Do You Boil Your Water?

[jbowers]

Basically I'm just wondering how many of you boil water to pasteurise it prior to adding it to the fermenter. Obviously this mainly applies to extract and kit brewers, but also may apply to top up water for AG brewers and things like that.

The more I read, the more paranoid I get about possible infection sources.

 

[manticle]

When I did kits - no.

Now I do full mash so the water gets boiled in the brewing process obviously. If I need to add any in later (bulk priming solution etc) or make a starter then the water gets boiled and cooled.

 

[DU99]

i get mine from the hot water tap..let it run for a till i cant the finger under it..i dont waste the water i wash the fermenter lid

 

[Shed101]

Nope ... and i'm using tankwater.

I've only done four brews so far, but i'm very impressed with the outcome.

 

[husky]

I have always boiled first then cooled and added to fermenter. There was one brew where I topped it up with straight tap water and there were no issues.

 

[Pennywise]

I've just tapped brew no. 224, all of which have had top up water from the tap, not boiled. Obviously it would depend on where you are located, but Melb water hasn't been as issue at all for me with any of these brews. Alot have been kit brews, a fair amount have been extract brews, and one AG, no probs

 

[Wolfy]

Now I do full mash so the water gets boiled in the brewing process obviously. If I need to add any in later (bulk priming solution etc) or make a starter then the water gets boiled and cooled.

^ what he said.

 

[fraser_john]

Nope ... and i'm using tankwater.

I've only done four brews so far, but i'm very impressed with the outcome.

Untreated rainwater can contain numerous unpleasant bacteria, which would probably love a source of nutrients such as wort. I use rainwater exclusively, but it is all boiled as part of all grain brewing.

Just one source of info

 

[Shed101]

Untreated rainwater can contain numerous unpleasant bacteria, which would probably love a source of nutrients such as wort. I use rainwater exclusively, but it is all boiled as part of all grain brewing.

Just one source of info

Thanks for that.

Weirdly enough my f-in-law was the country's first poly-tank manufacturer and he's designed, manufactured and installed dozens of them.
He fitted the tanks here, so if I ever have any trouble i'll be paying him out big time!

 

[haysie]

Melbournian :super:

For some strange reason I preboil all my mash water, maybe because thats what I did when I was kitting in the 90`s. My reasoning now being... I dont like/want the chlorine in my mash. Maybe a habitual thing.
But we are boiling anyway as pointed out above, which I always knew and wondered wtf I waste time boiling then cooling. Being non-habitual at my worst times h34r: , reach strike, bugger boiling it.. No prob`s I can find in my beers.
The chrorine has more affect on yeast than mash ph, thats how i see it,,,,,,, so if kitting would I add unboiled tap water to my fermenter? No.

 

[manticle]

Melbournian :super:

For some strange reason I preboil all my mash water, maybe because thats what I did when I was kitting in the 90`s. My reasoning now being... I dont like/want the chlorine in my mash. Maybe a habitual thing.
But we are boiling anyway as pointed out above, which I always knew and wondered wtf I waste time boiling then cooling. Being non-habitual at my worst times h34r: , reach strike, bugger boiling it.. No prob`s I can find in my beers.
The chrorine has more affect on yeast than mash ph, thats how i see it,,,,,,, so if kitting would I add unboiled tap water to my fermenter? No.

Yeah I've never had any issues with boiling off the chlorine after the mash. I have tasted chlorephenols in a beer that was cubed in a chlorine sanitised (and badly rinsed) container and they are unmistakeable.

I never got them in kit brews so maybe our levels of chlorine (melb) are at a reasonable level? Still probably good practice to boil first if you can be arsed.

 

[phinnsfotos]

No boil, just Canberra tap water straight into the fermenter. Sometimes I put about 8 liters into big bottles to cool in the fridge over night, them add them to the wort to get the pitch temp down too. No infection in 20 brews, knock on wood.

 

[enoch1973]

Always straight from the tap... never had a problem... Living in Sydney though so I'm not sure what the water is like elsewhere.

 

[raven19]

When I did kits - no.

Now I do full mash so the water gets boiled in the brewing process obviously. If I need to add any in later (bulk priming solution etc) or make a starter then the water gets boiled and cooled.

+1 here too.

 

[jakub76]

Used to pre-boil for kits and still do for top-ups. Now the AG process involves a boil so, like maticle I don't see the need.

Looking into the water here in Sydney's inner west, they use chloramine not chlorine. Boiling removes chlorine but doesn't touch chloromine - you need a carbon filter to remove it.

 

[jbowers]

For those who do boil - why do you do it? Apparently you are at no greater risk of infection according to many people posting here.

 

[Noxious]

In Sydney (including western Sydney) they don't use chloramine, the use various phases of chlorine or chlorine compounds.
The chloramines in Sydney's water are formed by the chlorine reacting with the residual ammonia/organic matter forming chloramines.
This is a by-product of the need to reach break-point chlorination, look it up.
Jakub, where did you find this information about western Sydney's water??

To the OP, the chlorine is added to the water to disinfect the water...thus lowering contaminants, people then boil their water to remove the chlorine.
I don't bother, 50 brews have tasted fine so far..

 

[Nick JD]

For those who do boil - why do you do it? Apparently you are at no greater risk of infection according to many people posting here.

A lot of people do a lot of things in brewing they don't need to do - and work on a why risk it policy. This is one of those things.

I use cold tap water because I know it's not a risky thing to do.

 

[jakub76]

Jakub, where did you find this information about western Sydney's water??

Sydney water's web site...
Here to find out which plant your water comes from
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/OurSystemsAn...s/WaterSystems/

and here to see what's in it
http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Publications...terAnalysis.pdf

you'll notice the Prospect water plant has 0 parts free chlorine, instead disinfecting with monochloramine

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

All my drinking/brewing water comes off my roof, so stuff in the brewery gets boiled. I have a few litres of this:

http://www.davey.com.au/ApplicationandProd...r_Purifier.aspx

which we bought after we discovered some dead animal in our collection system.

It (not the animal) is like Herlisil FP in that it is silver and hydrogen peroxide and could/should/might be cheaper than the cost of boiling.

Another option, I guess.