Why can't you use tap water?

[Beercanman]

In reading how to brew by John Palmer, he says not to rinse the sanitized bottles with water straight from the tap. What is the reason for boiling the water, and how do I rinse the bottles after doing this?

 

[Rhoobarb]

In reading how to brew by John Palmer, he says not to rinse the sanitized bottles with water straight from the tap. What is the reason for boiling the water, and how do I rinse the bottles after doing this?

Depends on your water. Palmer's book was one of the 'bibles' for me, but this is a point where I differ from him.

IMHO, if it's good enough to drink, it's good enough to rinse and brew with. Some people use a one-step sanitizer. Personally, I have used a bleach/water solution and rinsed with hot water right out of the tap for the past seven years now. No problems yet due to sanitation!

 

[dagrar]

I'm with Rhoobarb if you drink it it's good fior brewing and you will make some different favor beers than everyone else but if the water has a funky favor or smell I'd go elsewhere for it.

Dale

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Well, to be the devil's advocate, tap water is fine for extract (which I do and subsequently use tap water) it may not be perfect for AG and partial mash because of mash pH due to the hardness of the water.
Rinsing and sanitizing with tap water is fine. As long as it tastes good.

 

[Beer Snob]

I agree. Really depends on the tap water. You have not died from it yet right The number one problem that I have read from tap water is chlorine. It supposingly produces off tastes. Can't say if it does or does not, but I have used it to brew with usually all the time. I used bottled water a few times. I was in college and the water tasted terrible. That's the thing... if it taste terrible with no malt, it wont taste any better with malt.

 

[Beer Snob]

Sorry.. did not answer question. The reason to boil is to boil off the impurities... like chlorine for instance.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Oh yeah, boiling will also precipitate out all the temporary hardness.

 

[ajf]

If you have well water, you could have beer spoiling bacteria in it.
If you have piped water, you could have unacceptably high levels of chlorine in it.
Whichever you have, the tap is exposed to the air, and can be contaminated by airborne bacteria.
When I lived in England, the hot water supply was drawn from an open storage tank in the attic, and was not heated sufficiently to sanitize it. (I never rinsed with hot water in England).
Personally, I have always used tap water for rinsing, but I did lose a brew in 1981 because of a bacterial infection.

-a.

 

[RichBrewer]

If you are using tap water to rinse there shouldn't be enough chlorine in the residual water to create off flavors.
I do think that even extract beers would be better if all the water used in the beer was boiled or ran through a filter that dechlorinated it. How much of an effect would it have? Maybe not enough to detect. Who knows?

 

[Kaiser]

Well, to be the devil's advocate, tap water is fine for extract (which I do and subsequently use tap water) it may not be perfect for AG and partial mash because of mash pH due to the hardness of the water.

It, again, depends where you are. I used to buy bottled water for my first brews. This was always an additional 4-5$ added to the brew. It would have been even more, if I would have done the same with AG due to the increased need for water. I then decided to rig a water filter (the ones they sell for fridges) such that I can filter all my brewing water through it to get rid of chlorine and other off-flavors. I must also been living in an area with very soft water, If I give the water a PH test with test paper, the PH is already ~5.8.

Next I will actually call my water department to get a detailed water analysis.

And I don't rinse, so I don't have to worry about this part.

Kai

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I've been using tap water for as long as I've been brewing (I have well water) without any problems. If you're worried about unsanitary conditions, in your tap water (the chance of which is very small) have it tested.

 

[Beer Snob]

Next I will actually call my water department to get a detailed water analysis.

No need to call. I'm sure the stats is on the net like it was for my township. check out your city website.

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

In reading how to brew by John Palmer, he says not to rinse the sanitized bottles with water straight from the tap. What is the reason for boiling the water, and how do I rinse the bottles after doing this?

This has been discussed in a number of prior posts here. It is a little controversial, but a number of us sanitize our bottles in the dishwasher. Mine has a high-temp wash setting and a sanitize setting for the heated dry. I run the machine once empty with no detergent to rinse it clean of soap residue. Then I put the bottles in and run them with no detergent on the high-temp/sanitize setting. I leave them in the machine until I fill them. I have had no problems with this method. The safest method is probably to soak them in a no-rinse iodophor solution and just pull them out as you fill them. My way is just a lazier way, I suppose.

 

[Truble]

I am using a starsan mixture to no rinse sanitize, and it seems to work well. For my water, I used spring water initially, but for the last 2, I used my faucet, which is well water. I have a house filter, but not a softener. My water is great to drink, so that is why my spring water supply ran out. We don't buy it anymore. I did boil it, however, as I boil all of my wort water, even though I do 2.5 Gal boils. Neither batch is ready to drink yet, but there have been no ill effects in the fermentation process thus far, and no infections whatsoever. I will report back when they are drinkable.