Water for wine kits

[Ali]

Afternoon all.

Just started making wine kits again, and wondered if anyone uss bottled, rather than tap water for making up wine kits, as some do when making beer? If so, how much do you think it improves the wine? Our water is very hard, and before I start buying the more expensive kits, I would rather get others' opinions first!

 

[johnnyboy1965]

RO water is what you need. Go to any large aquatic shop and they sell RO water @ 12p per li. You can buy RO units very cheaply, or if you live near Solihull you can have some for free....Ive permentley got about 100li of the stuff.

 

[engineer]

Our water is very hard (south bucks). I have made cheap and expensive wine and beer kits with bottled and tap water and have not noticed any significant difference.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Our water is very hard (south bucks). I have made cheap and expensive wine and beer kits with bottled and tap water and have not noticed any significant difference.

Out of interest what is the Ph of your water?

 

[Razor]

I use Tesco 17p for 2l for both beer and wine as I figure this water is more standardised and impurity free.


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[johnnyboy1965]

I use Tesco 17p for 2l for both beer and wine as I figure this water is more standardised and impurity free.


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You do realize that this is bog standard tap water. You are paying 17p for the conveinience of it being in a bottle so you can carry it around.

 

[engineer]

Out of interest what is the Ph of your water?

Officially (according to Thames Water report of 2011) it ranges from 6.5 to 9.5 but i have only ever recorded it in a range of 6.5 to just under 8.0.

I kept Marine fish in the past and grow tropical plants using Aquaponics so its something i measure a few times annually. Hardness is real high though, officially around 288 ppm but i have measured it close to 400. It makes a mess of shower heads very quickly.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

6.5- 9.5 is a very wide gap, and can I say bordering on rediculous.My supplier (Severn Trent) say my water is 8.4 and Ive checked this, with my Ph meter (I also keep a small (2000li) marine tank and it does measure 8.4

 

[engineer]

6.5- 9.5 is a very wide gap, and can I say bordering on rediculous.My supplier (Severn Trent) say my water is 8.4 and Ive checked this, with my Ph meter (I also keep a small (2000li) marine tank and it does measure 8.4

Out of interest in regard to the report i quote above, their is also one for central. It was also published in 2011 but includes the same ph range spec on pages 19 and 55.

http://dwi.defra.gov.uk/about/annual-report/2010/central.pdf

I suspect the (wide) range they quote is more to do with covering their bottoms with ofwat than it is with the reality of supply.

 

[Razor]

You do realize that this is bog standard tap water. You are paying 17p for the conveinience of it being in a bottle so you can carry it around.

Eh. It's seems to be better and more consistent than my tap water so I don't mind that much. Only an extra £1.70 for a 20l batch.


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[Ali]

Out of interest in regard to the report i quote above, their is also one for central. It was also published in 2011 but includes the same ph range spec on pages 19 and 55.

http://dwi.defra.gov.uk/about/annual-report/2010/central.pdf

I suspect the (wide) range they quote is more to do with covering their bottoms with ofwat than it is with the reality of supply.

Yes, I've just downloaded my water report from Anglian Water. Again the pH is quoted at as between 6.5 and 9.5 which given it is a logarithmic scale seems huge, and probably more to do with Butt covering than anything else. The calcium is quoted at 95.3 mg/l (average), but I suspect it may well be higher, especially seeing what it does to shower heads, kettles etc. This is why I thought that bottled water may be better/more consistant. I get bottled water from Lidl which is labelled 'Chase Spring' and is bottled at the source of the spring. The calcium is somewhat lower at 38mg/l; the other values are also considerably lower. I just wonder if my chronically bad taste buds will notice the difference?
I used to own two aquatic shops with over 300 tanks of coldwater, tropical and marine fish, but when I closed them, I sold all of my (very expensive) testing equipment, thinking I would never need them again, as I vowed never to have to look after another aqaurium again! That hasn't changed but as for the test equipment....Never say never I guess!!