Bottled Water?

[Malinois]

Hi,
I live in a very hard water area and I am just about to make the largest and most expensive kit I have ever bought which is the Beaverdale Rioja. If I use bottled water do I still have to boil it?


Thanks

Ian

 

[oldbloke]

The water is safe out of the bottle.
Whether the kit ingredients need it to be boiled to get everything properly dissolved etc I don't know.

 

[weepete]

Last time I made a Beaverdale kit no boiling was needed, so you should be fine.

 

[Malinois]

Hi,
thanks.

Ian

 

[bobsbeer]

Depending on where you live you don't need to use bottled water. I use tap water all the time with no issues, but we have soft water. In winemaking, chlorine is not an issue, as it will dissipate during fermentation. And often bottled water is just tap water anyway, bottled and given a fancy name, oh and a price hike. Also there is no need to boil tap water either.

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Adding a campden tablet 24 hours before you pitch the yeast will get rid of any chlorine at the same time as killing off any unwanted yeasts and bacteria.

Also, if you're using bottled water make sure you only use mineral water, not distilled or filtered water. Mineral water and tap water both contain minerals the yeast needs to reproduce, such as calcium. Distilled water has these minerals removed, and filtered water can be short on minerals too.

I personally prefer using mineral water as the tap water in my area is fluoridated, and I'm not sure what affect that would have on the yeast.

 

[Malinois]

Just got 20l of Morrisons own spring water. £3.60. I have had my kettle 10 months and I keep having to chip the scale off so better safe than sorry.


Ian

 

[oldbloke]

With water that hard I'd use bottled for brewing. Luckily we get soft stuff here. Kinda miss the taste of the hard water I grew up with in Bristol though.

 

[Malinois]

Next question. Although I have lots of glass demijohns I now have 3 x 5 litre pet plastic containers from my water with screw lids. Am I ok ageing my wine in these or better to stick with glass?

Ian

 

[Brewtrog]

Next question. Although I have lots of glass demijohns I now have 3 x 5 litre pet plastic containers from my water with screw lids. Am I ok ageing my wine in these or better to stick with glass?

Ian

That'll bring up an interesting debate, some people say that PETs are slightly permeable to oxygen, therefore ok for initial ferment but not good for long term storage, others say that PETs are fine even for that. Personally I avoid using plastic as much as possible just in case, and I'm sure I once heard that the plasticisers can leach into the booze, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I am starting to get a few PET 5L bottles together for fermentation, i like them as they are a lot lighter than the glass ones and as i store them on top of the fridge freezer i find lifting them and moving them about a lot easier.
I now racking into glass DJ.s as i degass with a drill attachment (home made coat hanger type) and found i kept hitting the sides of the square plastic bottles.
I don't age my wine for long periods so am not to bothered about the fact they may let in oxygen over time.

 

[Malinois]

My brew is going loopy. It's in the garage which is cool but kept warm on a brewing heated board.

On forum advice I have made it short at 21L and substituted the standard yeast for Lalvin.


Ian