#1 – Use Distilled and Not Tap Water – One of the most important tips I can give to moonshiners is to always use distilled water for making moonshine wash. It’s no secret that tap water contains a plethora of chemicals, some of which includes chlorine, chlorate, bromate and fluoride.
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Can I use tap water for mash?
Home Distiller Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here. Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper Moderator: Novice Posts: Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:07 pm by » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:25 pm If you have a large still it could get quite expensive buying distilled water. Posts: Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 4:13 pm Location: Central Alabama, Heart of Dixie! by » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:48 pm The city water would actually be better. The distilled water is missing minerals that the yeast need. Just gotta let the city water sit open for a day to let the chlorine evap off. Posts: Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 4:13 pm Location: Central Alabama, Heart of Dixie! by » Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:26 pm I am only passing on what I have learned from this site. From all I have read on other sites and this one HD (this site) seems to me to have the best info.
- It’s funny you bring up fluoride, out of all I have read I never heard any advice on that! Any opinions on that? I know an opinion without 3.14 is just an onion.
- If you don’t get that, just check out the jokes on this forum.
- Good luck to ya, Hoser1 “yeah? yeah? the maple flavored kind?” A dog on you tube.
Novice Posts: Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:07 pm by » Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:21 pm You’re right Richard, all that left is a onion, LOL. I hope maybe someone would comment about the flouride, I’m curious if it would cause a bad taste, or does it even matter.
- Rumrunner Posts: Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2010 5:38 am Location: south dakota by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:46 am i have used tap water for over 3 yrs. as is,
- No problems but alot of water systems may vary as far as floride, ph and minerals.
- Just try it, adjust ph if needed,
- If it works it aint broken.
- Today marks the dawn of a new error.
Novice Posts: Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:01 am by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 4:36 am In all my years of brewing, I never had a problem with the city water supply. With all water sources, you want to adjust PH and softness for maximum benefit to the yeast, but even in my early days as a home brewer, I never had problems with city supplied water even if I didn’t have the additives to balance the PH, etc out.
I’m on a well at the house. Lucky to be drawing from the same aquifer as a once famous distillery (which a bunch of ‘dry’ jerks burned down just after prohibition ended) and aside from a household salt softening system, nothing gets added to it. But yeah, you should be fine, and Flouride is added in such minute quantities, it really won’t make a difference.
“How do you make bourbon? You take some moonshine, put it in a barrel, and add a bunch of federal regulations.” Rumrunner Posts: Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:43 pm Location: Somewhere to the north of the.Peoples epublik of Kalifonia by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:54 am, Posts: Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 8:22 am Location: Paradise by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:32 am Boiling water will actually increase the fluoride in the water, to remove fluoride you need to either distill the water or find a alumina filter. Bootlegger Posts: Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:45 am Location: Land of the free? by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 12:22 pm Chlorine is no big deal to treat.
Just make sure you’re not like me and have Chloramine in the water. Totally different beast. Novice Posts: Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:07 pm by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 1:07 pm Txs everyone for your help. From your input I have gathered the following: 1. Try your tap water just the way it comes out of the tap, and see first hand if the end product is to your personal liking.2.
If you are not satisfied with your TAP Water, then use Campden tablets to eliminate both free chlorine, and the more stable form, chloramine. At $8.00 for 100 tablets it’s cheaper than boiling water or filtering, and a lot more efficient than either. It’s easy to use, smash up one (1) tablet and mix in per 20 gals of water. Posts: Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 4:13 pm Location: Central Alabama, Heart of Dixie! by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:39 pm mystakilla wrote: Boiling water will actually increase the fluoride in the water, to remove fluoride you need to either distill the water or find a alumina filter.
- I think we plan on distilling the water in the end.
- Does anyone know if this will take care of any fluoride issues that we may encounter? Sorry, I don’t have the answer other than I know I can’t tell it’s in my drink, as I make it from city water.
- Yeah? yeah? the maple flavored kind?” A dog on you tube.
Novice Posts: Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:07 pm by » Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:14 pm From what I’ve gathered Richard, the flouride doesn’t seem to be a problem, only the Chlorine may have an effect on the possible taste and yeast growth. Angel’s Share Posts: Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:07 pm Location: up north by » Fri Feb 01, 2013 2:15 am fluoride can inhibit yeast growth, as it binds with minerals preventing the up take and also preventing o2 exchange. a activated carbon filter will remove it. Novice Posts: Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:07 pm by » Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:35 pm In researching the matter this is what I found: Flouride is rather common, it’s found naturally in most water regardless if it’s springs, ground water,rivers, streams, or city water.
Can I boil water instead of distilled?
