Brewing with tap water -- from the HOT faucet

[FlyGuy]

Chime in with your opinion and your thoughts: should you brew with hot tap water or not? It's tempting since you can shave some time heating your mash and sparge water up to temp, but I know some will cringe at the thought of lead contamination or something.

 

[Moonpile]

You shouldn't drink water from the hot water tank. It can have all kinds of nasty bacteria and chemicals and whatnot.

 

[King of Cascade]

Don't use hot tap water if you use a carbon filter. And you should filter tap water if it has chlorine so....don't use hot tap water.

 

[planenut]

I don't. I've always heard that sediment collects in the hot water heater from the element etc..

Could be propaganda but I don't take the chance..

 

[david_42]

I do, BUT I have very pure water, a new heater and PEX piping.

 

[BarleyWater]

I don't. I've always heard that sediment collects in the hot water heater from the element etc..

Could be propaganda but I don't take the chance..

Same pricipal as boiling water to have the hardness precipitate out. Minerals and metals in the water will collect because of the heating element, making the water from all but the newest water heaters contain high levels of minerals, making a much harder water profile from the hot faucet.

Also, as King said, you want to carbon filter your tap water for chlorine and chloramines, and you can't run hot water through carbon filters.

 

[LibertyBrewer]

I have a well and a water softener. I get my brewing water from the outside spigot. It is hard and cold. No chlorine, and no iron.

 

[FlyGuy]

Actually, you can remove chlorine or chloramine from your water with campden tablets. I think the need to filter would only be true if you had other things in your water that you wanted to remove.

 

[blk94f150]

I do it all the time with no problems. I'm not worried about the minerals and such of the hot water heater after it has already traveled miles in pipes to get there.

Mike

 

[mmb]

I voted never, but that is based on my situation.

Extremely hard water in this area. So hard it eats the anode rods in water heaters within a year or two and gives an odd smell to the water of sulfur. Common practice by plumbers to remove rod whenever possible and run without. Add to that the minerals collected in the hot water heater from the heating process in a hard water environment and that's two strikes.

Since the well water is so hard, we have a water softener. This is hooked up to my hot and cold water except I have a non-softened cold run to the kitchen sink and my brew sink. Brewing with hot softened (salted) water doesn't sound like a great idea to me.

So I use cold and never hot. YMMV but I find that my cold (58*F) water warms up within 10 minutes on the burner.

 

[LibertyBrewer]

I voted never, but that is based on my situation.

Extremely hard water in this area. So hard it eats the anode rods in water heaters within a year or two and gives an odd smell to the water of sulfur. Common practice by plumbers to remove rod whenever possible and run without. Add to that the minerals collected in the hot water heater from the heating process in a hard water environment and that's two strikes.

Since the well water is so hard, we have a water softener. This is hooked up to my hot and cold water except I have a non-softened cold run to the kitchen sink and my brew sink. Brewing with hot softened (salted) water doesn't sound like a great idea to me.

So I use cold and never hot. YMMV but I find that my cold (58*F) water warms up within 10 minutes on the burner.

Certain Pilsners like soft water.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I said weeellll.......

If you have a softener, then your hot water is prolly soft, and I don't use soft water. In my new digs, I have no softener, so I go for the hot water tap.

 

[conpewter]

I said weeellll.......

If you have a softener, then your hot water is prolly soft, and I don't use soft water. In my new digs, I have no softener, so I go for the hot water tap.

Well soft water is not an issue, it is water that has gone through a water softener (which adds way too much sodium to the water).

You should add brewing salts to soft water though to match the style you are brewing.

I don't think you should use water from the water heater since I do like to use a carbon filter, but I think if you are doing extract that it would be just fine as long as you put a little potassium metisulfate in to knock out the chlorine/chloramine.

 

[BeerCanuck]

I am currently using my hot water tap mainly due to the time saving benefit.
The sediment from the hot water tank is partially filtered by the grainbed when mashing I believe.
I am currently researching a point of use tankless electric water heater for brewing. Does anyone have such a system that they could recommend?

Cheers
BeerCanuck

 

[FlyGuy]

I have been eyeing those up, too. They would actually get around most of the problems that people are mentioning here (i.e., you could get around sediment concerns and you could filter the water before heating).

