Water?

[JiggaJames]

Have been reading and talking with others that brew about what water they use to brew. I have been told tap water is what one should use as long as its not really hard water. Others say spring water should be used. For My first batch (a Irish pale ale), I used my tap water and it turned out fine. Just wondering about others thoughts on it. I have noticed about a fifty fifty split in opinions.

 

[BamaRooster]

I use filtered spring water from a local source and that works great for me. It is cheap and has produced great, consistent results. I would never use my tap water because of the high chlorine level. If my tap water had less chemicals, I would use it.

 

[unionrdr]

My tap water is fine till it gets warmer,then I switch to spring water.

 

[Brewnoob1]

I used my tap water for my first 5 or 6 batches. Switched to full boils and spring water and the flavor improved significantly. Not sure if it was the water or the full boil + water combo. Either way, I use bottled water now and love the results.

 

[Homercidal]

Depends on your water. Some water can have chlorine or undesirable amounts of certain minerals. Otherwise, tap is fine.

If you are doing Extract, theory is that using tap or spring water can add too much of certain minerals since the extract itself still has the minerals from when it was made. Using tap or spring water adds more.

Of course that's only a concern if you have high amounts of those minerals.

If you are doing extract and find you like your beer when using tap water, then keep using it. If something doesn't taste right, maybe next time try some RO or Distilled water instead.

 

[rhamilton]

If your water has chlorine, it'll boil out. If you have chloramine, it doesn't boil out but 1 campden tab will remove it from 20 gallons. Check your water reports. Removing chloramine improved my brews across the board and solved my 'twang' issue I was having.

If your water is soft, you can add gypsum/calcium chloride to harden it.

Basically if you are happy with your brews, who cares! If all of your brews are having the same flaws, it's a good idea to start with your water.

 

[QueenCityALER]

The subject of brewing water can become extremely complicated. First you can obtain a breakdown of your water from your Municipal water source for free. It is obviously a good idea if you buy water from county or city. I have used city water with all the nasty stuff, however I boil the entire amount of water I will use to mash with previous to using it. Also I supplement my mash with 5.2 Mash Stabilizer. It's worth the money. However I also agree with the other folks about using bottled spring water. A good resource book for water explanation is Ray Daniels Book: "Designing Great Beers." Either way, go with what satisfies your efficiency and taste buds. Happy Brewing!!

 

[Calichusetts]

I use spring water at the moment, both commercial and a small hidden spring in my town. The local spring is simply fantastic. But spring works great too. I have had amazing homebrews with tap water so it really doesn't matter that much IMO

 

[Mase]

I like to use the old "do you drink it?" rule. I live in Tampa, FL and the tap water down here is nasty. I have a filter in my fridge I drink out of and for that reason I'd choose to go with spring water from the supermarket.

But like many have said before me, the best way to tell is to get a reading on your water to see what's in it and if it would be advantageous to your beer.