Is boiled water the same as distilled water? – No, they aren’t the same. Boiled water is simply water that has had the temperature increased until it reaches its boiling point. This kills a host of bacteria that can make a person sick. Distilled water is water that has been stripped of all impurities, including minerals and microorganisms.
What is the best water for moonshine?
#1 – Use Distilled and Not Tap Water – One of the most important tips I can give to moonshiners is to always use distilled water for making moonshine wash. It’s no secret that tap water contains a plethora of chemicals, some of which includes chlorine, chlorate, bromate and fluoride.
Is tap water OK for fermentation?
Tap water, spring water, bottled water What is the best water for homemade fermentations? Water is one of the main ingredients in the preparation of kombucha, water kefir, sourdough, beer, and many other fermented foods. It goes without saying that the water used has an impact on the quality and taste of fermented foods.
This article will help you choose the best water to do your fermentations, and answer all your questions! In summary: You can use the same water you drink at home. If it is drinkable, it is usually quite suitable for fermentations! If your tap water is not to your taste, buying a water filter is a very good option.
Go Directly to the Section That Interests You:
Different types of water
Tap water Well water Bottled water Distilled water Seawater
Compounds that affect fermentation
Minerals Chlorine and fluoride
How do I remove chlorine from my water?
Should I use bottled water for brewing?
Rain Water – While brewing super eco-friendly and brewing with rainwater it is not what is best for your beer. There can be certain chemicals found in rainwater that are absorbed from pollutions in the air. I would suggest not using rainwater. To recap the best water to use and what we recommend is Filtered water, RO Water and bottled water.
- You can use tap and distilled water as well but if you have the option to use any of the other ones, that would be ideal.
- A key point to make about brewing with Malt Extract.
- It is much more forgiving than brewing from all-grain.
- The malt extract contains a lot of the minerals that are needed to promote yeast growth.
There is no need to have to get your water tested or buy specials chemicals to add to your water to change the profile. Just another reason why brewing with Mr. Beer is great.
Can I use tap water for mead?
If your tap water is filtered, safe to drink and tastes good, then it can be used to make mead. If you wouldn’t drink water from your tap, we wouldn’t suggest using it to make your mead. We also advise against using distilled water because it is stripped of minerals that actually help the yeast during fermentation.
Can I use well water to make moonshine?
Re: Well Water or City Water.Water in General – Post by S-Cackalacky » Mon Aug 11, 2014 7:44 am The well water should be fine. Just check the PH and adjust if necessary. Treated (municipal) water usually has chlorine added. The chlorine should be remove as to not kill your yeast.
Chlorine is a gas and is in suspension in the treated water, so if you just allow it to sit in an open container for a day or two, it will dissipate out into the air. You can also boil it to quickly remove it. I’ve also heard of adding crushed vitamin C tablets to remove chlorine, but I’m not familiar with the process.
The only water I would never use for a ferment is distilled water. The yeast need the minerals that are removed by the distillation process. Edit: Distilled water is best used to dilute your spirits after your final cuts. Also, there is a lot of information about water already documented here in the forums that can be found with a good search.
Can I drink distilled water?
You’ve probably faced this choice while dining out: Tap, bottled, or sparkling water ? But what about distilled water? It’s not that different from what flows out of your kitchen faucet. But distilled water goes through a process that sets it apart from other types of H2O.
Distilled water is steam from boiling water that’s been cooled and returned to its liquid state. Some people claim distilled water is the purest water you can drink. All water – no matter if it comes from a natural spring, artesian well, or regular tap – may have trace but safe amounts of minerals, bacteria, pesticides, and other contaminants.
Distilling rids water of all those impurities. It also removes more than 99.9% of the minerals dissolved in water. As the name says, tap water is the one that comes out a faucet. It has likely been disinfected with chlorine, plus filtered to remove sediments and treated with chemicals to neutralize dirt.
- Fluoride has also been added to prevent tooth decay.
- Filtered water is tap water that has been run through filters to remove chlorine (this improves the taste) and other things such as bacteria and some chemicals.
- Different types of filters remove different things.
- Most bottled water is filtered in some way.
Purified water is water that is essentially free of microbes and chemicals. This is achieved by reverse osmosis (forcing the water through a membrane to get rid of chemicals, minerals and microbes), ozonization (disinfecting water using ozone rather than a chemical), or distillation.
- The EPA requires purified water to not contain more than 10 parts per million of total dissolved solids in order to be labeled purified water.
- Distilled water is a type of purified water.
- Salts, minerals, and other organic materials are removed by collecting the steam from boiling water.
- Distilled water is safe to drink.
But you’ll probably find it flat or bland. That’s because it’s stripped of important minerals like calcium, sodium, and magnesium that give tap water its familiar flavor. What’s left is just hydrogen and oxygen and nothing else. Distilled water is ideal for when purity is important.
