your water

spaz · #1 (**permalink**) 11-14-2006, 03:45 PM

hi, i was just wondering whether people boil the water they add to the fermenter. i use bottled water but i was just realizing that i go to all these lengths of sanitizing everything then pour untreated water into the wort and thinking maybe i missed an important instruction somewhere. i did look around on different sites and books and dont see any mention of having to boil (or otherwise treat) that other water unless it has excessive chemicals or minerals...

thanks,

Mike

wild · #2 (**permalink**) 11-15-2006, 12:39 AM

I don't bother to boil my tap water. Besides, you can't boil away the chorine. Like you, I use bottled water. It works just fine.

Wild

BierNewbie · #3 (**permalink**) 11-15-2006, 12:42 AM

You will make the best beer by boiling the full amount that goes into the fermenter. Best hops utilization happens that way. So for my 5 gallon batch I start with 6.5 gallons if it's going for an hour boil. Your mileage may vary. I usually treat the water with a campden tablet to knock off the chlorine before the boil. All I know about brewing I learned at Palmer's How to Brew website and book.

CJPala · #4 (**permalink**) 11-25-2006, 11:16 AM

I also just use bottled water. . . . . .

No issues by boiling 3 gals, then adding the remaining water directly from the bottles. You may want to be sure to use a quality bottled water, like Poland Springs or the like.

ALSO . . . just be sure to include the temp of that two to three additonal gallons (room temp) to be sure you're not going to end up with wort that is too cool to pitch your yeast and/or it may take longer for yeast activity to get going.

Cheers!

jason · #5 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 10:20 PM

I guess I'm sort of lucky. I get my water through my parents house. They have a really great water filtration system there, so I just borrow some water from them. But I still boil most of it.

gm69camaro · #6 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 07:35 PM

I use distilled water because of how much lime is in my tap water. My tap water leaves an unpleasant bitter aftertaste in all beer styles. I have been told to boil and decant it to remove the carbonates but it seems like too much work to me. Also be careful with generic "spring water" as it may just be filtered tap water which in my case gave me the same results as tap water.
I do full boils but occasionally add some water from the jug to make up for lost volume due to boiling, never had a problem!