Store bought H20

[Louz]

We recently moved into a new house. Its a new well, new plumbing etc.. so I'm not sure about our water yet.

I'd like to break the garage in this weekend for my first brew at the new place.

Is regular store bought Spring water good to use? I'm doing an extract IPA

 

[RM-MN]

With extract the wort was produced using the proper water. You don't have to worry about what minerals to use to adjust whatever water you use so go with RO or distilled water. There is no need for any special water so just filtered drinking water would also work. The big factor in the water you use is the presence of chlorine or chloramine which will give you an off flavor. If the water may have either, 1/4 tablet of Campden tablets will clear it out very quickly and won't hurt anything if the water does not have any chlorine in it.

 

[Rob2010SS]

+1 to RO or distilled water.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I used to buy water in the beginning (1994) but since then I only use PUR filtered tap water. The village sends everyone a water report every year. As long as there are no violations/safety issues, I'm good.

 

[Bostrows128]

I used to buy water in the beginning (1994) but since then I only use PUR filtered tap water. The village sends everyone a water report every year. As long as there are no violations/safety issues, I'm good.

You're lucky... I couldn't even find my report on the internet for a week.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I agree that the spring water for the store is good to use, but I would also like to add that (aside from chlorine or chloramide) water DOES matter with extract. as RM-MN mentioned, water doesn't matter in the respect that you're not mashing and don't have to worry about pH, but it should be considered for overall flavor profile. True, you can make acceptable beer by using tap or spring water, but if you want your darks to be rich and malty and your IPAs to pop, at least pay attention to the Cl:SO4 ratio.

But clearly this is the "next level" kind of stuff and beyond the scope of "is spring water good to use". This is just one of the handful of factors I point to newer brewers when asked about what they can do to make their good beer great.

 

[parjay]

+1 for distilled if you are doing an extract batch.

 

[Louz]

OK. Thanks everybody

 

[homebrewer_99]

You're lucky... I couldn't even find my report on the internet for a week.

Call the city. They should have one.

 

[wallyLOZ]

When I switched from tap to bottled water, I emailed the company and requested a water profile. They supplied it, no questions asked. Now use a combo of spring and distilled.