What to do for water

[petemoss]

Hi gang,

So, I've done two batches now, and the most annoying thing has been getting the water ready. I am doing extract only. I boil the batch with what ends up about two gallons or wort. That water is obviously sterile. The other water though, that I add to it to make five gallons, has been a bit of a pain.

I have been boiling and cooling multiple pots of water. I would love to not have to do this. I have considered buying purified water, but for some reason even a few extra dollars per batch is unapealling to me. I have heard some folks say to just use your tap water if it is good water and not to worry about it. My water tastes pretty decent, so I was wandering what y'all though about doing it that way. Will I be safe to use tap water, or should I keep boiling?

Thanks
PeteMoss

 

[photobru]

I would definitely keep boiling it. Call me paranoid, but any liquid that touches my wort gets boiled for 15 minutes first.

 

[nettekdl]

When I first started i did partial boil extract and always just topped off with my tap water. My beer always tasted fine and the only infections I ever got were in purpose so my vote is just use your tap water. If you can drink it you can brew with it

 

[Braufessor]

Tap water = chlorine/chloramine = bad beer. There could be other potential issues with tap water too.... just kind of depends on your water and what you are brewing.

Buy a couple jugs of spring water and then refill those jugs with the RO machine at walmart..... .39 cents a gallon when you refill. (You can even keep them cold in your fridge and that will help chill your wort too.)

 

[EcuPirate07]

I've used tap water without any issues when I use to do extract, hell come to think of it even with my all grain I don't bring my strike water to a boil first. I just bring it 10 degrees above the temp I'm trying to mash in at. Which is way below boiling.

 

[chickypad]

I sometimes do a 3 gal concentrated batch and top off with 2 gal straight from the tap BUT I treat it with campden first because I know my tap water has chloramines. I put 2 gal in the fermenter, mix in my crushed campden and mix well, and then add the wort.

 

[Puddlethumper]

I ran into some real serious issues that led to dumping a total of 6 batches (yes six!) due to using our local tap water. After much anguish, replacement of equipment (the LHBS guy said I probably had an infection), and finally a call to the local water department I learned that due to the seasonally changing sources for our municipal water there were very likely chloromines in our tap water between December and April (the time when my beers all turned out absolutely undrinkable).

Ergo, my advice is to avoid use of tap water unless you are totally comfortable that it won't introduce bad things to your beer. Due to the size of this country its impossible to tell you whether your particular tap water might be OK or not -- call your municipal water department and ask to talk to one of the engineers -- they'll be surprised to hear from you, I promise, but most likely they'll be very helpful. Ask if there is any possibility of chloromines in your city water supply. If so, avoid it like the plague or resign yourself to using chemical additives. (You cannot remove chloromines any other way.)

Cheers!

 

[Gavin C]

Cost of RO water from the shop ($2 for 5 gallons) v cost of propane/NG or electricity to heat and boil the water, not to mention the added labor.

Seems like a better option is store bought RO water. Also it's ideal for brewing with as you can build any water profile you want. Win win.

 

[chickypad]

Ask if there is any possibility of chloromines in your city water supply. If so, avoid it like the plague or resign yourself to using chemical additives. (You cannot remove chloromines any other way.)\

If by chemical additives you mean a tiny little fraction of a campden tablet (sodium metabisulfate) then yes. Winemakers and cider makers use like 20 times the amount for their purposes. Really, it's not a big deal. And certainly worth it to me rather than lugging all my brewing water from the store.

 

[mrgrimm101]

The tap water in my city isn't the best..I don't drink it from the tap, I use a filter pitcher. I currently brew extract and I go to the local big chain grocery store and fill jugs with their RO water from the dispenser. I think it's less than $0.50 per gallon including the jug, so it's not too expensive to get as much as I need. It's even cheaper if I reuse the jugs.

 

[jekeane]

Tap water is "free" but has downsides.

Chlorine / cholaramines (removed with campden)
Potentially unknown mineral content
Possible contaminations from faucet head and other sources.

RO water is $1 per gallon unless you have a RO machine locally then $.30 per gallon
If using a machine is it any cleaner than your faucet?

When I used to top off I would chill a store bought bottle then dump it in.

You could boil your tap water beforehand in your bigger brew pot then bottle it and get it cold to help chilling.

The safest route is sealed bottled water that you sanitize the mouth of before dumping. However, assuming basic cleanliness and eliminating chlorine/cholaramines tap water probably is fine.

 

[Pappers_]

In Chicago, we have great tap water according to the water reports. I run it through a charcoal filter and then sprinkle a little potassium metabisulfate in the water to deal with any chloromines and we're good to go.

Bottomline is that tap water quality varies depending on where you live. There is no one answer that fits everyone here on HBT.

 

[chickypad]

Bottomline is that tap water quality varies depending on where you live. There is no one answer that fits everyone here on HBT.

Yes good points above, I would not necessarily advocate using tap water without knowing the contents (though with extract it may be less problematic other than the chloramine/chlorine). This is my tap water straight out of the tap no treatment per Ward labs, basically RO equivalent. In my case a tiny bit of campden makes a lot of sense.

Ca - 6
Mg - 1
SO4 - 2
Chloride - 4
HCO3 - 12

 

[Gavin C]

In Chicago, we have great tap water according to the water reports. I run it through a charcoal filter and then sprinkle a little potassium metabisulfate in the water to deal with any chloromines and we're good to go.

