Top off water?

I have two batches under my belt and each time I have been a little short on the volume transferred to my fermentation bucket. It will probably take another couple batches to fine tune my volume calculations. In the meantime, what type of water should I use to top off the fermentation bucket, i.e. purified, distilled, boiled and cooled tap water, etc.?

I boil a couple of gallons the night before, cover it and leave it at room temp.

When it comes time to top off, that's what I use.

I use reverse-osmosis purified water from Walmart. It comes in gallon jugs so it is easy to measure and maneuver.

For top off I generally use bottled water and haven't had any problems yet. It gets pricey, of course.

Generally speaking, you want to stay away from distilled water. You want/need the minerals and distilled doesn't have much if any at all. If you are only topping off a small amount, it won't hurt, but try to avoid it if possible.

I've always used water straight from the tap. The rule of thumb I've heard is that if your tap water is good to drink, and tastes not too minerally, then it's probably fine to brew with. I've never had an issue

Whatever you do, don't use dihydrogen monoxide. That stuff is deadly.

Tap water for me as well. It's got less chance of bacterial contaminants than anything bottled....

Yuppers, good old Marengo, Illinois municipal tap water for my top-up. And I agree that if your tap water is good enough to drink, it's good to brew with, too.

glenn514

glenn514 said:

And I agree that if your tap water is good enough to drink, it's good to brew with, too.
glenn514

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Even without boiling to kill any possible bacteria in the piping that could effect outcome?

ianskate said:

Even without boiling to kill any possible bacteria in the piping that could effect outcome?

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You pipes should be pressurized, so there is water filling the entire pipe. When you open the valve you release pressure and it starts to flow. I would think the majority of the nasties that you would have to worry about would need oxygen (not part of the H2O molecule) to grow. Since the pipe is completely filled, there isn't any oxygen for them. Just my guesses.

ianskate said:

Even without boiling to kill any possible bacteria in the piping that could effect outcome?

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Do you brush your teeth with your tap water? Do you shower with it and maybe get some in your mouth? Do you use ice made with the water coming into your house? Do you Drink it?

Do you live in a city that is currently having a boil water advisory?

Have we been so brainwashed from buying little plastic bottles of overpriced water (that may have ALSO come out of a tap, and MAY have less governement regulations than our municipal water) that we have forgotten that that sink in our kitchen isn't JUST used to wash dishes with? I have always found this fear that folks have of their own water ridiculous. If you can drink your water you can brew with it (all arguments about chlorimines aside, I'm talking about sanitization.) If you can drink the water out of your tap without getting sick, you can top off your fermenter with it. I've done it all my brewing career and NEVER had any issues.

I've just found this blind trust people have over those tiny plastic bottles over our own home water is ludicrious....

Let's start with an independent four year study of the bottled water industry, completed in 1999 by the Natural Resources Defense Council.1 The report of the results along with a petition to the FDA stated that there were "major gaps in bottled water regulation and that bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water". The study's principal findings were that although most bottled water seems good quality, "some bottled water contains bacterial contaminants, and several brands of bottled water contain synthetic organic chemicals (such as industrial solvents, chemicals from plastic, or trihalomethanes - the by-products of the chemical reaction between chlorine and organic matter in water) or inorganic contaminants (such as arsenic, a known carcinogen) in at least some bottles".

.........

This leads us to the subject of the chlorination of our public drinking water in the USA. This law is in effect to sterilize and disinfect the water, eradicating all types of bacteria.

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According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which is a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting health and the environment, more than 25% of all bottled water comes from a public source. That's right - it's the same water that's piped to homes and businesses.

How can that happen? Because they can. No one is demanding truth in advertising from water bottling companies!

Standards for purity exist, of course. BUT ...Bottled water purity is regulated by the FDA, and because the FDA puts low priority on water, bottlers are inspected and tested less than once a year. According to one FDA official, it's the manufacturer's responsibility to ensure that the product complies with laws and regulations.

The result: Some do, and some don't. And even worse, if the water is bottled and delivered within the same state, there are NO regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water, so if a bottler uses a public source that has passed their inspection, it should be OK to drink - right? Not necessarily.

In tests done by the NRDC, at least one sample from a third of the brands contained bacterial or chemical contaminants, including carcinogens in levels exceeding state or industry standards. Not to be argumentative, but I have to wonder why any level of carcinogens is OK.

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My understanding is that our municipal water sources are tested several times a day. That's how they are able to have a boil water declaration if something is detected.

Personally...I trust my tap water and my plumbing more than I think it's worth buying water, or bothering to boil it, if I don't have a BWA in my town.

Thank you, Revvy, for posting all that information about bottled water, as well as the tap water we drink and use every day. If there are nasty bugs in my drinking water, I do believe that Marengo's water & sewer department would shut the system down. Actually, the water here is much better tasting than the municipal water we had in Plano, Texas. It was QUITE warm in the summer, and tasted "mossy."

So, I will continue to use plain old tap water to top up my brews. If you want to use another method, go right ahead, but it's kinda like putting premium gasoline in a car that's designed for regular: a waste.

glenn514

So If your water is not good enough to drink using a brita filter ... How about campden tablets?

I would think that if my water was NOT good enough to drink, I would buy RO water at the grocery store, or I'd move!

glenn514

I also use tap water. It is Meridian Township water in Michigan and is actually some of the best tasting water I've had. No funky chlorine smells, no salty taste, bla bla bla.

Just smell and taste the tap water. If it smells like eggs, a pool, or a crapper-tank, don't use it for your beer.

I've used both my well and my spring. Been drinking it for 15 years without issue. I think I get better beer with my well. I'd have to say there is something to having at least some minerals in the water. I've never had the water tested, and the fact the spring water is in the 40's now means it works great as a chiller.