Sterilizing tap water for kit brewing

[FearLeanDubh]

I've done a few kits at this stage but have always used bottled water for the beer and for rinsing equipment. My tap water comes from private spring and is hard water. We use a UV filter on the well water but other than that it is untreated. The water tastes just fine and is clear. The reason I use bottled water is that I cannot be sure if the well water is properly sterilized (in fact I'm pretty sure it can't be). I would much rather use the tap water as I would save a lot of time, hassle and money getting the bottled water. I could boil the water and then cool it but I want to avoid that also.

My question is: What is the best way for me to sterilize my well water for kit brewing. Can I add something to the water, like a campden tablet maybe?

Could I use some kind of filter to get rid of the bacteria, yeasts and viruses from the water?

 

[broadbill]

If you are boiling your beer you are effectively killing anything in there so no need to worry about that.

As for rinsing, I don't think it would be a problem (since you drink it with no problems). That being said, you can also use a no-rinse sanitizer and not worry about rinsing in the first place!

 

[Theis]

Agree with Broadbill, boiling the wort for 60 minutes makes it tough for the nasties to make it into your final product.

 

[DannyD]

Most people here would also agree that if water is safe to drink, its good for brewing. Your only problem would be the fact that you say the water is "hard", that limits you on the style specific beers

 

[SgtB]

I boil my make up water and use my IC in it just like wort to speed the process. It takes 25 minutes at most for 4 gallons. If you want to do it real easy, just boil it the night before and let it cool on the burner.

 

[FearLeanDubh]

Thanks for the reply folks. I think I should have been more specefic in my original post. The kits I am using are the pre hopped malt extract kind so there is no boiling.

Most people here would also agree that if water is safe to drink, its good for brewing. Your only problem would be the fact that you say the water is "hard", that limits you on the style specific beers

I'll just try using the tap water if all else fails My only worry is that the water is unlikely to have a consistant quality, so I will always be worried about an infected brew.

Still, is there something that can be added/used to kill the bugs that won't ruin the beer?

 

[bonzombiekitty]

I would have assumed that you should boil anyways to help dissolve the extract. If the directions say other wise, just boil the water regardless. Boil the water for a few minutes, kill the heat then let it cool to whatever temp it needs to be to add the extract.

 

[broadbill]

Thanks for the reply folks. I think I should have been more specefic in my original post. The kits I am using are the pre hopped malt extract kind so there is no boiling.



I'll just try using the tap water if all else fails My only worry is that the water is unlikely to have a consistant quality, so I will always be worried about an infected brew.

Still, is there something that can be added/used to kill the bugs that won't ruin the beer?

Boil it if you are worried about bacteria in the water, even it if it only for 5 minutes.

Also consider moving on from those types of kits. They are pretty limiting since you can only make the beer that they were designed to make. You can greatly expand your horizon by using unhopped malt extract and different hops and yeast.

 

[FearLeanDubh]

Boil it if you are worried about bacteria in the water, even it if it only for 5 minutes.

Also consider moving on from those types of kits. They are pretty limiting since you can only make the beer that they were designed to make. You can greatly expand your horizon by using unhopped malt extract and different hops and yeast.

Looks like I'm going to be putting a kettle of some kind on the shoipping list then The aim of course is to move on to more advanced brewing, this is just a starting point.