help, I wanna brew today, but i have an issue

[witster18]

pardon my stupidity - I'm a beginner.


It's 4degrees and a couple of my pipes are frozen. Basically means I'm stuck here in the house(waiting to see if there's gonna b a pipe disaster or not) and can't go buy the spring water I usually use for brewing.

I don't wanna use the tap because A.I haven't found out what's in it(we do drink it although not regularly) and B.ITS CITY WATER.

the only other water in the house is two cases of Aquafina... I have nothing to ck ph because I usually use the same water. Can I use this Aquafina for this stout I wanna mash-in today or not.... I do have some gypsum handy...

any help would be appreciated.

 

[mtnagel]

I think you should worry about unfreezing your pipes before you start brewing

I left my water dripping at home on the faucets near the outside walls because a neighbors froze yesterday.

 

[witster18]

but I've pretty much done everything I can do at this point. took one of the heaters under the house.... just about broke$ so if a pipe breaks I'm in deep crap anyway... so as I sit here pondering the possible inevitability of disaster... waiting... I wouldn't mind keeping myself busy...

 

[Braufessor]

Got a friend who can drop some water off for you? Someone who likes drinking your beer? THey can earn their keep

 

[mtnagel]

When I was researching it yesterday, I saw people using hair dryers to unfreeze the pipes. So you might have options to avert disaster.

But if you want to brew, I'd try to find out what's in the Aquafina. Maybe it's similar to the spring water you were using before and you can brew without changing anything. Hard for me to say what to do without knowing more about the bottled water.

Good luck with your pipes!

 

[witster18]

the good news - is who needs a wort chiller... gonna call the neighbor asking him to make a walmart run for 3 bombers of helles in trade... he'll ask for 4(know him well), maybe I should offer two...

 

[jrstaples1]

Definitely no wort chiller necessary in this weather (-13° here now). I got 5 gal down to 68° in 15 min on Saturday just swirling the kettle in a plastic tub filled with snow and water.

I made a run to the store last night and had to chuckle when I saw a case of 2° Below on the shelf. Might have to one-up New Belgium.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Homercidal]

pardon my stupidity - I'm a beginner.


It's 4degrees and a couple of my pipes are frozen. Basically means I'm stuck here in the house(waiting to see if there's gonna b a pipe disaster or not) and can't go buy the spring water I usually use for brewing.

I don't wanna use the tap because A.I haven't found out what's in it(we do drink it although not regularly) and B.ITS CITY WATER.

the only other water in the house is two cases of Aquafina... I have nothing to ck ph because I usually use the same water. Can I use this Aquafina for this stout I wanna mash-in today or not.... I do have some gypsum handy...

any help would be appreciated.

If I were you, I'd find some more heat for those pipes. Hair dryer, propane torch, whatever. Make sure you are using the torch only on metal pipes! Don't light the house on fire! Once you get some flow, leave it trickling.

If you are just wanting to brew, why not use city water? Can you call and ask the city offices or works and check if they add chlorine or chloramine? If you can't find out, it's a crapshoot. Aquafina is fine if you have enough and can add some gyspum.

Any brewing is better than no brewing, unless your house floods...

 

[ChuBru]

Brew with the aquafina...beer is more important that water pipes dude

 

[Woody1911a1]

if i'm not mistaken , aquafina is filtered tap water bottled and by Pepsi ... ok googling turns up : " Aquafina is a brand of purified bottled water products produced by PepsiCo, consisting of both unflavored and flavored water. "

and " Aquafina Pure Water, the primary unflavored product produced under the Aquafina brand, is derived from local municipal tap water sources and goes through a purification process that incorporates reverse osmosis, ultraviolet and ozone sterilization.[3] Beginning on July 27, 2007, a disclaimer was added to each bottle of Aquafina, stating the water comes from a "public source".

just so's you know . i'd use it .

 

[Hello]

I'd use the aquafina without another thought; however, seems to me that brewing when pipes are frozen is stupid. How the heck will you clean your brew equipment?