How Important is Boiling "top off" Water?

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BigTexun

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I'm still a newbie... got my start with a Mr. Beer. Moving up to 5 gallon batches now and wondering how important it is to pre-boil the 2 gallons of "makeup" water pre-fermentation. I didn't do it with the Mr. Beer and got what I considered to be outstanding results.

In case it matters, for now, I am still using LME with steeping grains.

Your thoughts?
 
My friend does it every time. I never do, and I think my beer is better. But thats something different. I think water quality would be the determining factor.

Have you tried it both ways?
 
I've never boiled it. 40+ batches. I just filter thru the brita into a sanitized water cooler bottle to save for when i need it.
 
Depends... if it's bottled water, it should be fine. Municipal tap water will usually be ok unless it has chlorine in it, in which case it needs to be boiled. If it has chloramine in it, it has to be filtered to remove the chloramine first, or you'll end up with beer that tastes like band-aids.
 
I have deep well water, and I'm planning on putting it right in from the tap, unboiled.

It's probably the best tasting tap water I've ever had, but I can't say I'm totally not worried about doing it this way on my first batch. If it works, I'll be happy... :)
 
I brew with great tasting deep well water too. The well water is not treated out of the tap and we have never had any health problems that we could trace to the lack of water treatment. But I figure with all the steps one takes to sanitize things in the brewing process that adding untreated water to the mix goes against what you have just accomplished with the sanitizing. So I boil all the water I use in brewing, except that which I sanitize in, which I figure is treated with the sanitizer. I use no rinse sanitizer so I don't rinse with tap water after sanitizing. I boil a gallon or so of water in a pasta pot before the brewing session and use it whenever I need pure water during the brewing process. I can boil 5 gallons of wort at a time, so no problems with having to add water to the boil after it is done. Usually it is used to top off the fermenter to make up for any shortages, usually only a quart or two.
 
There WILL be bacteria in the top off water if it isn't boiled. Anything post boil that comes in contact with the wort should be sanitized. Some people seem to get away with it though. The sooner you drink the beer, probably less the risk that the bacteria can take hold enough to do damage. Going to make a beer that will age for at least a year? Why take the risk? One poster talked about a gusher infection that took two years to show up.
 
I've been using filtered tap water to top off my small boil Late Addition brews since 1994.

I've had very few problems and some of my brews are over 1 year old. ;)

I still have a 6er of Westmalle Dubbel that I made in 2006.
 
I brew with RO water. Whenever I service the system I'll clean and sanitize all the parts when I put it back together, running a mild bleach solution through everything, then I run a few gallons through to rinse it all out before connecting a new RO membrane. Since the water flowing in is chlorinated it should be aseptic apart from possibly some cysts which the pre-filter catches; once it has passed through the entire system it is essentially sterile. I use it all the time to top up fermenters, to dilute starter wort, etc. without any problems.
 
You don't need to. It's just a basic sanitary "rule" that says you need to sanitize everything on the cold side. Some people will tell you that they used dirty water and still had "great" beers. To each their own.

Also, boiling removes oxygen, so if you don't plan on pitching yeast right away, you can oxydize your beer. But even then, people will says that they never cared for oxidation and still made "great" beers.

See, it's not an all or nothing. Instead of scoring 85% on your beer, you'll get 82%. Most people can't tell the difference anyway. I think it's the sum of all those little details that makes a great beer. You can clearly skip a few steps if you want. You probably won't taste the difference. But it will be there.
 
I would say it depends on your water to start with. If it tastes fine (i.e. there's no taste,) you should be fine.
If there's a chlorine taste or odor, I would use campden tabs, or let it sit out a few days before using (obviously this means planning ahead, but allowing it to sit will let the chlorine evaporate [for lack of a better term right now] out. Campden gets it out very quickly.)
If there's any kind of metallic or mineral taste, then I'd either filter or not use it at all.
 
I’m on a well and have always topped off straight from the tap. Been doing that for years and haven’t had a problem. I believe that it helps to pitch a healthy, viable slug of hungry yeast so they can get to work before anything can get a foothold.

That being said…. If boiling your top off water before adding or adding distilled water straight from a freshly opened bottle gives you some piece of mind, then do it.
 
You don't need to. It's just a basic sanitary "rule" that says you need to sanitize everything on the cold side. Some people will tell you that they used dirty water and still had "great" beers. To each their own.

Also, boiling removes oxygen, so if you don't plan on pitching yeast right away, you can oxydize your beer. But even then, people will says that they never cared for oxidation and still made "great" beers.

See, it's not an all or nothing. Instead of scoring 85% on your beer, you'll get 82%. Most people can't tell the difference anyway. I think it's the sum of all those little details that makes a great beer. You can clearly skip a few steps if you want. You probably won't taste the difference. But it will be there.

I think this last paragraph is what tells the truth about a lot of the brewing practices. Each one decides how far they want to go to get the beer they like;-)
 
When I brewed with extract I'd purchase gallons of water from the store and I'd just pour the top off water right in. No issues with that whatsoever.
 
Following what are often considered good practices in home brewing is more about minimising potential risks than being absolute requirements. One of the few exceptions is following good yeast pitching practices. Fail here and there's a good chance all the other corners cut add up to conspire against a successful brew. The number one issue reported in home brew forums. Under pitching half-dead yeast cells. Only when we follow good yeast pitching practices - pitch sufficient healthy cells - can we hope to believe Joe Bloggs had no issues whatsoever when he accidentally dropped his Speedos, a pair of Y-fronts, an old sock and a thong (his wife's, apparently) into his FV whilst pitching in a hurry, on his way to the dirty laundry basket.
 
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