Is RO water Sanitized??

[topher]

Hey guys,

I have recently started "washing" yeast and was wondering if RO water is sanitary. The first few washings i did I would boil about a gallon of RO water, let it cool then pour it on the primary yeast Cake to begin the Washing process.

The whole boiling then cooling a gallon of water can take some time so i am wondering if I can go straight out of the RO faucet into the primary to start the washing process, or could there be some nasties in there?

Thanks

 

[Beerrific]

No, I would not risk it. The tip of that faucet is probably nasty.

 

[Yooper]

That, and for yeast washing you really don't want to be "sanitary". You want to be sterile if possible.

Even a couple of bacterium could ruin the yeast and spoil the next batch. It's not that important when you're brewing, as a large yeast pitch tends to overwhelm anything else (that's one reason why it's good to pitch an optimum amount) but for yeast washing, the bacteria can multiply during storage and contaminate the yeast.

 

[kpr121]

What if one were to buy RO bottled water?

 

[boomtown25]

Ok, I know this is going to be idiotic, but what is "RO water"? I live in MS and we have tap water or bottled water, or spring water. The only thing I can come up with is run off water.

 

[kpr121]

Reverse Osmosis

 

[Fatcougar]

RO = Reverse Osmosis, Impurities are removed from the water by differences in osmotic pressure between two liquids using pressure and a selective membrane material... kind of like very fine filtering. Results in almost pure water with no minerals. FC.

Oops, someone beat me to it...

 

[boomtown25]

thank you!

 

[944play]

I would not use RO to wash yeast for the same reason you don't rehydrate dry yeast with RO - the osmotic pressure on the cells. Dechlorinated, boiled tap water is fine.

 

[topher]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Looks like boiled tap water is my best bet