Water

[Richard]

What kind of water do most homebrewers use? I'm using Poland Spring for mine because I signed up for monthly home delivery and have ended up with a 40 gallon backlog because we aren't drinking it fast enough.

 

[Fiery Sword]

Water for the extract brewer is pretty basic. The old "if it's good enough to drink, it's good enough to brew with" mantra holds true 99% of the time. I've used charcoal filtered tap for years. However, if you plan on making the switch to All Grain someday I'd suggest doing a bit more homework on water. your local water could be totally inappropriate for certain styles, and the all grain process requires that you be more on top of this. Water profiles have been one of my biggest catch-up areas through this all grain conversion.

 

[Richard]

I assume spring water would likely be ok for all styles?

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

I've always used tap water for the boil and bottled water for topping off. I know that to be 100 % protected from an infection I should use boild and cooled water to top off but I haven't had a problem yet, and I figure bottled water should be better than tap water.

 

[Richard]

I always use the water from a freshly opened bottle. Hopefully I didn't need to boil it first or anything.

 

[Genghis77]

A woman competing with a radio contest died from water intoxication. 10 people were fired from the radio station. I heard that her brain literally exploded from the excess water.

 

[Hopfan]

A woman competing with a radio contest died from water intoxication. 10 people were fired from the radio station. I heard that her brain literally exploded from the excess water.

I heard about that. Have they determined the exact cause of death? I would have thought that the excess water caused an electrolyte imbalance and caused her muscular system to just shut down.

 

[Pumbaa]

Milwaukee tap water from my garden hose

Have they determined the exact cause of death?

water intoxication. yeah it messes up the pressure in your head and with screws with your electrolytes and causes all sorts of bad heart rythms

 

[DeadYetiBrew]

There's water intoxication then there's also out of water drowning. This happened to a local girl, she had done some cocaine and got really thirsty, she drank bottle after bottle of water and eventually it literally filled her stomach and spilled over into her lungs drowning her... Pretty nasty stuff. Bad when you can die from water poisoning...

My cities tap water is some of the best, i've come to realize, after traveling. It's pretty hard with almost no chlorine and all the other minerals are suppose to be perfect for homebrews.

 

[homebrewer_99]

PUR filtered tap water...no boiling.

 

[SteveM]

My local water is not very good tasting, though I have no reason to believe it is not safe to drink (I drink it all the time). I used bottled spring water for brewing. I agree with those who argue that the better your water is, the better your beer will be.

 

[BREWCRE8TIV]

I would argue that tap water is best for brewing because you just never know about bottled h20. For example, just legistics alone of travel time, temperature the water was stored at, possible contamination during/before bottling would turn me off from using bottled water. I would be 100% certain bottled water would contain more bacteria than any tap water found in any reputable muncipality in the good ole' USA. The person who thought up this "sheme" of bottled water was/is a marketing genius. Many tests have been conducted on this subject, the most notable that comes to mind was the one done by Stossel and 20/20 where numerous bottles of water from the most expensive right down to the cheapest were put up against tap water from New York City. NYC tap water won hands down everytime when rated on taste, smell, looks etc. I guess if it makes you feel better to brew with bottled water, go ahead and waste your money, but tap water is just as good and if not better for brewing and drinking from a scientific stand point. B

 

[Richard]

I would argue that tap water is best for brewing because you just never know about bottled h20. For example, just legistics alone of travel time, temperature the water was stored at, possible contamination during/before bottling would turn me off from using bottled water. I would be 100% certain bottled water would contain more bacteria than any tap water found in any reputable muncipality in the good ole' USA. The person who thought up this "sheme" of bottled water was/is a marketing genius. Many tests have been conducted on this subject, the most notable that comes to mind was the one done by Stossel and 20/20 where numerous bottles of water from the most expensive right down to the cheapest were put up against tap water from New York City. NYC tap water won hands down everytime when rated on taste, smell, looks etc. I guess if it makes you feel better to brew with bottled water, go ahead and waste your money, but tap water is just as good and if not better for brewing and drinking from a scientific stand point. B

I used to live in NYC, and I agree that the tap water is particularly good there. Since moving to NJ, however, I've discovered that our tap water doesn't taste nearly as good. That is the primary reason why we get bottled water - taste. It isn't expensive to get bottled water, and having water that tastes good helps you drink a healthy amount each day.

 

[megavites]

Here in NJ, I don't trust the water either.
Has anyone gone the route of using an inline charcoal filter.
I think in Palmers book he mentioned a specific type that won't allow
microbes to grow while not inuse.

 

[BREWCRE8TIV]

I would agree with on the taste aspect, but the "healthy" part would be part of the "scheme" to get people to buy bottled water. It seems we are brainwashed into thinking we all would turn to dust and blow away with the wind if one does not consume at leat 8-12 8oz. glasses of water each day. The body does get a lot of h20 just from the food we consume each day, and liquids other than beer, coffee and soda only help. However, I am no expert on the subject, but I feel drinking water until "you are in the clear" is just overkill. Besides, myself personally, the less I have to pee the less my wife has to see the.........well, u know. B

 

[brewt00l]

I stick to the "if it tastes good" adage and buy spring water from the grocery store. Heck, I don't even like cooking with my tap water it tastes so foul.

 

[Richard]

I would agree with on the taste aspect, but the "healthy" part would be part of the "scheme" to get people to buy bottled water. It seems we are brainwashed into thinking we all would turn to dust and blow away with the wind if one does not consume at leat 8-12 8oz. glasses of water each day. The body does get a lot of h20 just from the food we consume each day, and liquids other than beer, coffee and soda only help.

Yeah, true. I only manage to drink an extra litre each day anyway. Anything more and it seems like a chore.

 

[SteveM]

I guess if it makes you feel better to brew with bottled water, go ahead and waste your money, but tap water is just as good and if not better for brewing and drinking from a scientific stand point. B

That's a pretty harsh assessment, and really not in the spirit of this forum, in my opinion. As Richard notes, New York City is well known for having good tasting tap water, so a 20/20 story on how everyone in the country is being suckered is unconvincing. In any case, don't imagine that 20/20 (or Sixty Minutes or 48 Hours or any other prime time "news" show) is about news. They are entertainment shows that sometimes scratch the surface of truth and reality if they are entertaining enough.

Where live live, the tap water just does not taste as good. I will continue to "waste my money" but thanks for the input.

 

[Orfy]

Make a batch. If it tastes off then look at the alternates.