I have a couple of questions about using different water types for extract brewing. I was curious what results I would get if I brewed 3 batches of the same extract recipe using filtered tap water, distilled water, and natural spring water. This has only been fermenting for a few days but I already noticed some differences that someone might be able to explain to me. I bought a 5 gallon recipe of Zoomin Pale Ale from NB and scaled it down to three 1 gallon batch sizes. To eliminate any influence from specialty grains I chose this recipe because it doesnt have any. I used Safale 05 dry yeast and yeast nutrient. All three were brewed the same day, and the same methods were used.
1) I have noticed that the distilled water batch is considerably lighter than the other two, and the tap water batch is marginally lighter than the spring water which is darkest, why is this?
2) The tap water and spring water batches both filled their blow-off tubes within 36 hours, while the distilled batch never came close to reaching the tube, what caused this?
3) The spring water batch is the most active of the three, with lots of noticeable churning going on. Why is this most active?
4) The three krausen photos show three different sizes of bubbles at the top. The tap water has the smallest bubbles, the spring water is marginally larger, while the distilled water has much larger bubbles. These pics were all taken from the same distance, so the bubble size differences are accurate. What causes this and will this directly influence carbonation bubble size and mouth feel in the finished beer after bottle conditioning?
1) I have noticed that the distilled water batch is considerably lighter than the other two, and the tap water batch is marginally lighter than the spring water which is darkest, why is this?
2) The tap water and spring water batches both filled their blow-off tubes within 36 hours, while the distilled batch never came close to reaching the tube, what caused this?
3) The spring water batch is the most active of the three, with lots of noticeable churning going on. Why is this most active?
4) The three krausen photos show three different sizes of bubbles at the top. The tap water has the smallest bubbles, the spring water is marginally larger, while the distilled water has much larger bubbles. These pics were all taken from the same distance, so the bubble size differences are accurate. What causes this and will this directly influence carbonation bubble size and mouth feel in the finished beer after bottle conditioning?