Using bottled water for all grain?

[chemman14]

The water in my area is terrible. It smells of chlorine and does not taste very good. I currently use kirkland brand drinking water that says it has minerals added for taste. Could I use this for brewing water?

 

[impatient]

The water in my area is terrible. It smells of chlorine and does not taste very good. I currently use kirkland brand drinking water that says it has minerals added for taste. Could I use this for brewing water?

Yes. The beer will turn out fine.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

What are you brewing? (and yes you should be fine)

 

[chemman14]

What are you brewing? (and yes you should be fine)

all grain, and I am not yet sure what my first AG brew will be. Still have one last extract brew to get out of the way, a barleywine

 

[JoeMama]

Build yourself an inexpensive water filter. After 2-3 batches where you have to go and either buy or fill your water bottles you will seek easier methods. Since I built my filter, I have been pleased as punch. (I even fill bottles for drinking from my filter)

 

[CharlosCarlies]

all grain, and I am not yet sure what my first AG brew will be. Still have one last extract brew to get out of the way, a barleywine

I meant what style. I should have been more specific.

 

[chemman14]

Build yourself an inexpensive water filter. After 2-3 batches where you have to go and either buy or fill your water bottles you will seek easier methods. Since I built my filter, I have been pleased as punch. (I even fill bottles for drinking from my filter)

i just buy it from costco, real easy

 

[Bobby_M]

The problem with bottled drinking water is that it's hard to know what the mineral makeup is. Even if it's moderate, it's not going to be perfect for all styles and you really should know what's in it. I should backup a bit though. I don't think a brand new all grain brewer should worry too much about the water for the first couple batches but If you're using bottled water, I would stick to beers in the 8-12 SRM color range (copper to amber).

The alternative is to start with 100% distilled water and build up a profile based on the style of beer you're making but that's something to play with later after you get your technique down.

 

[arturo7]

I would guess it is R/O water with added stuff. Without a water report it is hard to tell what is in it at which concentrations. There is an outside chance you might be able to find a report for it online.

You may want to consider bottled water that is labeled as "spring water." This has not gone through R/O and still has a decent amount of goodies in it. Certainly enough for a light to medium brew.

 

[chemman14]

I would guess it is R/O water with added stuff. Without a water report it is hard to tell what is in it at which concentrations. There is an outside chance you might be able to find a report for it online.

You may want to consider bottled water that is labeled as "spring water." This has not gone through R/O and still has a decent amount of goodies in it. Certainly enough for a light to medium brew.

well it says with minerals added for taste so i doubt its stripped of all minerals

 

[FlyingSailor]

I use spring water that supposedly comes from Sierra Nevada springs. I'm practically half way there to Sierra Nevada pale ale.

 

[chemman14]

I use spring water that supposedly comes from Sierra Nevada springs. I'm practically half way there to Sierra Nevada pale ale.

except for the fact that sierra nevada beers come from the city of chico municipal water

 

[johnnybob]

I only use R.O. water from the machine at the grocery store (25 cents a gallon) + 1 Tbls. of 5.2 Buffer in the mash. The beer comes out great every time.

 

[chemman14]

I only use R.O. water from the machine at the grocery store (25 cents a gallon) + 1 Tbls. of 5.2 Buffer in the mash. The beer comes out great every time.

where can I get this 5.2 buffer? I was un-able to locate it on northern brewer or austin home brew

 

[TastySalmon]

If it's just the chlorine you're concerned about, then just heat up enough water for the mash. You don't even need to boil it, but you can if you want. This will remove all of the chlorine.

 

[chemman14]

If it's just the chlorine you're concerned about, then just heat up enough water for the mash. You don't even need to boil it, but you can if you want. This will remove all of the chlorine.

its not just the chlorine, the water doesn't taste very good

 

[jppostKW]

If it's just the chlorine you're concerned about, then just heat up enough water for the mash. You don't even need to boil it, but you can if you want. This will remove all of the chlorine.

except chloramines (spelling) they are a PITA to remove i have three kegs over 4 months old that i didn't filter the water beforehand when i moved into a new water supply sitting because they taste phenolic/DMSy if thats even a description i cant even drink them yet. I was able to choke down my house beer but only because it was the first batch after a 3 month hiatus from brewing. i have since switched to a carbon filter from HD and the flavors have mellowed, but still detectable i have been using half RO and half tap since.

 

[johnnybob]

5.2 PH Stabilizer is a 5 Star product, You can order it from Brewmasters Warehouse. $10.00 for a 1 lb. jar. I use 1 tablespoon in the mash in every beer I make.

