Water From Hot Water Tank

[JewBrew]

All brewers strive to shave time off of their brew day. I am wondering if any brewers use hot water from their house tank to mash and sparge the grains. This would save loads of time as the water is already very close to mashing temp.

 

[JetSmooth]

Yup. I get my water from the kitchen tap.

I realized that my first few brews were done with cold water and wondered why the hell I did that. My last brew was started with hot water from the tap (though it was nerve-racking carrying a full kettle of scalding hot water) and I reached my mash temp much quicker. I may rig up a hose when I upgrade to my keggle, however my kitchen sink does not have a threaded faucet.

Might need to convince SWMBO that we need a new faucet. That, or I'll rig up a bypass under the sink to a hose connection.

 

[daugenet]

I wouldnt see why not....its safe to bathe and drink so why not to brew? the only real risk I could see is if your heater had some mineral build up that was somehow bad for the yeast.

 

[lamarguy]

I have hard tap water, so I usually dilute 50/50 with RO anyway. No real time savings and the hot water from a water heater can taste bad and/or occasionally throw sediment.

Does anyone have a carbon filter hooked up to their hot water line?

 

[Banjoman76]

I would have to say it depends on your water profile.
My city water contains chlorine/chloramine so I am treating it with a Campden tablet with each batch.

 

[lumpher]

All brewers strive to shave time off of their brew day. I am wondering if any brewers use hot water from their house tank to mash and sparge the grains. This would save loads of time as the water is already very close to mashing temp.

i use the water from my hot water tap, but in my club, we have w guy who pipes it in right from his hot water tank to his hot liquor tank. he's won several awards at bluebonnet

 

[ajf]

I wouldn't try it.
See http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Longevity/water-heater-anodes.html
You don't want that stuff in your sparge water.

-a.

 

[madbaldman]

Hot water heaters should be flushed periodically (using that drain valve on the bottom). Do that one time and see the crud that comes out and ask yourself if you want to use that water for brewing. I won't use hot water tank water for any kind of cooking.

 

[jpc]

Hot water heaters should be flushed periodically (using that drain valve on the bottom). Do that one time and see the crud that comes out and ask yourself if you want to use that water for brewing. I won't use hot water tank water for any kind of cooking.

Likewise, one could lift the tank cover on a toilet to see all the stuff that builds up in the cold water. In most of the toilet tanks I've seen, it ain't a pretty picture, either.

All I'm saying is that the build-up of stuff over time is a lot different than what happens over the course of pulling six gallons from one's tap.

 

[cockybitz]

No. I have a water softener and for my brew day I bypass it, so then I would have the hard water filling up my water tank, and that would shorten tank life.

 

[david_42]

I keep the tank around 110F and that doesn't gain me much, but since I tap off the utility sink, why not? The tank is new and my water is very nearly DI.

 

[bja]

Hot water heaters should be flushed periodically (using that drain valve on the bottom). Do that one time and see the crud that comes out and ask yourself if you want to use that water for brewing. I won't use hot water tank water for any kind of cooking.

Then it stands to reason that your cold water still contains that "gunk", and it has fallen out of suspension from your hot water.

BTW, I use hot water from the tap, but I have a Bosch tankless water heater, so not really relevant.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Then it stands to reason that your cold water still contains that "gunk", and it has fallen out of suspension from your hot water.

BTW, I use hot water from the tap, but I have a Bosch tankless water heater, so not really relevant.

This is something I've not understood as well. If it's in your hot water tank, it's in your water before it gets there.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yes, the tank itself does not generate the deposits. The minerals are there and they just dissipate from the heating cycle and the pressure. There are some bacteria that can live in a tank if the anodes are failing.

But the bottom line is, if the water weren't potable the tank would not be in your home.

The thing is, most all tanks draw their supply from the top of the tank and feed to the bottom through a tube (most of the newer supply "dip tubes" create a vortex to stir up sediment) which if the vortex is strong enough could pull those deposits up into the water stream. Like I said, the minerals were already in the water but by this you are pulling a more solidified deposit.

 

[bja]

The thing is, most all tanks draw their supply from the botom of the tank which oif the vortex is strong enough could pull those deposits up into the water stream. Like I said, the minerals were already in the water but by this you are pulling a more solidified deposit.

Hot water is drawn from the top of the tank. How else would you bleed the air out of it?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Hot water is drawn from the top of the tank. How else would you bleed the air out of it?

Yeah. I dunno what I was thinking. Fed through the tube at bottom and drawn from the top.

Like I said I was having a moment and should have caught myself. I have replaced way too many tanks to be that blatently wrong. Corrected and elaborated.

 

[bja]

Like I said I was having a moment and should have caught myself.

We all have those moments.