Medical tools and procedures. Hospitals clean equipment with it to help avoid contamination and infections. Kidney dialysis machines use ultra-pure water to filter waste from blood, Lab tests, Nothing in distilled water reacts with or affects the accuracy of lab experiments. Cosmetics, If water is an ingredient in your moisturizer, deodorant, or shampoo, it’s almost always distilled. Automobiles, Since it lacks minerals, distilled water won’t corrode metal engine parts or interfere with batteries.
At home, you may want to reach for distilled water for cooking and several other reasons, including:
Infant formula, Mix it with infant formula if your baby has weak immunity, Otherwise, tap water is fine. CPAP machine. Fill the water chamber for a CPAP humidifier if you use it for sleep apnea, Many manufacturers recommend distilled water to make the humidifier last longer. Neti pot, Use it with a neti pot to clear your sinuses, Iron, Use it in your clothes iron to prevent scale buildup. Shampoo your hair, Fluoride, chlorine, and other additives in the water from your shower may dull your hair.
Distilled water lacks even electrolytes like potassium and other minerals your body needs. So you may miss out on a bit of these micronutrients if you drink only the distilled stuff. Some studies have found a link between drinking water low in calcium and magnesium and tiredness, muscle cramps, weakness, and heart disease,
- Also, distilled water may not help you stay hydrated as well as other kinds of water.
- If you use distilled water for your fish tank, be sure to add a sea minerals supplement to the aquarium.
- Some coffee fans think that distilled water makes for a purer-tasting cup.
- But the Specialty Coffee Association of America says that a certain level of minerals is ideal in order to extract the best brew.
Unopened bottled distilled water from a store lasts basically forever. But stash it away from direct sunlight. And once it’s opened, be sure to close it up well after use. Certain germs can grow even in nutrient-poor distilled water.
Fill a large pot of water halfway.Tie a cup to the pot’s lid so the cup will hang rightside up inside the pot when the lid is shut. The cup should be high enough inside the pot that it does not touch the water. Boil the water for 20 minutes. Boiling creates vapor that rises and then condenses back into water. The water that drops from the lid into the cup is distilled.
How long do I have to boil water to distill it?
STEP 4: Boil the water and monitor the ice left in the lid. – Set the burner between medium and medium-high heat. Ideally, you want it hot enough that the water in the pot simmers, but does not boil. Check back on your pot periodically. If the ice in the lid has melted, dump it out in the sink and replace it with fresh ice (use oven mitts; the lid will be hot).
Does boiling water stop fermentation?
Some bacteria and yeast are responsible for the process of fermentation. Boiling will kill any those yeast and or bacteria that are present in the liquid.
Can you brew with spring water?
Home Brewing Homebrewing Features All About Beer Magazine – Volume 38, Issue 3 July 1, 2017 Brian Haslip (Photo courtesy Brian Haslip) I n preparation for a brew day, homebrewer Brian Haslip has a slightly different routine than most homebrewers. After gathering the malt, hops and yeast he’ll need for his all-grain recipe, he drives a few miles outside Troutdale, Oregon, where along the roadside at the bottom of a hill, a pipe emerges from a leafy bank.
A steady stream of cool, clear spring water flows from the pipe. While many people collect drinking water from the spring, Haslip has other plans. He fills a half-dozen food- grade plastic buckets with the water that he’ll use to brew two 5-gallon batches. Haslip learned of the spring more than a year ago from a member of his homebrew club.
He’s been using the water for his beer-making ever since. “Once I tried it,” says Haslip, “I didn’t look back.” The practice of collecting spring water for homebrewing may not be widespread, but it’s hardly new. Just as naturally occurring springs have long been used as a source of drinking water, so too have they attracted homebrewers who prefer to brew with untreated spring water over tap water for a variety of reasons.
- For some, there’s a satisfaction, or even romanticism, to creating something consumable made with ingredients gathered from the wild.
- For others, using spring water for brewing is a practical consideration.
- In some locations, tap water has unpleasant flavors that are either inherent in the water source or derived from disinfectants at a treatment plant.
While some undesirable flavors may boil off, others may not. The disinfectant chloramine, for example, may trigger reactions in brewing that can harm beer flavor. Since beer is predominantly water, brewing with aesthetically inferior water is likely to produce less-than-stellar beer.
Before you gather a collection of plastic jugs to fill at a local spring for your next homebrewing session, consider several issues. It will be helpful to take a quick look at water as an ingredient in beer before discussing spring water specifically. Although beer consists mostly of water, water tends to be the least understood and most ignored brewing ingredient for homebrewers.
