Tap water or filtered bottle water?

[danerelj]

Hey guys, I just wanted to know what the general consensus was on using tap water vs filtered bottled water. Is there a big improvement of using filtered water or is it just preference?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[chudsonvt]

This really depends upon what your tap water is. I have well water that is relatively soft, making it well suited for paler beers. Then, with the addition of some various brewing salts, I can brew nearly anything.

If you brew with your water and it makes good beer, then you are good to go. However, it also depends on the style. I used to blindly use city water and I did make good beer. But then I decided to get into the world of water profiles. Any serious homebrewer should make the leap into the land of water science at some point.

If you want to go with filtered bottled water, IE> distilled or RO, you WILL need to know about water science and WILL need to add salts and minerals. Otherwise, most beers will be lacking.

 

[Chanoc]

If you can get rid of chlorine and not too hard, tap water is ok.

 

[danerelj]

Well my tap water is quite hard, but it makes not bad tasting beer! I was curious whether the bottled water would improve it further. Not sure I could wrap my head around the science of it all I wouldn't even know where to begin! I shall have to find some good sources to learn from as I want to get into brewing a lot more only done 5 kits so far but want to try mashing the grains myself etc too.

With tap water, best results are to sterilise it first by boiling, if I am correct? The kits state to add cold tap water but this doesn't sit right with me for some reason it could have some nasties?

 

[IslandLizard]

When you're brewing with extracts the water you're using is much more forgiving. If it smells and tastes good it is usually good to brew with. Always treat your municipal water with a campden tablet to eliminate chlorine and chloramines.

When mashing, hard water can be a bit of a problem, depending on what minerals your water contains. High alkalinity is usually the largest culprit, but also the easiest to fix by adding some acid or acidulated malt to bring your mash pH into 5.2-5.5 range.

Some "dilute" their tap water with Reverse Osmosis (RO) water to bring down the minerals ppm. Others buy jugs of water or tap RO water from the machine in their local supermarket or invest in a Reverse Osmosis system and "build" their water from scratch by adding just the right amount of minerals back in.

If your water supply is consistent the $21 Household Mineral test from Ward Labs will tell you all you need to know. But it's snapshot, which means if your water changes, usually with the seasons, the report becomes useless fast.

The Brew Science Forum is good place to start learning about the ins and outs of water.

 

[mlafnitzegger]

It all depends on your water report and the style of beer you are brewing. Both West coast and East IPAs have specific water profiles. So depending on your tap water, what you are brewing and what you like will decide if you should use your tap or buy. I use my tap and condition with additives to achieve my desired water profile. I would recommend running tap for 5 minutes before getting water for your brewing. I usually fill all my cleaning buckets with that water as well as water plants, wash driveway, etc.

 

[danerelj]

When you're brewing with extracts the water you're using is much more forgiving. If it smells and tastes good it is usually good to brew with. Always treat your municipal water with a campden tablet to eliminate chlorine and chloramines.

When mashing, hard water can be a bit of a problem, depending on what minerals your water contains. High alkalinity is usually the largest culprit, but also the easiest to fix by adding some acid or acidulated malt to bring your mash pH into 5.2-5.5 range.

Some "dilute" their tap water with Reverse Osmosis (RO) water to bring down the minerals ppm. Others buy jugs of water or tap RO water from the machine in their local supermarket or invest in a Reverse Osmosis system and "build" their water from scratch by adding just the right amount of minerals back in.

If your water supply is consistent the $21 Household Mineral test from Ward Labs will tell you all you need to know. But it's snapshot, which means if your water changes, usually with the seasons, the report becomes useless fast.

The Brew Science Forum is good place to start learning about the ins and outs of water.

Should i add the campden tablets to the wort or once the wort has been diluted with the tap water?

The reverse osmosis method seems like a good method once the minerals have been nailed down.

I shall have to have a gander at the brew science forum then, seems like I could learn quite a bit. Long way to go from novice to pro

 

[IslandLizard]

Should i add the campden tablets to the wort or once the wort has been diluted with the tap water?

Add 1/4 crushed Campden tablet per 5 gallons of your municipal tap water, and stir well. This is before you boil or brew with it.

I always fill a brew bucket with 5 gallons of fresh tap water, add my 1/4 crushed Campden or an eyeballed amount of Potassium Metabisulfite (K-Meta) to the bucket and stir it well. The amount is not that critical, as long as you add roughly the minimum. A little more won't harm anything.

The reverse osmosis method seems like a good method once the minerals have been nailed down.

RO removes everything, no need to "nail" mineral content.

I shall have to have a gander at the brew science forum then, seems like I could learn quite a bit. Long way to go from novice to pro

You'll learn quickly.

 

[danerelj]

When you're brewing with extracts the water you're using is much more forgiving. If it smells and tastes good it is usually good to brew with. Always treat your municipal water with a campden tablet to eliminate chlorine and chloramines.