Bottomline is that tap water quality varies depending on where you live. There is no one answer that fits everyone here on HBT.

Same here. Great water in DFW for brewing. Charcoal filter and Campden tabs. I'm not sure I would want to top up using non-sanitized water though. I've only done 2 extract batches so I'm sure others more experience in extract brewing will report differing levels of success with tap-water top-up. I used bottled water in these brews.

I suppose the concerns are twofold

1: Flavor form chloramines/chlorine
2: Is it sanitary for brewing as opposed to drinking immediately

There will definitely be microbes in a fresh glass of water if only from the microflora inhabiting the faucet and piping in the house. In the majority of instances in the western hemisphere these will be non-pathogenic to humans. Are they going to multiply to create problems in a wort though. I don't know.

 

[Gavin C]

Yes good points above, I would not necessarily advocate using tap water without knowing the contents (though with extract it may be less problematic other than the chloramine/chlorine). This is my tap water straight out of the tap no treatment per Ward labs, basically RO equivalent. In my case a tiny bit of campden makes a lot of sense.

Ca - 6
Mg - 1
SO4 - 2
Chloride - 4
HCO3 - 12

That's incredibly soft water. Lucky you.

 

[SwissRico]

I'm in Switzerland so my tap water is fantastic quality ... (I can see Evian across the lake from my upstairs window) but I still boil my top off water before I start preparing my wort. I clean and sterilize my bottling bucket, use my kettle to boil my top up water (2-3gal for a 5gal batch) and set it aside in the bottling bucket whilst I get started on the boil (I always make sure I boil more than I will need, just in case) . It's then ready when I need it.

Ca/Mg/Na/Cl/SO4/HCO3
45/6/7/10/46/171

 

[aprichman]

I get my water from an RO machine at a local Fred Meyers (grocery store) and then add minerals to build my water profile. The nice thing about the RO machines I use is that the opening is big enough for me to fit a 5 gallon water jug, 5 gallon plastic big mouth bubbler (usually what I use to transport water), or my 6.5 gallon bucket and fill the water straight into the vessel I need.

 

[brewkinger]

hell come to think of it even with my all grain I don't bring my strike water to a boil first. I just bring it 10 degrees above the temp I'm trying to mash in at. Which is way below boiling.

No one I know brings their strike water up to boiling.
What point are you making here?

 

[Calypso]

I've used tap water without any issues when I use to do extract, hell come to think of it even with my all grain I don't bring my strike water to a boil first. I just bring it 10 degrees above the temp I'm trying to mash in at. Which is way below boiling.

But you then bring it to a boil, yes?

The concern is using unboiled tap water to top up a partial boil, which could introduce chlorine/chloramine or spoilage organisms.

 

[brewkinger]

Glad I'm not the only one that was confused by how this applied to the OP adding tap water

 

[Qhrumphf]

Preboiling the water is good for sanitizing it and removing chlorine. However boiling will not (practically) remove chloramine, and odds are your tap water uses chloramine, not chlorine (except for a couple months a year). Removing chloramine from water just via boiling requires very, VERY long boil times which aren't practical in the slightest (you're wasting far more water and fuel in the process than it would cost to just buy the water).

Even bottled water can sometimes contain chlorine/chloramine. And for all-grain brewers, sometimes even contain quite high alkalinity. Relying on bottled water unless it is very explicitly RO or distilled water is a mistake. Carbon filtering is good, but even then requires a slow flow rate and lots of contact time to remove chloramine.

Campden tablets are very easy and very cheap insurance. One crushed tablet per 20 gallons of water (starting water, not batch size). Highly effective within a matter of seconds against both chlorine and chloramine.

As far as the bacterial contamination of tap water, likely there's some bacteria there, for sure. The question is whether or not it's enough to cause a problem. I'd be more worried about the chlorine/chloramine than I would the bacteria in water. Of course, boiling it wouldn't hurt.

 

[EcuPirate07]

No one I know brings their strike water up to boiling.
What point are you making here?

But you then bring it to a boil, yes?

The concern is using unboiled tap water to top up a partial boil, which could introduce chlorine/chloramine or spoilage organisms.

Yes of course, I really have no idea where I was going with this. I was having some home brew while on painkillers after my back surgery so.........

 

[petemoss]

OP here,

Thanks everyone. The one thing that I can see here is that this subject can lead to a lot of different thoughts. It has all be good information. I think that what I can take away is that tap water can be just fine if it is quality water to start with, though it may require some treatment with Camden tables.

Likewise, just getting RO water may be the better solution so as to avoid all of potential pitfalls. Boiling all of the water would also be a safe way to go.

Who am I kidding I still have no idea which way to go, hahahah. Hey, at least no matter which way I go I will have about a third of the folks that agree with it. Seriously though, this has been a good discussion, and I do appreciate it.

I think that I will probably continue to be a careful with sanitation and water quality as I have been while experimenting with some shortcuts here and there.

Thanks again,
PeteMoss

 

[Puddlethumper]

OP here,

Who am I kidding I still have no idea which way to go,

Take a sample of your tap water (or whatever water you intend to use) and send it off to Ward Labs in Nebraska. For ~$30 they'll do a complete chemical analysis and email you the results. Then you know what you've got and what you need to do (if anything) to make the best beer you can.

Cheers!