Last dumb question (for a while)

[GranGreen]

Where I live has hard water. It almost comes out in lumps.

For making gallon DJ's would I be better off using 5 litre bottles of spring water? I'm not talking cost, or about re-using the 5 litre plastic bottles, but whether the hardness of the water in this area (South Coast) has any detrimental effect on the end product.

Your collective, wise and helpful thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks, good people! :)

 

[Tau]

Spring water may still have calcium carbonate in there anyway, the biggest problem is that hard water reduces the acidity in wines. Requiring you to add extra acids you wouldn't need to in soft water areas, that's about it, except for london water in which case use spring water.

 

[Personal91]

Spring water may still have calcium carbonate in there anyway, the biggest problem is that hard water reduces the acidity in wines. Requiring you to add extra acids you wouldn't need to in soft water areas, that's about it, except for london water in which case use spring water.

I haven't had problems with beers, should I be doing something to my WOW!'s or TC's

I live in London btw

 

[Vinotinto]

No problem here with 'Thames ' water

 

[MyQul]

I haven't had problems with beers, should I be doing something to my WOW!'s or TC's

I live in London btw

I've found Thames water fantastic for dark beers but I have to strip out the alkalinity for pales/bitters as my beer had a harsh bitter aftertaste rather than the smooth clean bittering that you want in a beer

 

[terrym]

Where I live has hard water. It almost comes out in lumps.

For making gallon DJ's would I be better off using 5 litre bottles of spring water? I'm not talking cost, or about re-using the 5 litre plastic bottles, but whether the hardness of the water in this area (South Coast) has any detrimental effect on the end product.

Your collective, wise and helpful thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks, good people! :)

What are you making, wine, beer or cider?
If it's beer, and you are doing kits only, my advice is if you drink your tap water without a second thought and it tastes and smells OK, it's good enough to brew without resorting to buying bottled water.

 

[Tau]

No problem here with 'Thames ' water

It's not just the chalky water, its water which has been drawn from the artesian well below london and the thames is the problem, although at "safe" levels might end up as something else once fermented.

Link to examples: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/ne...caused_by__unharmful__chemical_contamination/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8524109.stm

These are just examples, but how many drugs, medicines and urine medical conditions end up in the rivers they draw from? They don't test for everything, plus you've got dumping of chemicals from companies and old pipes that leak into the catchment.

Anyway? boil your water!

 

[Personal91]

It's not just the chalky water, its water which has been drawn from the artesian well below london and the thames is the problem, although at "safe" levels might end up as something else once fermented.

Link to examples: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/ne...caused_by__unharmful__chemical_contamination/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8524109.stm

These are just examples, but how many drugs, medicines and urine medical conditions end up in the rivers they draw from? They don't test for everything, plus you've got dumping of chemicals from companies and old pipes that leak into the catchment.

Anyway? boil your water!

Our water is terrible if you think about it - with the filter you put on the end of your tap you will get grit/grains of sand come through - not cool

 

[MyQul]

Anyway? boil your water!

This is why it makes sense to only drink beer as it gets boiled during the brewing process :thumb:

 

[tonyhibbett]

Best not to make assumptions. Last time I checked, my West London water has a pH of 6.8, so slightly acidic, whereas it used to be slightly alkaline.

 

[Tau]

Best not to make assumptions. Last time I checked, my West London water has a pH of 6.8, so slightly acidic, whereas it used to be slightly alkaline.

That'd be the P"ss then lol :lol:

 

[Robin54]

That'd be the P"ss then lol :lol:

They used to say that you could have a whizz in the morning and be drinking it by the afternoon...makes sense.
Im more worried by all the hormones (Lady pils), and anti-psychotic drugs in the water....which are all there by the way. Food for thought?????

 

[Vinotinto]

No problem here with 'Thames ' water

Slight error on my part. All my cr*p goes to the Thames and Thames water 'sort' it!

My tap stuff comes from Sutton and East Surrey Water! Probably no better. :-(

 

[terrym]

They used to say that you could have a whizz in the morning and be drinking it by the afternoon...makes sense.
Im more worried by all the hormones (Lady pils), and anti-psychotic drugs in the water....which are all there by the way. Food for thought?????

I would be more worried about the impact on your metabolism of the 5% plus ethyl alcohol that you imbibe each time you take a drink of your wine/beer/spirits/cider.

 

[GranGreen]

What are you making, wine, beer or cider?
If it's beer, and you are doing kits only, my advice is if you drink your tap water without a second thought and it tastes and smells OK, it's good enough to brew without resorting to buying bottled water.

Wine making - well, I hope it turns out as wine rather cleaning fluid.

I rarely drink our tapwater straight but put it through a filter jug. Even the cat turns his nose up at tap water unless it's been left to moulder for a couple of days. (The water, that is, not the cat.)

I have a 5 litre bottle of Scottish spring water here - originally bought with the intention of re-using the plastic bottle but since a kind body picked up a couple of DJ's for me I won't bother. Plus I can't find a 12.5 ml drill to fit the grommet in the lid to insert an airlock and I now have other plans for the empty container.

As the spring water bottle is getting in the way in the limited space I have available I think I'll use it anyway in the tea wine I'm planning to start this week. Nowt lost. All the makings are here so I may as well get stuck in and be damned.

All the replies have been interesting and useful - thank good people. :thumb:

 

[tonyhibbett]

An 8 mm drill is enough to fit an airlock without a grommet. Alternatively 1 inch copper pipe heated up with melt a hole the right size for a dj bung.
Animals can smell the chlorine and won't drink it until it has dissipated.
True wine made purely from grapes has no water added. The same applies to true cider.