boiling tap water? | HomeBrewTalk.com - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Community.

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk by donating:

  1. Dismiss Notice
  2. We have a new forum and it needs your help! Homebrewing Deals is a forum to post whatever deals and specials you find that other homebrewers might value! Includes coupon layering, Craigslist finds, eBay finds, Amazon specials, etc.
    Dismiss Notice

boiling tap water?

Discussion in 'All Grain & Partial Mash Brewing' started by ThaDutchMasta, May 25, 2008.

 

  1. #1
    ThaDutchMasta

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 25, 2008
    so whats the deal with boiling tap water for brewing?
     
  2. #2
    brewjunky

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 25, 2008
    What do you mean by the deal?

    It kills any bacteria that may be in the water and also helps to get rid of Chlorine that is in the water.
     
  3. #3
    eriktlupus

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 25, 2008
    and also will help precipitate any dissolved solids present
     
  4. #4
    Chris_Dog

    Orange whip?  

    Posted May 25, 2008
    When waters temperature gets to 212°F (100°C) it starts to convert to steam (a gas).
     
  5. #5
    Awfers

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 25, 2008
    You can boil it for several reasons:

    - Precipitate the disolved solids if your water is too hard, so you can later modify it by adding minerals depending on what beer you want to brew (some say this is pointless, but depending on how strictly you want to follow a recipe to brew a Pilsner, which normally has low disolved solids)

    - Remove chlorine (like Brewjunky said)

    - Kill bacteria (like Brewjunky said)


    I don't trust my local municipality to provide consistant, "good" water. They sometimes take it from a local lake rather than the mountains, and it will taste "brackish", it also contains varying amounts of chlorine (more for lake water, less for mountain water). I also live in a 600 year old house, so lord knows what all is growing in the pipes or in the water mains.

    So, I boil my water prior to fermenting (I am currently doing extract brewing, so I put cold, disinfected water into the fermenter to dilute the high-gravity extract wort).

    Cheers,
    Awfers
     
  6. #6
    sittingturbo

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 25, 2008
    Wow do you live in Rome or something didn't realize they had plumming that long ago... J/K :)
     
  7. #7
    budbo

    Beer is good  

    Posted May 26, 2008
    Boiling only gets rid of Chlorine if your locality uses Gas.. Where I'm at they use chlorine compounds that don't boil out :(
     
  8. #8
    BarleyWater

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 26, 2008
    A carbon filter should clean them out.
     
  9. #9
    Hoosierbrewer

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 26, 2008
    If it is a concern, buy a cheap 5 gallon or larger vessel and buy it at walmart. It is like $.35 a gallon for RO. I usually let my tap water sit out overnight and then dilute it with RO. (50/50).
     
  10. #10
    BuffaloSabresBrewer

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 26, 2008
    you guys have tap water! lucky!
     
  11. #11
    budbo

    Beer is good  

    Posted May 26, 2008
    It does

    It took years to get, now if only we could get a roof..
     
  12. #12
    homebrewer_99

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 26, 2008
    I don't boil my tap water, but I do use it through a PUR 3-stage filter. ;)
     
  13. #13
    Rudeboy

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    Two Thousand years of civilization and they still haven't figured out how to have the hot and the cold water come out of the same tap.:D

    Rudeboy
     
  14. #14
    67coupe390

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    Why do you let your tap water sit over night. What does this do?
     
  15. #15
    anderj

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    :off:come on, even though the vessel itself is probably made in China you can't find a local place to buy it?
    -ander
     
  16. #16
    Bytor1100

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    I think it's awesome how much the human population has evolved over a couple hundred years. (yeah i know Rome existed beyond 600 years ago for anyone tryin to jump me)
     
  17. #17
    DeathBrewer

    Maniacally Malty  

    Posted May 29, 2008
    wait...who boils tapwater? :D
     
  18. #18
    EvilTOJ

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    I boil tapwater.... with sugar and hops added to it.
     
  19. #19
    Awfers

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    If the chlorine used to sanitize the water by the municipality is the gas form, it will simply evaporate out of the water..

    An old NYC trick : Take a old plastic milk jug, fill it with tap water, let it sit with the cap off overnight in the fridge. The next morning, good tasting water without the chlorine/bleach smell and taste.
     
  20. #20
    sirsloop

    Well-Known Member

    Posted May 29, 2008
    x2..............
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page

Group Builder