what water is best?

[dave0w]

my tap water is very hard :twisted: and full or chlorine, you can taste it in tee and coffee :sick:
i have been adding sodium metabisulphite to my brewing water as i was told this would fix the problem, 1/2 tea spoon to 5 gallon
a friend just said can you use bottled water for brewing and i said i dont know let ask you guys. my local asda dose 5L for £1.50 and 18L for £4 so a normal batch 21/23L would cost £5.50 for bottled water, but is it ok to use?

 

[micky1882]

I've been using the cheap 17/18p 2 litre bottles of water for a few years now with no problems whatsoever. I also use the empty 2 litre bottles when bottling, saves steralizing loads of smaller bottles.

 

[Aleman]

A very difficult question to answer, as it depends on a huge variety of factors. There is a book just out by John Palmer and Colin Kaminski (Water : A Comprehensive Guide For Brewers) that at 300 pages should detail everything you would need to know about water. Quite frankly it way over complicates things.

The best water contains sufficient trace minerals for yeast feremntation 100ppm of calcium between 30-125ppm alkalinity and Sulphate to Chloride in a 2 to 3 to 1 ratio . . . depending on what style of beer you are brewing.

 

[dave0w]

I've been using the cheap 17/18p 2 litre bottles of water for a few years now with no problems whatsoever. I also use the empty 2 litre bottles when bottling, saves steralizing loads of smaller bottles.

17/18p from where?

 

[london_lhr]

HI,

to reduce chlorine and chloramanine in water, use Campden tablets @1/2 tablet per 23L of water.
A good read is viewtopic.php?f=31&t=47595

Barry.

 

[micky1882]

I've been using the cheap 17/18p 2 litre bottles of water for a few years now with no problems whatsoever. I also use the empty 2 litre bottles when bottling, saves steralizing loads of smaller bottles.

17/18p from where?

Any supermarket, tesco value, asda smart price etc its the budget water but I've never had an issue.

 

[dave0w]

HI,

to reduce chlorine and chloramanine in water, use Campden tablets @1/2 tablet per 23L of water.
A good read is viewtopic.php?f=31&t=47595

Barry.

thats the same as what i am using. but your adding another taste into the water so i was thinking with bottled water been so cheap can it be used.

 

[dave0w]

I've been using the cheap 17/18p 2 litre bottles of water for a few years now with no problems whatsoever. I also use the empty 2 litre bottles when bottling, saves steralizing loads of smaller bottles.

17/18p from where?

Any supermarket, tesco value, asda smart price etc its the budget water but I've never had an issue.

its probable just tap water in bottles i remember back in the day when coca cola did bottled water and it was all withdrawn when tested found it was just coming out of the tap :rofl:.

and OMG i just had a look and yer 17p for 2L, so £2.04 for 24L

ppl pay £15 for a kit then £10 for DME so £2 on water can be a bad thing if it helps the brew.

i may do 2 matching brews 1 with tap and 1 bottled soo if there is a difference. or i may just use the stuff for £2 as i know the stuff in my tap is nasty, the water ppl only add things if they have(as everything they add costs money) to so they must be killing off some nasty bug? :sick:

 

[winelight]

I have extremely hard water that smells and tastes of chlorine so I either use cheap bottled water, or filtered tap water. I have an under-the-sink filter and use cartridges that are supposed to reduce the hardness. They do get rid of the chlorine smell too.

 

[anthonyUK]

I have extremely hard water that smells and tastes of chlorine so I either use cheap bottled water, or filtered tap water. I have an under-the-sink filter and use cartridges that are supposed to reduce the hardness. They do get rid of the chlorine smell too.

How do they reduce the 'hardness' (bicarbonate)?
Usually by adding salt which is not necessarily any better.

There are so many threads on here regarding water that will help.

 

[winelight]

I dunno.. it is just a filter. There's no salt added. But it works - the kettle doesn't get furred up any more.

 

[Mickeywheelspin]

I use Tesco everyday value still water and never had an issue. I reckon it probably is just tap water in a bottle but at 17p a for 2 litres, so long as their tap water is better than mine I'm a happy bunny :thumb:

Besides, it's quite nice leaving Tesco with a full trolley knowing it only cost a couple of quid.

