Distilled water is generally considered a bad idea due to the abscence of any minerals and minerals are important to the brewing process.
In the case of extract brewing, I would actually say that RO or Distilled is better. The extract manufacturer has already done the mashing, and there were minerals in that water to make the mash work properly.
When the extract is concentrated down, all the minerals remain in there, so adding more while brewing at home could cause a MUCH too high level of some minerals, giving harsh and unpleasant tastes in the final product. When extract brewing, you just can't be sure of what minerals are already in there, so your best bet is to not add any more, there is no need since you have no grain to mash and it's already in the extract.
Minerals that are really only important in the conversion of starches to sugars in the mash, which has already been done. It's already in the extract, you don't need to add more, and adding more can lead to harsh mineral flavors, unbalanced bitterness or overly malty tasting beers.
I brew all grain, and would only use RO water if adding back a calculated amount of minerals trying to match a specific water profile, but you can't do that with extract, because the water profile has been chosen for you by the extract manufacturer. Not to say that other water is going to make a bad batch of beer, but without knowing the mineral content of the extract, I think distilled is the best way to go.
So are you saying that extract brewers should only use distilled and that anything else will cause off flavors?
So are you saying that extract brewers should only use distilled and that anything else will cause off flavors?
Dennis
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