I'm brewing my first batch of beer (extract kit) this weekend and want to use either spring or distilled water. Are there any differences between the two when it comes to Home Brewing? If so, would you recommend using one over the other?
Dont use distilled water to brew, mineral content is your friend
By brewing an Extract kit , you can use distilled water , since the Extract itself brings all the Minerals you need for brewing .
Drinking water is just filtered. Spring water has some little natural minerals in it,but doesn't taste like it. Not to be confused with well (ie ground water),spring water comes from pockets in the bedrock like natural gas or oil.
Topher79 said:I have started using water in my PM brews
SpeedYellow said:24 posts until somebody points out the obvious that YOU DON'T KNOW THE MINERAL CONTENT of spring water or drinking water. Either might be fine for extract, but for all-grain you're introducing a big unknown that can severely hurt your beer quality. Moreover, if your beer has problems, you'll have no idea if the water was the culprit since you have no idea what's in the water.
You have to remember that spring water comes from pockets in the bedrock. Well water is just ground water,& those labeled "drinking water" is just filtered tap water.
How is it that extract has enough minerals? I know an extract brewer that only uses distilled and his beer is consistently better, without an sour tang, that I taste in other home brew in my area as well as mine . It seems that distilled maybe better than filtered if the filtered is veg high in calcium or other things ?Yes, maybe so but with extract it really doesn't matter. If you don't have a good inexpensive source for spring water, then reverse osmosis water or distilled water would be fine.
How is it extract brewing has minerals? A friend who only uses distilled water in extract seems to make the most consistent beer without a sour / tangy after taste a lot of other extract brews in my area seem to have.Yes, maybe so but with extract it really doesn't matter. If you don't have a good inexpensive source for spring water, then reverse osmosis water or distilled water would be fine.
A friend who only uses distilled water in extract seems to make the most consistent beer without a sour / tangy after taste a lot of other extract brews in my area seem to have.
The producer of the extract uses vacuum evaporation to remove just the water, leaving the minerals in the wort behind.How is it extract brewing has minerals?
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