Reverse osmosis water.

[MikEH86]

Hey all I was thinking about getting my water from the grocery store for my beer as far as I can tell its just reverse osmosis and not distilled.

My tap water is drinkable but its high ph and has something in it if you boil water in the same pot it leaves a film on the pot and after boiling you can see things floating in it. (Some locals say the guy adds pot ash to the water) Its town water thats treated but was wondering about reverse osmosis water

 

[Jag75]

RO water is a no brainer when used with brewing programs. I'm not sure ph of water is the issue. Its usually alkalinity. Now mash ph is pretty important. I had my water checked and adjusted. It wasnt long for me to figure out it's just easier building up from RO.

 

[VikeMan]

Hey all I was thinking about getting my water from the grocery store for my beer as far as I can tell its just reverse osmosis and not distilled.

For practical brewing purposes, RO water can be used just like distilled.

 

[MikEH86]

For practical brewing purposes, RO water can be used just like distilled.

Oh? I thought distilled was not great to use as it's lacking all the minerals and otherwise flavours but its still better then the junk in my tap.

 

[VTX1300]

The purpose of using either RO or distilled water is so you can build the desired water profile suited to the style of beer you are brewing. Good quality RO water will have very little in the way of mineral left and needs to be treated the same as distilled water. Both are a clean slate to build a water profile on. I you are extract brewing, you can use RO or distilled "as is" because everything you need is in the extract. If doing all grain you need to add back the desired salts for flavor and proper mash pH.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

If you are extract brewing, you can use RO or distilled as is because everything you need is in the extract.

Using RO/distilled/low-mineral water for extract+steep is a good start. Whether or not extract has "everything one needs" has been discussed in a number of topics here - a little salt for flavor can go a long ways for making a beer better.

One can also add small (start at ~ 0.25 g / gallon) amount of various salts for flavor to extract+steep recipes. Details in **How To Brew**, 4e; **Brewing Engineering** and a couple of topics here; example recipes can be found in the two "no boil" NEIPA recipe topics from early 2019. Links available upon request.

 

[VikeMan]

Oh? I thought distilled was not great to use as it's lacking all the minerals and otherwise flavours but its still better then the junk in my tap.

Distilled water does lack minerals. For all grain brewing (at least), you need to build it up with salts to your liking.

You seemed to be concerned that you couldn't buy distilled water, and could "only" buy RO. I was letting you know that they are essentially the same for brewing purposes.

 

[Teufelhunde]

I use RO water (have a system set up in my kitchen sink) and just add 1/2 tsp food grade gypsum to every 5 gal batch to return some minerals to it.....

YMMV

Lon

 

[MikEH86]

first off sorry for the very late response, spring finally hit here and have been working outside almost none stop. finally got a little break in so that i could look at my post and this forum.

Using RO/distilled/low-mineral water for extract+steep is a good start. Whether or not extract has "everything one needs" has been discussed in a number of topics here - a little salt for flavor can go a long ways for making a beer better.

One can also add small (start at ~ 0.25 g / gallon) amount of various salts for flavor to extract+steep recipes. Details in **How To Brew**, 4e; **Brewing Engineering** and a couple of topics here; example recipes can be found in the two "no boil" NEIPA recipe topics from early 2019. Links available upon request.

Awesome, those links would be great! I have a hard time pulling up old posts have tried a few times with not much luck. I seem to have better luck using google and it pulls up a lot of info from this forum. thanks for the salt inclusion rate that was going to be my next question.

I also tend to forget just how big and how many sections this forum has. (damn new members asking repetitive questions )

Distilled water does lack minerals. For all grain brewing (at least), you need to build it up with salts to your liking.

You seemed to be concerned that you couldn't buy distilled water, and could "only" buy RO. I was letting you know that they are essentially the same for brewing purposes.

ah I see, sorry about that. I was more asking is there much of a different between them? I now know if it is good R.O there is very little different.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

in the two "no boil" NEIPA recipe topics from early 2019. Links available upon request.

By request:

• No-Boil Recipes! New for 2019!
• American IPA - Blasphemy - No Boil NEIPA

thanks for the salt inclusion rate that was going to be my next question.

People also mention techniques for experimenting with adding minerals in the glass, then applying that information back to the original recipe. I haven't seen a fully explained process (and I'm only part way through making one) - so I don't have a specific process to offer at the moment.