Boil all the water?

[Erythro73]

Tomorrow is gonna be my first brew day! So I'm very excited about it, I'm prepare to take some photos, etc.

But, I just think. Is it essential to boil all the water there will be in my fermenter? I mean, I'll boil water needed to do my wort (as it is there during boil time...)that's fine, but the addional water I'll add into my fermenter to be at my desired volume, do I need to boil it too?

I'll be using bottled water, as I do not have any trust in my own tap water (heck, I don't even drink from it).

Thank you!

 

[IceFisherChris]

I have done 5 batches and all have used water straight from the tap that was never boiled.
No infections. Wouldn't hurt to boil it if you are concerned.

 

[eljefe]

I too have used regualr tap water to get to 5 gallons with no problems. You can also use the cold water to help bring down the temperature of the wort.

 

[Bdogg]

x2, get the bottled water nice and cold so that you can cool the wort really quick.

 

[MarcJWaters]

I live in the midwest - pretty much known for our horrible quality of water. However, I have used tap water for the past few years and have never really had a problem with it.

Boiling Water really does not do any good (as I understand). If you have water with contaminates in it, and you boil it, the vapor is the clean water. What is left behind is water with a higher concentration of contaminates.

If you are worried, go buy some Food Club gallons of spring water. $.99 a gallon...

 

[Joeywhat]

If you've got a lot of chlorine in your tap water it should be boiled. Or if you think it has some nasties in it.

I always use bottled water and don't boil the top off.

 

[Newbeerguy]

When I used to do partial boils, I never boiled the top off water. I just poured it in straight from the tap. It also helped lower the wort to pitching tempature quicker.

 

[mordantly]

i had some cream soda go funky after a month.. as i didnt boil the water first. if im fermenting... i boil 60 mins.

 

[Yooper]

Since you're using bottled water, you don't need to boil your top off water. Just add it when directed. You can chill it first, so that you're adding cold water to help bring your wort to pitching temperatures.

I have excellent city water, and I never boiled my top off water. But if you do use tap water and have chlorine or chloramines, that's a different story.

 

[Chudz]

Another vote here for not having to boil bottled spring water. It's worked through six batches so far.

 

[Erythro73]

Thank you so much for your answers, it helps me a lot! I am thinking about the whole process I'll do in about 12-13 hours from now, and I want it to be as clear as possible (the clearer the process, the less nervous I am, the better the finished beer is). I wanted to eliminate unnecessary process like boiling bottled water to keep it simple and stupid (but still be sanitary enough). Plus, it would have brought some logistic problems I didn't want to bring.