Water For Brewing And Cleaning

[davedoran]

Hi was just wondering on public opinion.

When making beer with a beerkit will it make a big difference using tap water or spring/mineral water.

If it does then should i follow the same logic with washing equipment and bottles prior to bottling with spring water?

 

[JestersDarts]

Hello Dave -

Welcome to the forum !

from my reading of this forum - theres plenty of opinion on what is the 'best' water to use -

highly depending on your location, and type of brewing you are doing.

i find google searching the best for this site, just type in site:www.aussiehomebrewer.com (search terms)
into google and you should have all the info you require!

heres a recent thread:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=43164

Personally, I use filtered tap water
sometimes spring water
sometimes water from West End brewery, that comes from natural springs underneath the brewery..

but havent done enough "experiments" to report results.

happy searching!

 

[zoidbergmerc]

I did 2 kits brew, Coopers Aussie Pale Ales with BE2 and one I used my filtered tap water and the other I used springwater that came in 10L casks.

I found the filtered tap water to be better and I gave a few of my friends the side by side blind test and they said the tap water one was nicer.

Here at work we sell water testing kits, maybe you should invest in one to test how hard\soft your water is? IIRC Hard water is good for stouts and soft water good for Ales?

 

[davedoran]

I did 2 kits brew, Coopers Aussie Pale Ales with BE2 and one I used my filtered tap water and the other I used springwater that came in 10L casks.

I found the filtered tap water to be better and I gave a few of my friends the side by side blind test and they said the tap water one was nicer.

Here at work we sell water testing kits, maybe you should invest in one to test how hard\soft your water is? IIRC Hard water is good for stouts and soft water good for Ales?

Thanks,

I have done a few of the coopers beer kits now and haven't found them to taste the best. I made these using a mixture of tap water and spring water. None of them made a difference, wasn't overly impressed with their tastes.

With the exception of the Thomas Cooper Premium Draft. Made that with tap water and has come up beautiful. Really nice fruity tasty beer.
Doing a brew with Black Rock Lager using Saaz Hops and Hersbrucker Hops with Salflager Yeast. Ive heard this one comes up close to Heiniken and is meant to be very nice so fingers crossed.

 

[jiesu]

I can just see this thread getting out of control with flying egos and oppinions.

What I would say to you is that I think you should do an experiment and report back your findings. The best method I imagine would be to make a split batch with identical ingredients and processes and to do a taste test with some friends. The best bit? You can use the excuse of drinking beer as research!

Happy brewing.

 

[Florian]

Spring water here, the one from Coles for 4.99/10l. The one from Aldi (3.99/10l) is very sweet tasting, too sweet for my liking.
However, I wouldn't bother washing bottles and equipment with spring water.
But, as it has been said before, it depends on the tap water in your area and your liking.
One good thing about spring water is that it hasn't got fluoride added to it (I hope so at least).

Florian

 

[leiothrix]

Spring water here, the one from Coles for 4.99/10l. The one from Aldi (3.99/10l) is very sweet tasting, too sweet for my liking.
However, I wouldn't bother washing bottles and equipment with spring water.
But, as it has been said before, it depends on the tap water in your area and your liking.
One good thing about spring water is that it hasn't got fluoride added to it (I hope so at least).

Florian

Who cares about the flouride? The chloride/chloramine would be my concern.

Rob.

 

[davedoran]

Yes chlorine/chloramine was one of myu concerns with using tap water. I head that chorile will be removed by using cooled boiled water but this wont remove the chloromine. Does any one know if there is any truth in this.

 

[Wolfy]

Filtered Melbourne tap water is fine to use.
Water quality in other places (especially SA/WA) might be a different story however - dave doran you didn't mention where you are from, that plays a big part in the answer to your question.

Once you have removed anything unwanted flouride/chloride/chloramine whatever via a filter, it's just a matter of knowing and adjusting for your water properties - if required.

 

[davedoran]

Filtered Melbourne tap water is fine to use.
Water quality in other places (especially SA/WA) might be a different story however - dave doran you didn't mention where you are from, that plays a big part in the answer to your question.

Once you have removed anything unwanted flouride/chloride/chloramine whatever via a filter, it's just a matter of knowing and adjusting for your water properties - if required.

Ya im living in Sydney but i think ill get a tap filter (easy and inexpensive) and hopefully this will get rid of the chlorine and any other baddies.
Thanks
Dave