Water?

[atadams77]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post and I am totally new to home brewing, so sorry if i ask something that has already been covered.

I have yet to brew my first batch. I am still doing my homework. One question I have currently pertains to water. I assume water makes a big difference in beer, one reason some beers are better than others. In everyone's experience what is a preferred source for water? It is undergoing boiling a few times during the brewing process, so would it be safe to assume impurities, if any, do boil off?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[duboman]

In short, yes it is boiled so there is no problem, generally speaking and without getting into major science since this is your first beer, if your water is good enough to drink out of the tap it's good enough to brew with, cheers and welcome to the hobby!

 

[H-ost]

If you are doing extract then you are ok to follow "if it tastes good, brew with it". If you are brewing All-Grain then it gets a little more complicated and you need to pay attention to your PH and know what fillers are in your water.

Boiling removes chlorine but not chloramamine but you can use campden tablets to get rid of that.

In the Brew Science section there is a sticky on the top of the page called Water Chemistry - A Primer. That is a good read.

 

[kwingert]

If you are brewing extract, use distilled water or RO water. The extract has all the minerals you need in it. I wouldn't worry too much about your water, concentrate more on your fermentation and getting it right. Good luck

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

+1 to "If it tastes good, brew with it". Everyone around here has their preferences. Some use tap, some use spring, some use RO, some use distilled. Personally I use RO, but that is because I am on well water at home and we have lots of iron that is nearly impossible to get rid of without expensive filtration equipment.