splash it from about 3 feet. I most likely didnt aerate it enough though.

distilled water is generally fine if you're doing all extract (the minerals that were in the water when the extract maker did the mash are still there)

FWIW, aerating and number of yeast cells are the main elements for good attenuation. Looks like you're doing a lot of homework....looks like you're well on your way to making good beer!