Many take the attitude that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This laissez–faire approach isn’t necessarily a problem. “In general, a fresh-tasting, potable water source will produce good beer,” says John Palmer, co-author of Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers and author of numerous articles on the subject.
That doesn’t mean, from a brewer’s perspective, that all water is created equal. Without getting into a technical discussion of brewing water chemistry—there’s a wealth of literature available on the subject—it’s important to understand that the concentration and proportion of certain minerals in brewing water, as well as variables such as pH, hardness and alkalinity, can impact beer flavor and accentuate different flavor attributes.
“Chloride accentuates the malt character of the beer. It makes the malt character a little sweeter, rounder, fuller,” Palmer explains. “Sulfate accentuates the hop character of the beer. It accentuates the bitterness. It makes the beer seem a little drier.
A water with high alkalinity is most appropriate for dark beers because the natural acidity of the dark malts will balance that alkalinity in the water. For pale beers, you want low-alkalinity water because the pale malts are only weakly acidic.” While this is an overly simplified explanation of a complex topic, it illustrates the point that the water you brew with is not a neutral entity.
It’s also worth noting that, since components of brewing water produce interactions in the mash, water chemistry is of much greater concern to all-grain brewers than to extract brewers. With the addition of various salts, brewers can modify their water profile to increase its suitability for different beer styles.
The more you know about your water, the more you know about its favorability for brewing specific types of beers. By extension, familiarity with your water profile provides a basis for adjusting it for brewing a particular beer style. This brings us to spring water. For our purposes, let’s simply define a spring as a location where groundwater flows to the surface.
This frequently occurs on a slope where an impermeable layer that sits below a permeable layer is exposed. In some places where springs have convenient access, pipes have been placed, or more elaborate structures have been constructed to make it easier to collect the spring water.
The biggest concern with using spring water for homebrewing is that you really don’t know what you’re dealing with unless you get the water tested. With untested spring water, there may be a risk of contamination. The presence of disease-causing organisms is a greater concern for those collecting spring water for drinking than for homebrewing since these organisms are likely to be killed off during the boil of a brewing session.
Of more concern for homebrewers are contaminants such as nitrates, arsenic and other pollutants that pose health risks. Nitrates can enter groundwater from fertilizer runoff, animal feedlots, industrial waste and other sources. Nitrates don’t boil off and can’t be detected by smell or taste.
- Be especially leery of springs located near farms and gardens, golf courses or industrial facilities.
- It should also be noted that the composition of groundwater can change, with concentrations of impurities fluctuating over time.
- While there are risks, many springs are safe.
- People collect and consume untreated spring water regularly without ill effects.
As was mentioned previously, theconcentration and proportion of certain minerals in brewing water can impact beer flavor and accentuate different flavor attributes. “Groundwater is typically high in dissolved minerals,” Palmer says. “If you have a groundwater source, the chances are these minerals are already there, but one or more of them may be at a less-than-ideal level for the style of beer you want to brew.
For somebody who wants to brew with a local spring water source, step one is to get the water tested for mineral content. Then you can make the decisions on, ‘Is this water appropriate for malty beers? Is it appropriate for hoppy beers? Is its alkalinity high?'” Haslip, who brews mostly pale ales and IPAs, has been pleased with the results of the beers he’s brewed using water from the local spring.
Even so, he’d like to get the water tested. “The reason I want to do the testing is I want to get an idea of the mineral levels in it so I can start making some modifications to really amp up the aroma and flavor.” Simple water-testing kits, such as Taylor Technologies pool and spa water chemistry kits, are useful for obtaining water properties such as pH, total alkalinity and calcium hardness.
Ward Laboratories offers more in-depth water testing services specifically for brewers at a very reasonable cost. Other private labs, as well as some local municipalities or colleges, may offer water testing services including tests for contaminants. To be fair, many homebrewers who use municipal tap water exclusively for their beers never bother to seek out information about the profile of their brewing water, even if that information is readily available.
Many of them make perfectly good beer. However, they lack the information required to fine-tune their brewing water for a particular beer style or know what styles are best suited to their brewing water. To many homebrewers, these are nonissues, no matter what their water source.
Can you use distilled water to make moonshine mash?
#1 – Use Distilled and Not Tap Water – One of the most important tips I can give to moonshiners is to always use distilled water for making moonshine wash. It’s no secret that tap water contains a plethora of chemicals, some of which includes chlorine, chlorate, bromate and fluoride.
Should you use distilled water in whiskey?
Distilled Water – More commonly used and easily accessible than limestone-filtered options is commercially distilled water. “Unlike tap water, distilled water is highly filtered and completely neutral,” Farrell says. With no minerals or additives, distilled water is ideal for adding to whiskey because it enhances whiskey without introducing any new flavors.