water question

[Soybomb]

I'm just getting back into brewing. Years ago I got my hands on a water report and everything was fairly moderate so I didn't worry much about it for brewing other than using a carbon filter.

I left some bottle in oxyclean for about 3 hours yesterday though and they were all getting a really nasty white mineral scum deposited on them. My understanding is that indicates hard water. Sounds like I need to get another water report. I'm planning on brewing an extract batch today though, any advice? I was thinking to just use 2 gallons of distilled water as my top off to "cut" any excess mineral flavor.

 

[yeqmaster]

Yes. I would use at least half DI water.

 

[PorterIV]

The only thing to be careful with is that distilled water contains no minerals at all. Obviously, this may be a good thing if you really high mineral content but this is still more of a concern with all grain brewing. I would double check you water reports and not freak out too much. Unless your water is really messed up there is no need to spend a ton of money on distilled water in my opinion.

With extract brewing, while water is obviously important, it is not nearly as big a deal as all grain where the mineral content affects the ph and enzyme activity of the mash. You are already getting out the chlorine which is most important.

 

[brandong]

I have always avoided distilled water and opted for bottled 'spring water'. It costs the same, but I have always suspected that it would work better than tap or distilled water, but I have no confirmation on that. Spring water has worked well in my brewing so far, so I have just stuck with it. I would LOVE to stop paying $8.00 for water for each $5.00 batch, but don't want to run the risk of ruining a batch.

I will be interested to hear what other have to suggest.

 

[Blindguardian]

From what I understand is that the extract already has all the minerals in it for the style that you are making and JP has said to get the right water profile for the extract that you are brewing you should use distilled water then no water adjustments would be needed.

 

[Soybomb]

From what I understand is that the extract already has all the minerals in it for the style that you are making and JP has said to get the right water profile for the extract that you are brewing you should use distilled water then no water adjustments would be needed.

Maybe some of the canned kits come like that (I would be surprised but I don't know) but consider that most extract we probably use is bulk packaged stuff divided up by the vendor so it won't have the right water profile. Aside from not knowing what style the extract will be made into, its also unknown what concentration of extract would be used.

I went on and just split the difference and used 1 gallon of distilled in the boil and topped off with 2 gallons. I'll get the water report soon and compare this batch to my all tap batch.

 

[TipsyDragon]

i would just use distilled water for the entire batch. extract brewers don't need to worry about a lack of salts and nutrients in the water. the extract takes care of it for them.

 

[Blindguardian]

i would just use distilled water for the entire batch. extract brewers don't need to worry about a lack of salts and nutrients in the water. the extract takes care of it for them.

Exactly! what I was trying to say.

 

[boredatwork]

It depends on what you consider necessary.

In terms of yeast viability you might be OK just assuming the extract provides a sufficient amount of minerals, but if you are after a particular water profile than it cannot be true that extract is sufficient.

For example, if you were brewing a pale ale and a stout and both used light extract the extract by itself cannot be equally accommodating to two completely different styles of beer. But that might only be a concern for people who are adjusting the mineral content of their water for a particular beer style.

 

[jescholler]

I spent quite a bit of energy investigating this topic. See my thread here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/attention-all-extract-brewers-harsh-bitterness-aftertaste-128731/

That thread describes 1 of the many problems an extract brewer could encounter when using tap water.

I would argue that the water we use for extract batches is only very slightly less important than it is for all grain and PM batches.