# Distilled Water



## [email protected] (5/5/11)

hey all!

was just curious, and wondering, if there was any problems in using distilled water for making a good homebrew? wikipedia says that yeast may not get the correct nutrients from using distilled water?

whats everyones thoughts?


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## QldKev (5/5/11)

As long as you understand water chemistry, no problems. It would allow you to tweak the water to suit the exact beer style. A nice soft water pils, mmm

QldKev


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## [email protected] (5/5/11)

cheers QldKev! ill have a look into it, i never was one for science, so it might just be easier for me to scick to tap water....... or give it a go anyways!


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## benno1973 (5/5/11)

Google for calcium requirements for yeast. Yeast require some stuff to do their thing, so starting with distilled water will allow you to add back things like CaCl, CaSO4, CaCO3 etc to achieve a certain water profile. There's a thread on here somewhere that I started asking what the min Calcium requirements were if using RO water - from memory it was around 50ppm.

As a first step, read Palmer's guide to water chemistry in How to Brew, as it's pretty good and it will give you a feel for what other factors are being affected when you mess around with the water (pH etc). And understand that you can always create softer water by mixing your regular tap water with distilled water, and still end up with good brewing water.


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## QldKev (5/5/11)

Also have a look on my website. I've got some notes thrown on there and also a couple of excellent links. As always Palmer's guide is also great reading. Once you ge tthe basis of it, it is not that scary and you don't need a science major to follow it all. If using distilled just set your starting water as all zeros and have a play.

QldKev


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## Wolfy (5/5/11)

Please let me know where you can get brewing-quantities of distilled water from?
The lab-supply place I usually use want to charge $10/L and at that price, its not something I'd consider using to brew with.


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## benno1973 (5/5/11)

Buy a still perhaps? But I can't see it being cheap to produce 30+L of distilled water...


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## [email protected] (5/5/11)

maybe spring water is a goer? i know that it can be bought from woolies for like four bucks for four litres (bought a dud car). i know its not as pure as distilled water, but its prob better than tap water........


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## Wolfy (5/5/11)

Spring water and de-mineralized water can both be purchased cheaply and easily, and there is no reason (other than extra cost and no particular advantage) that spring water cannot be used for brewing, but I was looking for some distilled water for yeast-storage purposes rather than 30-40L for brewing with.


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## eamonnfoley (5/5/11)

Wolfy said:


> Spring water and de-mineralized water can both be purchased cheaply and easily, and there is no reason (other than extra cost and no particular advantage) that spring water cannot be used for brewing, but I was looking for some distilled water for yeast-storage purposes rather than 30-40L for brewing with.



Get an RO filter - then it is essentially on tap.

Should you be storing yeast (slurries I assume) in distilled water? Spring water will be fine for that purpose. Even tap water with a decent profile will be suitable.

There is something about this in Jamils yeast book but I cannot remember the details.


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## Wolfy (5/5/11)

Storing washed yeast slurry in Melbourne tap water has been fine (for storage periods of many months), we're renting so a RO unit is out of the question, but do have a bench-filter for brewing-water.
However, as per the book (and other) suggestions when storing small (inoculation loop sized) yeast samples - if possible - I'd rather use distilled water than RO or tap water.


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## eamonnfoley (5/5/11)

Wolfy said:


> Storing washed yeast slurry in Melbourne tap water has been fine (for storage periods of many months), we're renting so a RO unit is out of the question, but do have a bench-filter for brewing-water.
> However, as per the book (and other) suggestions when storing small (inoculation loop sized) yeast samples - if possible - I'd rather use distilled water than RO or tap water.



RO units are very compact. I have this one: 

http://www.gryphonbrewing.com.au/store/ind...256bf41d9c94c6d

No bigger in size than a 2 stage bench filter.


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## [email protected] (8/5/11)

i have a guy whos lives across the road from me who deals in water filtration...... might head over there and have a yarn to him about the best way to get the best filtration using tap water! could be usefull!


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## manticle (8/5/11)

What people have alluded to above is that brewing with distilled water _without_ adding minerals is not a good idea.

There are certain things that aid yeast such as calcium. If you are going to use distilled water, you may either be looking at diluting your tap water if the tap water has a lot of chlorine or is very hard water OR you will be building up your own mineral profile by adding salts.

Tailoring your water with things like Calcium Chloride is a more technical aspect of brewing that is probably above your current level of experience.


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## [email protected] (8/5/11)

so its really just going to be easier to use the tap water! coolies!