When mashing, hard water can be a bit of a problem, depending on what minerals your water contains. High alkalinity is usually the largest culprit, but also the easiest to fix by adding some acid or acidulated malt to bring your mash pH into 5.2-5.5 range.

Some "dilute" their tap water with Reverse Osmosis (RO) water to bring down the minerals ppm. Others buy jugs of water or tap RO water from the machine in their local supermarket or invest in a Reverse Osmosis system and "build" their water from scratch by adding just the right amount of minerals back in.

If your water supply is consistent the $21 Household Mineral test from Ward Labs will tell you all you need to know. But it's snapshot, which means if your water changes, usually with the seasons, the report becomes useless fast.

The Brew Science Forum is good place to start learning about the ins and outs of water.

Should i add the campden tablets to the wort or once the wort has been diluted with the tap water?

The reverse osmosis method seems like a good method once the minerals have been nailed down.

I shall have to have a gander at the brew science forum then, seems like I could learn quite a bit. Long way to go from novice to pro

 

[bucketnative]

Should i add the campden tablets to the wort or once the wort has been diluted with the tap water?

You should treat your water before using it in the brewing process. I usually dissolve the crushed campden tablet in about 2 cups of boiling water on the stove (It is more soluble at higher temperature), and then I add those 2 cups of water into the water for the batch (Let's say 8 gallons for a 5-gallon all-grain batch), stirring vigorously for a minute or two.

The reaction occurs fairly quick. If I hold a pitcher of straight tap water up to my nose, I can readily detect a chlorine odor. If I hold a pitcher of campden-treated water (10-minutes post-treatment) to my nose, that odor is noticeably gone.

 

[RustyHorn]

Are sulphites better than chlorine? I'd personally rather keep my tap water as is instead of adding preservatives. Especially as there is such a small amount of chlorine in tap water.
I use bottled mineral water as it tells me a typical mineral content, then build from there with salts using the EZ water spreadsheet (can be found using a search engine).

 

[IslandLizard]

Are sulphites better than chlorine? I'd personally rather keep my tap water as is instead of adding preservatives. Especially as there is such a small amount of chlorine in tap water.
I use bottled mineral water as it tells me a typical mineral content, then build from there with salts using the EZ water spreadsheet (can be found using a search engine).

Oh yes, much better! Sulphites either gas off as SO2 (the heating and subsequent boil will remove most) or get oxidized to SO4--. The amounts we're talking about here are miniscule on the scale of brewing, ~20-30mg per gallon.

However, the even smaller amounts of Chlorine or Chloramine will create havoc on your beer by forming Chlorophenols, the smell and taste of Band Aids. Our smell and taste threshold for Chlorophenols is very low.

Some "bottled" water contains chlorine or chloramines for preservation. Jugs of "distilled water" are among the most notorious.

 

[seatazzz]

After two consecutive batches of "band-aid" flavored beer, I started using bottled water. The last two batches have turned out much better. When I started brewing this January, the water in our house was fine; however now that summer is here, it's changed quite a bit. I get the gallon jugs of Crystal Springs water from the dollar store. Ten bucks added to my brew day shopping list is well worth it!

 

[bucketnative]

After two consecutive batches of "band-aid" flavored beer, I started using bottled water. The last two batches have turned out much better. When I started brewing this January, the water in our house was fine; however now that summer is here, it's changed quite a bit. I get the gallon jugs of Crystal Springs water from the dollar store. Ten bucks added to my brew day shopping list is well worth it!

The Campden tablets add about $0.05 and 30 min to my brew day. I was happy to lose the expense of bottled water. I also happen to be lucky that my city's tap water is pretty good for brewing or at least I have been told by quite a few experienced brewers here. The results have also panned out in my experience.

 

[Brownalemikie]

IDK, I've been using a Brita pitcher to filter our tap water for all 6 of my batches of Caribou Slobber brown ale. AFAIK the beer tastes fantastic. JMO

 

[danerelj]

Right, i have just ordered a John Bull traditional English Ale. I'm going to give the campden tablets a go this time, prior to the wort and as mentioned run the water for a while before using it! I shall keep you updated thanks for the help!

 

[maazak]

Campden tablets really did the trick for me using my tap water. I can taste the chlorine from the tap. From the fridge filter it is much better but even using that water wasn't great. But adding a campden tablet to the pot solves it all

 

[Opiate42]

Live in Toronto, ph is usually around 5.4 from what I can gather. Mostly do 1 gallon batches so don't bother with campden tabs. But eventually will when I can upgrade my gear.

I started with bottled spring water and the beers were meh... was ok but noting stand out.

Then using tap water after a while, filtered through a Brita jug and then let sit for 24-36 hours to gas out. Everything tastes much better now. Lots more character coming out of each batch. With the bottled water all the beers had a similar overtone no matter the style.

Made a Golden Promise/Northern Brewer SMaSH a while back with distilled bottled water and it turned out great. Only time I've ever used distilled.