Cold Vs Hot Water

[gava]

Hi All,

just doing some research and found a little bit off the 'the electric brewery' site which talks about using hot water from older systems.

Lifted from www.theelctricbrewery.com
"Some brewers choose to use hot tap water to reduce the heating time required. We do not recommend doing this. While a newer hot water tank may be fine, an older one that has not been properly maintained may introduce a 'minerally' taste to the water. In some cases there may also be higher levels of lead in the water. We recommend that you follow the advice of the EPA who recommend that hot tap water not be used for cooking or drinking - brewing is both! If you use tap water to brew, it's best to use cold tap water that comes straight from your city's water supply."

Has anyone come across this while using hot water? I've started to use hot water to fill my HLT but I really don't want to be hurting my beer before it even starts.
My house is pretty new so my hot water system is new, Just want to know if anyone has found this to be an issue.

Cheers
Gavin.

 

[Black n Tan]

I know many use hot water to fill their kettles, but the only way to know is to taste your hot water. If it tastes minerally/coppery then don't use it in your beer. I use cold water because it taste better.

 

[manticle]

I use hot because mine is set very hot and I save time and energy with heating.

No detectable mineral finish, tell you about the lead poisoning in a few years.

 

[TimT]

I hadn't seen that issue before, I presume though the link is to a US website it holds good for Australia too. Maybe you'd have to get hold of details about your house's plumbing to figure out if the pipes are lead lined or not. Even so, you'd think if there was a big problem with lead in what is Aussie drinking water someone would have noticed by now....????

So, basically yeah of course I use hot water, why not?

Incidentally I love how brewers are such sticklers that they cover every detail, from the shape of glass you drink out of to whether you brew with hot or cold water!

 

[Burt de Ernie]

I am presuming this info was based on water form a storage style heater

As a plumber I have replaced out hundreds of old storage heaters and all of them have sediment/rust build up at the base of the tank from years of use. I believe this generally comes from either the water supply and/or the sacrificial anode. The anode is installed in the top of the tank.

I am guessing that this is where the mineral tasting water may come from..*Shrugs*

Instantaneous style heaters don't have the same associated issues.

 

[Midnight Brew]

Trust the taste buds and let some hot tap water cool down then drink it. Should give a reasonable idea on if it is any good for brewing. I've done it before in hoppy beers and couldn't detect any issues. More then likey because they were hoppy beers.

 

[indica86]

Trust any US government agency with providing factual information?

 

[QldKev]

Trust the taste buds and let some hot tap water cool down then drink it. Should give a reasonable idea on if it is any good for brewing. I've done it before in hoppy beers and couldn't detect any issues. More then likey because they were hoppy beers.

I did the taste test a couple of years back when I was still in town. Now way was the stuff from that HWS going to come close to my beer. An extra element in the HLT makes up a lot of time, and it allows me to filter my water prior to the HLT.

 

[Kudzu]

Been toying with the idea of dual purposing my immersion chiller as an immersion heater. Haven't tried it yet as I haven't had a hot tap near where I brew, this is changing soon though.

 

[Burt de Ernie]

Been toying with the idea of dual purposing my immersion chiller as an immersion heater. Haven't tried it yet as I haven't had a hot tap near where I brew, this is changing soon though.

Unless you use a flow and return pump dumping hot water will be an expensive exercise. The other issue you will have is generally storage heater store water at 60 - 70 degrees which isn't a great deal of differential if you are looking to exchange to 67degree mash.

 

[431neb]

I have a small undercounter electric HWS in the shed. Initially, when I was still bottling, it was getting a workout cleaning (and sanitising) bottles. I say sanitising because I cracked it open on day on and adjusted the temp to the max.

<Shuffles off to get tin hat.>

Now I use it to fill everything ( if it'll save some time) and I've done the odd lazy sparge with it too. I've no noticed any untoward flavour or odour but everyone's water supply and HWS combo is different. The cooled water taste test is a wise idea.

Seeing as though I have my tin hat on already, I might as well add that I run the said water through a nylex Gardena hose fitting and through a short length of garden hose ( gasp!!) to simplify brew day.

My beer tastes fine and has only caused a few tumours to date.

 

[Tex083]

I use cold as I have no hot water tap in my brewery.
I do remember my old man saying never drink from the hot tap.

I use filtered cold water and set a timer to heat the water before brew day

 

[Kudzu]

Unless you use a flow and return pump dumping hot water will be an expensive exercise. The other issue you will have is generally storage heater store water at 60 - 70 degrees which isn't a great deal of differential if you are looking to exchange to 67degree mash.

Was thinking more just to help things along. I reckon it'll go from cold (12C for me at present) to at least 40ish pretty quick. Once the heating rate drops I'll switch it off and let the element do rest. Heating water in an insulated hot water tank has to be far more efficient than a thin steel pot.

Can't hurt to give it a try.

 

[Burt de Ernie]

Was thinking more just to help things along. I reckon it'll go from cold (12C for me at present) to at least 40ish pretty quick. Once the heating rate drops I'll switch it off and let the element do rest. Heating water in an insulated hot water tank has to be far more efficient than a thin steel pot.

Can't hurt to give it a try.

I would love to see how you do it.

I am currently running a system that does this but I would like to see what you come up with.

 

[Kudzu]

Won't be very complicated to start with. Put immersion chiller in the HLT, hose from hot tap to IC inlet, hose from IC outlet to an empty fermenter or some such so the water can be re-used. The taps went in the brew room last night so might do a quick test tonight to see if it's viable. Will report back.

From my experience with chilling the temperature drops rapidly until the temp difference gets under about 20C, so I think I should be able to get to 40-50C without wasting a lot of water. Unless physics doesn't work the way I think it does (quite possible).

 

[Kudzu]

Just following up, I did try this. Used about 30 litres of hot water to get ~60l (didn't measure) in the HLT from 12C to a bit over 30C. My hot water tank it over 70C. Not as efficient as I was hoping, it got there a lot quicker than the 2400W element would, but don't think it's worth the hassle when I can put the HLT on a timer and have strike water ready when I wake up.

 

[William3265]

If you use hot water for brewing it will give you a different taste.

 

[manticle]

Never did for me in the 3 trillion brews I've done with both.

 

[Donske]

If you use hot water for brewing it will give you a different taste.

It's only an issue if you have an old HWS I believe, my hot water tastes no different to my cold water, it just allows me to save a ton of time on brew days.