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## Wolfy (8/5/11)

manticle said:


> There are certain things that aid yeast such as calcium. If you are going to use distilled water, you may either be looking at diluting your tap water if the tap water has a lot of chlorine or is very hard water OR you will be building up your own mineral profile by adding salts.


Or you could just live in Melbourne where the water is so soft you can treat it as distilled water for building your own water-profiles when brewing.


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## katzke (10/5/11)

You can not just go to the store and buy 4 liters of distilled water for 1 buck or 2? Must be a USA thing.


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## [email protected] (10/5/11)

too bad im not american!


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## Hassles (12/5/11)

Melbourne's tap water has always been good, fantastic for breeding tropical fish but...you're still gonna' have chlorine and chloramine which will need to be removed for the fish. Personally I don't want it in my beer either. A drum full of water placed in a shady place for a few days will usually allow the chlorine to disapate but the chloramine will remain. 

Good RO filters can be affordably purchased which can be readily plumbed into (or out again) the washing machine water inlet. Check out PSI filters in Tasmania - thats where I acquired mine. Once you've RO'ed the water you can re-mineralise to suit a given beer style. I believe Cooper's Brewery does this. Plenty of water chemistry stuff on-line for those with the need to know.

water filters can be custom assembled to filter out as much or as little as required so a filtration system is a serious option for any brewer (IMO). Check out your options and take it from there.

take care




PS: still looking for a recipe for "Warka Strong".


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## haysie (12/5/11)

Hassles said:


> Melbourne's tap water has always been good, fantastic for breeding tropical fish but...you're still gonna' have chlorine and chloramine which will need to be removed for the fish. Personally I don't want it in my beer either. A drum full of water placed in a shady place for a few days will usually allow the chlorine to disapate but the chloramine will remain.
> 
> Good RO filters can be affordably purchased which can be readily plumbed into (or out again) the washing machine water inlet. Check out PSI filters in Tasmania - thats where I acquired mine. Once you've RO'ed the water you can re-mineralise to suit a given beer style. I believe Cooper's Brewery does this. Plenty of water chemistry stuff on-line for those with the need to know.
> 
> ...



I dont breed fish, I catch them , kill them and eat them  Whiting are my favorite.

Hear what you are saying re RO water but the water here in Melbourne is so soft, most mashes/beers do very well, you can adjust without the RO or tablet treatment. Filtration of what? Adelaide is meant to be the worst water in Australia yet some of the best brewers in the country come from there with minimal additions or filtartion to the tap water.

Water chemistry can make a difference but filtartion is a waste of time if the water is good to start with.


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## Nevalicious (13/5/11)

haysie said:


> Adelaide <snip> the best brewers in the country come from there



Why thanks Haysie  

Yep, very little water treatment is needed for most beer styles if brewing in Adelaide. People like Smurto _et al_ I believe use salts and other additions due to the fact they're on rainwater, or atleast using it for brewing. 

BeerBelly84, I wouldn't bother personally at this time mate. Fine tune other step and processes before delving down this path...

My 2.37c

Nev


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## Wolfy (13/5/11)

katzke said:


> You can not just go to the store and buy 4 liters of distilled water for 1 buck or 2? Must be a USA thing.


Must be.  All we have is 'demineralized' water useful for irons or batteries



haysie said:


> I dont breed fish, I catch them , kill them and eat them  Whiting are my favorite.


We do and the critters cope fine with water run through a standard bench-top filter, we've also seen various people who simply run a hose straight from the tap into the tank with no adverse effects. Think it is like many other things, including brewing, you can make it as hard or as easy as you like.


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## manticle (13/5/11)

Hassles said:


> Melbourne's tap water has always been good, fantastic for breeding tropical fish but...you're still gonna' have chlorine and chloramine which will need to be removed for the fish. Personally I don't want it in my beer either. A drum full of water placed in a shady place for a few days will usually allow the chlorine to disapate but the chloramine will remain.




Pretty sure Melbourne water is not treated with chloramine (at least not yet).


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## felten (13/5/11)

Some parts of SA and WA get chloramines I think, but not Melbourne.


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## eamonnfoley (13/5/11)

haysie said:


> I dont breed fish, I catch them , kill them and eat them  Whiting are my favorite.
> 
> Hear what you are saying re RO water but the water here in Melbourne is so soft, most mashes/beers do very well, you can adjust without the RO or tablet treatment. Filtration of what? Adelaide is meant to be the worst water in Australia yet some of the best brewers in the country come from there with minimal additions or filtartion to the tap water.
> 
> Water chemistry can make a difference but filtartion is a waste of time if the water is good to start with.



