What type of water do you use?? Bottled spring water or just normal tap water??

[Spacedhopper]

So the title says it all .. What do people use tap water or posh bottled stuff??

 

[brewpirate]

Depends on your water source and what your brewing. If I am making a light beer with delicate flavors I use RO water then add minerals back but for a big hoppy beer I will do 50 City /50 RO blend and then add a little gypsum to boost it more. Any city water I use sits out in the sun for a couple of days to bake off any chlorine

 

[simon12]

I just use tap water but I may experiment in future. Any chlorine will be lost quickly in the boil but I have no idea if it affects the mash.

 

[Cwrw666]

Our `tap water' comes from our privately owned pit out on the mountainside above our house. So lovely `spring water' - but completely full of coliforms we are regularly told by inspectors from the local council. On the EU limit for acidity for drinking water too. So we have to boil it all when making homebrew which is a bit of a pain.
I read in a book many years ago that with water this acid it's good for stout, ok for bitter, but rubbish for lager. My experience seems to bear this out.

 

[568ml]

Where we live the water taste just beautiful, so I use what comes out of the tap. If was in London I would get bottled water, we filtered ours while living down there. So I would say it depends on where you live and your water.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I use tap water.

 

[Frogbrew]

Asda bottled water @17p for 2ltr for me, i then re-used 8 of the bottles for my wilko pilsner brew. Remainder in 330ml.

 

[Citizen]

I also use tap water.

 

[colliefish]

So far, tap water, I seem to be a bit unique as I like the taste of the clorine in a nice glass of water, but am thinking of alternatives.

 

[adam18]

I just use tap water, I would only worry about using a different water source if your beer made from tap water was tasting bad

 

[doodaa]

I also just use tap but we are blessed with good soft water in Cumbria

 

[stevey]

I've used bottled water, with no discernable difference. I've also boiled my water beforehand, and I think I would do more often if I could be bothered. I just use tap water with Campden tabs usually. I've only had 1 brew that I couldn't drink, and that was due to infection, I think.
I do read up a lot on water chemistry, I used to keep amazon tropical fish and had to completely change my hard, alkaline tap water to soft, acidic water; so I know it's within my capabilities. ( I still have my ro filter plumbed in under the sink, but it wastes a lot of water, so it is not used anymore). But I like my beer enough not to bother with all that hassle, and for me, that's what it's all about. 😊

 

[geigercntr]

Tap water piped all the way from north Wales :)

 

[Spoon]

Thames water (not quite as hard as the ridiculously hard south east water!) , used where it's appropriate for stouts, porters and IPA.

Mixed 50/50 with tesco spring water (ashbeck?) for most other styles, or straight spring water for wheat beer or anything requiring soft water.

I doubt it's that important, some areas of bavaria and Bohemia have ludicrously hard water, others have pure glacial water. Both make lager, just subtly different types. Even bottled though, it's still the cheapest component of the brew, even dried yeast costs more.

 

[MarkMayf]

Tap for me. Slightly hard Yorkshire finest H2O.

 

[chub1]

I use our tap water, Thames Water and it's pretty hard. Not had any probs, not tried bottled water but don't think i could be a###d to be honest:mrgreen:

 

[strange-steve]

Hard water is good for brewing, it's the alkalinity that causes problems. Hard water means it has a high content of calcium and magnesium, both of which are desirable in brewing water.

 

[Cqr]

You could right on a chalk board with my water
Well ard geezer

 

[Flyerstarter]

You could right on a chalk board with my water
Well ard geezer

Totally with you there. Rock hard down here in sussex, tried bottled and couldn't tell the difference. Campden tablets in the HLT help.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[chrissyr63]

I usually use a mixture 1/9 of Thames tap water and Devon tap water mixed with a campden tablet. This seems to give me a 25 alk water and I add a bit of gypsum into the boil if I want a hoppy beer. I can up or lower the alk if I do I dark or lager beer.
Not sure if this makes it any better from when I used just Devon or Thames (super soft or very hard) as I assume my beer has got better just as I get more experienced.

C