 

[mew]

The hot tap should usually not be used for drinking purposes because it leeches metals from your plumbing into your water. In new houses, this won't be much of a problem, but in old houses you could get higher amounts of lead and other bad things.

 

[Kugster]

I said weeellll.......

If you have a softener, then your hot water is prolly soft, and I don't use soft water. In my new digs, I have no softener, so I go for the hot water tap.

I don't know how true this is...but, I heard that a proper soft water system should NOT be hooked into the hot water tank due to the fact of the salt?? Again...this may be BS?

 

[mmb]

Certain Pilsners like soft water.

But not salted water out of a residential water softener.

I use 50/50 distilled/spring water for Pilsners.

 

[EvilTOJ]

I brew with water right out of the hot tap with no flavor problems at all. Saves a good forty minutes off my brew-day too, since it starts out at 120º out of the tap.

 

[billy915]

I never use hot tap water for my brew; on the other hand, i do use hot tap water for my one step sanitizer. Would anyone consider that a problem?

 

[EdWort]

I don't but I will soon as the water will be filtered before it hits the tankless water heater.

 

[remilard]

I never use hot tap water for my brew; on the other hand, i do use hot tap water for my one step sanitizer. Would anyone consider that a problem?

I don't think so. Acid sanitizers like Star-San should not be mixed with hard water but I think one step is going to work fine regardless of the water pH.

 

[King of Cascade]

Actually, you can remove chlorine or chloramine from your water with campden tablets. I think the need to filter would only be true if you had other things in your water that you wanted to remove.

What else would a carbon filter take out of your water.

 

[somecallmetim]

Don't use hot tap water if you use a carbon filter. And you should filter tap water if it has chlorine so....don't use hot tap water.

I was going to ask why, but googled it instead...

"• Hot water should never be run through an activated carbon filter because hot water can release trapped contaminants into the water stream. When considering Activated Carbon Filters, the consumer should rather choose Point of Entry systems (using only cold water) instead of Point of Use Filter systems (water can get hot). "

according to this site...
Water Filter Comparison - Treatment with Activated Carbon Filters

This kind of backs up my personal experience, I've been using hot water through my filter, and had a batch with a plasticy/phenolic odor/flavor after about 10 batches, (the filter should have been good for much longer) changed the filter and the last couple have been good. I'll be filling the hlt with cold from now on...

 

[FlyGuy]

What else would a carbon filter take out of your water.

Organic contaminants, particularly those that make water taste and smell bad. That's where the market for activated carbon filtration systems come from.

 

[jmendez29]

I've been using hot water through my filter, and had a batch with a plasticy/phenolic odor/flavor after about 10 batches, (the filter should have been good for much longer) changed the filter and the last couple have been good. I'll be filling the hlt with cold from now on...

I can't speak for all carbon filters, but where I work we filter and demineralize a lot of water. We limit ourselves to a maximum temperature of 130F, because higher temperatures can cause damage to the filter media. The filter resins we use are composed of plastic and elevated temps cause them to start breaking down and lose their function. That may be the cause of the odor/flavor. But it also may not have any merit, they may be different types of resin.

 

[SeldomSeen]

I've done a couple of different things.
When I first started brewing, I was boiling the water for 45 minutes to drive off the chlorine/fluoride.
Then I got a Pur water filter (carbon filter). When that clogged up and broke (I have VERY hard water). I started using a local brand of spring water (mt olympus).

After all of that, I have gone back to pouring HOT tap water into my brew kettle and boiling for about 45 minutes. This seems to make the best tasting beer and I have fewer off flavors than I got with either the carbon filter OR the spring water.

 

[King of Cascade]

Organic contaminants, particularly those that make water taste and smell bad. That's where much of the market for activated carbon filtration systems come from.

Organic contaminants, particularly those that make water taste and smell bad. That's where much of the market for activated carbon filtration systems come from.

OK… If its drinking water VOC’s could be an issue but are Organic Compounds a big concern to the ordinary home brewer.

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[GNBrews]

As an example of how hot water affects dissolved minerals (hardness). My cold water tap has ~250ppm dissolved minerals. My hot water tap is close to 500.

 

[FlyGuy]

OK… If its drinking water VOC’s could be an issue but are Organic Compounds a big concern to the ordinary home brewer.

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I guess it depends on how good or how bad their water tastes. I know I wouldn't brew with water from the tap if it tasted bad, unless I could improve it with a filter.