Adelaide doesnt necessarily have bad water, its just high in permanent hardness from memory - which is good for many beer styles. Parts of Perth have terrible water for brewing. Sodium above 100ppm and Chloride above 200ppm! WTF! And never mind the chlorine and chloramines which can be filtered out easy enough.


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## tavas (13/5/11)

katzke said:


> You can not just go to the store and buy 4 liters of distilled water for 1 buck or 2? Must be a USA thing.



Yes you can. Coles, Woolies, IGA and Bunnings all sell distilled water. Around $2.50 for 4 litres. Kmart and Big W probably do as well

Or you could make your own. And if you're really keen, you could filter your water through a Brita jug which has ion exchange resins to remove chlorine, copper, lead, aluminium and will fix your bunions and mow your lawn for you if you believe the literature.

And for the record, Perth water doesn't contain chloramines. Only chlorine. Chloramine is used in some parts of WA but not Perth.


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## yankinoz (30/4/12)

Wolfy said:


> Please let me know where you can get brewing-quantities of distilled water from?
> The lab-supply place I usually use want to charge $10/L and at that price, its not something I'd consider using to brew with.



Try a car parts shop. Many also stock ROR (demineralized) water at a lower price. 

If the problem with tap water is off tastes, and these carry over or amplify in brews, the problem may be organic matter in the water, along with compounds formed by the reaction of organic matter with chlorine. Brita and other charcoal filters remove organic matter and its products, but do not substantially affect mineral content.


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## Spiesy (16/11/13)

Having trouble tracking down destilled water. 

I need it to calibrate a pH meter that I have - but all I can find is demineralised water. I've tried Masters and SuperCheap Auto, both only stock demineralised.

So:

I know they are different waters, but for the purpose of calibrating my pH meter - will demineralised water suffice?
Anyone know where I can easily obtain destilled water?


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## nu_brew (16/11/13)

I think they have it in the cleaning aisle of the supermarket for putting in your iron. Although it could be demineralised only.


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## Ducatiboy stu (16/11/13)

You will have more luck looking for distilled water. 

It is getting harder to find. De-mineralised should do the same job


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## Ducatiboy stu (16/11/13)

Or try this

http://m.wikihow.com/Make-Distilled-Water


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## Spiesy (17/11/13)

Found destilled water at the local supermarket, Woolworths. It's around 80c/L.


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## ricardo (17/11/13)

I bought some distilled water 2 weeks ago in Mitre 10 for calibrating my pH meter


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## ricardo (17/11/13)

For anybody who is interested in using Ice House spring water that is on sale quite cheap at Dan Murphy, here is the response I got back regarding an email I sent asking about the water profile.

"Thank you for contacting our product website with your question on *Icehouse Natural Spring Water*. Customer contacts and feedback are very important to us and we appreciate that you have taken the time to inquire about mineral content. This inquiry is usually from customers wanting to ensure they will not getting scaling in their coffee machines!

Our natural spring products are manufactured in accordance with industry and regulatory requirements. We are a member of ABWI (Australasian Bottled Water Institute) and as such, must manufacture to the standards governing our industry, including those of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). ABWI have a guidance range for acidity of *3.5 to 8.5.*

Our internal specification for pH on our natural spring water is *6.0 to 8.0* and we generally operate between *6.0 and 7.0*. We have an extensive Quality Control program and onsite testing laboratories that assess, amongst many specification parameters, the pH of our water – at source, in tankers, in tanks and as finished product.

As natural products can demonstrate seasonal variation in content, we conduct regular technical reviews on primary components. Outcomes from our most recent review are as provided to you as guidance only:
*Bicarbonate 26 mg/L*
*Calcium 3 mg/L*
*Chloride 7 mg/L*
*Magnesium 3 mg/L*
*Potassium 1 mg/L*
*Sodium 8 mg/L*

Thank you for your inquiry. We hope that you continue to enjoy our fine range of natural spring water products".


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## skb (15/4/14)

I am lolling at modifying my water in Sydney to get a try pilsner water style. My first step I am planning is to dilute tap with distilled. But as mentioned I find lots of deminerlised but not distilled. 

Am I correct in saying I can use deminerlised anyway as it appears to have taken all the relevant minerals out (Ca,Mg,HCO etc) and the only difference is some organic. It almost seems like it is the same your would get from an RO filter.

SKB


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