Bill Fright wrote:
> Jake Woods wrote:
>> Bill Fright wrote:
>>> Jake Woods wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> The area I live in is in severe need of rain, and it's affected our
>>>> water quality to the point where I don't even want to wash my
>>>> equipment with the muck that is coming out of the faucet.
>>>> Officially, they tell us that it is an algae bloom and it is safe to
>>>> drink but will taste like pond water until we get some rain.
>>>>
>>>> Any opinions on the following questions are welcome.
>>>>
>>>> 1. Will a thorough cleaning/sanitization job with PBW and Star-San
>>>> overcome any nasties that the water introduces?
>>>>
>>>> 2. If I buy water to clean with, and don't heat it up to my tap
>>>> water's usual temp, will that affect the performance of the
sanitizer?
>>>>
>>>> 2. I have 5 gals that I made about 5 weeks ago that is (past) ready
>>>> to be bottled. How long can I wait before giving in and buying
>>>> water to clean and sanitize my bottling rig with?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks - this one's got me a little perplexed.
>>>>
>>>> - Jake
>>>
>>>
>>> one- if the water tastes funny your beer will taste funny. Here in
>>> the states they sell 5 gallon water bottles. I'd switch entirely over
>>> to those until your water goes back to normal.
>>
>> I'm not worried about the brew water - for the wort and for topping
>> off , I never used the tap even when the water tasted fine. I'm only
>> concerned about any off tastes that could be left by the water I
>> sanitize with. I'm still really small time and never have more than
>> one batch going at a time :)
>>>
>>> two- heat your water for the sanitizer until warm and put in a
>>> sanitizing bucket. The stuff I use requires warm water.
>>>
>>> three- I've let my beer sit in the secondary 4 weeks longer than
>>> normal once and kegged it. Since it's air tight and is filled with
>>> CO2 you should be fine.
>>
>>
>>> Is this well water or city water? Do you mind if I ask where you live?
>>
>> Middle Tennessee. Let's hear it for the ***berland River.
>>
>>>
>>> After cooling your wort I'd be sure to use good clean water to top
>>> off your brew. Algae bloom and beer can't mix well!!!
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> - Jake
>
> Interesting. I use my well water entirely to brew my beers. The good
> part is the water is very hard (limestone). The well pulls from about
> 200' deep. At first I was concerned about using non-treated water
> especially after fermentation but I've never had a bad batch yet and
> I've brewed roughly 500 gallons.
>
> My question to you is are you using bottled spring water or the filtered
> stuff at grocery stores? I'm thinking of doing more pilsners and think
> the softer water might be better.
>
> Thanks,
> Bill
Bill,
Everything I've read says to stick to water specifically labeled
"Spring" and not "Distilled" since the latter is just too soft. I use
the local grocery store brand, but strangely enough have found a
difference in the two brands available to me (Kroger and Publix if that
means anything to you). Both of the Publix batches I did had
ridiculously bad mixing problems, in both cases I had to remove the
fermenting beer from my primary and stir it. I now stick entirely to
Kroger. Just experimentation I guess, like every other part of the
process!
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