Just been and found a bottle - "Tesco Everyday Value Water is drawn from the mains supply and undergoes a filtration process to remove impurities, which improves the taste."

No mention of mineral content but doesn't sound like they add anything so it's just filtered tap water. Like I say, so long as their tap water is better than mine...

Saves faffing with treating water too.

 

[kentmark]

I use Tesco everyday value still water and never had an issue. I reckon it probably is just tap water in a bottle but at 17p a for 2 litres, so long as their tap water is better than mine I'm a happy bunny :thumb:

Besides, it's quite nice leaving Tesco with a full trolley knowing it only cost a couple of quid.

Just been and found a bottle - "Tesco Everyday Value Water is drawn from the mains supply and undergoes a filtration process to remove impurities, which improves the taste."

No mention of mineral content but doesn't sound like they add anything so it's just filtered tap water. Like I say, so long as their tap water is better than mine...

Saves faffing with treating water too.

+1 vote for this. In addition to the above I find that it makes life easier having water bottled to tip into the fv rather than messing around with a large jug.

 

[dave0w]

I use Tesco everyday value still water and never had an issue. I reckon it probably is just tap water in a bottle but at 17p a for 2 litres, so long as their tap water is better than mine I'm a happy bunny :thumb:

Besides, it's quite nice leaving Tesco with a full trolley knowing it only cost a couple of quid.

Just been and found a bottle - "Tesco Everyday Value Water is drawn from the mains supply and undergoes a filtration process to remove impurities, which improves the taste."

No mention of mineral content but doesn't sound like they add anything so it's just filtered tap water. Like I say, so long as their tap water is better than mine...

Saves faffing with treating water too.

+1 vote for this. In addition to the above I find that it makes life easier having water bottled to tip into the fv rather than messing around with a large jug.

would a bottle of water not be like a jug?

 

[winelight]

The only thing you have to be wary of with bottled water is the temperature. If I make the beer kit up from tap water as per instructions I don't need to measure the temperature, it just comes out right. But if I make it with room-temperature bottled water it ends up too hot - just watch out for that and do check the temperature.

 

[Deltabrew]

What makes you think you have hard water? Yorkshire is a soft water area.
If you want cheap good water go for a walk in the countryside with a few bottles....

 

[dave0w]

What makes you think you have hard water? Yorkshire is a soft water area.
If you want cheap good water go for a walk in the countryside with a few bottles....

the fact that i go threw 3+ kettle's each year because of limescale. and like i said you can taste the chlorine also

 

[iceo]

What makes you think you have hard water? Yorkshire is a soft water area.
If you want cheap good water go for a walk in the countryside with a few bottles....

the fact that i go threw 3+ kettle's each year because of limescale. and like i said you can taste the chlorine also

3-4tsp of citric acid in a mug of water will clean the kettle every few months will save you getting a new kettle

 

[kentmark]

I use Tesco everyday value still water and never had an issue. I reckon it probably is just tap water in a bottle but at 17p a for 2 litres, so long as their tap water is better than mine I'm a happy bunny :thumb:

Besides, it's quite nice leaving Tesco with a full trolley knowing it only cost a couple of quid.

Just been and found a bottle - "Tesco Everyday Value Water is drawn from the mains supply and undergoes a filtration process to remove impurities, which improves the taste."

No mention of mineral content but doesn't sound like they add anything so it's just filtered tap water. Like I say, so long as their tap water is better than mine...

Saves faffing with treating water too.

+1 vote for this. In addition to the above I find that it makes life easier having water bottled to tip into the fv rather than messing around with a large jug.

would a bottle of water not be like a jug?

Not far off I would agree! But with a jug i have to keep filling i from the tap to transfer to the fv, usually splashing some around. Much less mess with bottles. And also it means i can make up the brew in the garage where my workbench and brewing cupboard is.

 

[dave0w]

am sold on the idea, am doing a cheap coopers English bitter this weekend so i will try the water if it don't work nothing lost.