 

[Bobby_M]

5.2 will help your mash pH but it doesn't do anything to get Calcium and Magnesium into acceptable ranges nor does it do anything for the Cl:SO4 ratio.

You shouldn't brew all grain beer with pure RO/distilled water.

 

[JoeMama]

I use spring water that supposedly comes from Sierra Nevada springs. I'm practically half way there to Sierra Nevada pale ale.

Why in the hell are people using spring water? SPRINGS DONT NEED TO BE WATERED!! In fact, the last time I tried to water some springs they rusted up on me and didnt have as much tension as they once did.
What gives? :cross:

 

[Awfers]

Before going down the bottled water path (not exactly the best for the environment as it has to be shipped from where ever it comes from).. Have you tried boiling your tap water before-hand to drive of the chlorine, or maybe filtering to get rid of the "bad taste" and chlorine ?

 

[jpc]

Before going down the bottled water path (not exactly the best for the environment as it has to be shipped from where ever it comes from).. Have you tried boiling your tap water before-hand to drive of the chlorine, or maybe filtering to get rid of the "bad taste" and chlorine ?

Again, depending on the type of chlorination done, boiling may not be enough. A large number of municipalities use chloramine, which can only be removed via chemical means (e.g., Campden).

 

[Freezeblade]

I remove chloramine with 1/2 a camden tablet per 5 gallons of water the night before I'm brewing. works great.

 

[Brewinator]

FYI, vitamin C also removes chloramines, and it's an antoxidant as well:

http://www.picobrewery.com/askarchive/chloramine.htm

And I'd be curious to know how many AG brewers really go to the trouble of using Palmer's worksheet. Every guy I ever see on Youtube uses 5.2, and that's it.

I say this as someone who has sweated that worksheet before every batch.

As someone brewing almost exclusively IPA hop-bombs, I'm not sure you'd notice the difference if I used cat piss.

 

[MagicLarry]

As someone brewing almost exclusively IPA hop-bombs, I'm not sure you'd notice the difference if I used cat piss.

aHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!:rockin:

 

[SkiSoloII]

My water is harder than you could believe. I boil it and the bottom of the kettle is white with minerals coming out of solution. Killed my dishwasher.

Personally, I use the RO water from the dispenser at the grocery store - $.99 for 2.5 gallons. I figure it's pretty close to distilled, and use TK's worksheet. I love it!

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

Dave

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

You could always contact the bottled water company and ask for an analysis to be mailed to you. If they have both 'Spring' water and 'Drinking' water then ask for both because they'll likely be slightly different. "Distilled' and 'Purified' should be the same thing. The bottled water near me (Zephyrhills) has higher alkalinity in the Drinking water (190 ppm Bicarb) than the Spring water (140 ppm Bicarb).

That should cover beers in 8-16 SRM range, then you can dilute with Distilled for lighter colored beers. Just doing that may let you cover a reasonably wide color range without using any salts.

EDIT: Also, you can help cover darker colored beers by adding the dark grains late in the mash. It's not a perfect solution but at least a step in the right directon.

 

[rico567]

Since I began homebrewing over two years ago, I've used nothing but the RO (reverse osmosis) water from the machine at the grocery store. Our well water is sky-high in iron and calcium. The store water is $1.67 including tax for a 5-gallon refill, and it produces very good, consistent beer. I have used amendments such as Burton salts where required for the style.

 

[Photopilot]

My LHBS suggests boiling water then letting it cool to drop out all chlorine and hardness or whatever is in our water, or using bottled. The time factor was not worth it for me. My neigborhood grocery, literally, less than 2 blocks away has a water dispenser. It is $1.35 for 5 gallons. Since I did not have a 5 gallon container handy I bought one of the 5 gallon ones pre-packaged inside for about $13. I think a refill is $5-6, but now that I have the plastic bottle I can just refill when I need for $1.35. Another bonus is the H2O vending machine is outside so I can stock up at any hour. Since I am reusing the bottle it is cheap and environmentally responsible. Also the bottle looks very similar to Better Bottles wondering if they could be used for a carboy? Will have to look closer when I brew next. Just finished my MLT a few days ago, maybe first allgrain this weekend.

 

[baer19d]

If local water is ran through a filter does it remove all traces of minerals and chlorine and leave the brewer with "distiled water"?

Build yourself an inexpensive water filter. After 2-3 batches where you have to go and either buy or fill your water bottles you will seek easier methods. Since I built my filter, I have been pleased as punch. (I even fill bottles for drinking from my filter)