Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Treatment and handling of your distillate.

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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Dnderhead »

"use Spring Water I buy from any grocery store for less than a dollar a gallon."
most of that is the same as right out of the tap.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Horse_Shoe »

Exactly what effect does Chorine and Chloramine have on yeast and ferments?
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Prairiepiss »

It's a disinfectant. So it kills off the yeast.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Dnderhead »

"Exactly what effect does Chlorine and Chlorine have on yeast and ferments?"
even if low enough to ferment,,it can stress the yeast,creating off taste/smell/and bite
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Galad »

Anyone using a Berky filter for filtering their spirits? I currently use one for my water and love it. Is it over kill to build a Spirit still out of a Berky filter?
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Kravenhed »

Wow im lucky, got my own spring...makes damn fine likker and it's all i use through the whole process. Glad I aint got city slicker problems when it comes to water. But trust me if your stillin your gonna have problems, it's what makes it so fun, you always solving something and makin a good product with your bare hands.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Ayay »

Tap water used to contain chlorine gas, but nowadays it contains another type of chlorine that does not gas and therfore has no smell. The old gas chlorine can be got rid of by standing the water in an open container and the gas will come out of the water and go into the atmosphere according to Boyle, or was it ...I forget.
Anyway chlorine gas is old technology because people cold smell it. New technology puts the chlorine in with no smell...now we are more happy!

If you are diluting while making the cuts, the water has no effect on the tasting of the alcohols. The taste of the alcohols is what you taste.

Diluting your hearts for ageing...if your hearts are super special then get the best water. If your hearts are so-so, the water won't make it better.

Of course, marketers will say the best water = the best alcohol, so they harp on about how good the water is and let you find out about the alc the hard way.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by stairman »

zouthernborne wrote:The gas station just down the street from my house has a machine outside where you can get a gallon of glacier water for a quarter, if you have a gallon jug. Damned good water. I use it to proof my rums and have had the best results of any store bought water.
If it's the blue phone booth(remember them?) sized glacier water machines I agree....I have such horrible city water I wouldn't even make ice cubes from it.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Prairiepiss »

stairman wrote:
zouthernborne wrote:The gas station just down the street from my house has a machine outside where you can get a gallon of glacier water for a quarter, if you have a gallon jug. Damned good water. I use it to proof my rums and have had the best results of any store bought water.
If it's the blue phone booth(remember them?) sized glacier water machines I agree....I have such horrible city water I wouldn't even make ice cubes from it.
You should double check these machines. Most of them are just RO filters. Which do make some nice water. If and that's a big if. They service the filters and membrane on a regular schedule. I asked the manager at my local grocery store when the last time the water station in his store was serviced. And his response was. " they are suppose to be serviced?" He had never seen anyone ever service it. I took a sample home and tested it compared to my RO filtered water and tap water. With a tds meter. Mine was around 100 ppm tap water was around 400ppm and the store stuff was in the mid to upper 300ppm. Not to mention when they aren't serviced. Bacteria will grow in the filter. Making it even worse then the tap water it is trying to filter.

So my suggestion is to check to see if they do service it. And or test the water yourself.

I personaly don't trust them any more. And I will only buy a few brands of bottled water. After seeing where it comes from. And horror stories from a friend who services the bottling equipment they use. Best option is get your own RO unit. And maintain it yourself.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by beerkegbilly »

I use natural spring water . I boil to a rolling boil.let it cool off then run it through water filter
then use it for proofing so filtered spring water
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by red dirt shiner »

I have a homemade berky system I filter my tap water through it works great and taste great :thumbup:
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Idahobo »

If you're tap water doesn't smell like rotten eggs like some city water does or heavy in alkali like Oklahoma, then use your tap water but run it through a Britta or Pur Charcoal filter to remove the chlorine. Remember good whiskey is also about good water. The chlorine will give anything, including your morning coffee an off taste. Just run tap water through a tap mounted Pur filter. You'll be good. If your water has an odor, buy spring water from the store and run it through a Britta filter to remove any added chlorine. (I don't trust store bought water to not be someone else's tap water.)
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Fiddleford »

I would say let a bucket fill with snow boil it down let it cool and you got clean water for proofing or spring water from a actual water spring look net stining nettle theres the best water my dad and grand dad would tell me you though you may need to filter it through some charcol sand mixed in rocks ontop of charcol works fornme you just need a cloth to catch the charcoal
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by still_stirrin »

Fiddleford wrote:I would say let a bucket fill with snow boil it down let it cool and you got clean water for proofing
Fiddleford, did you know that snow is formed when moisture freezes around a dust particle? The dust is the nucleating media. So, a bucket of melted snow will include a layer of dirt in it. Try it and see....
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by cranky »

still_stirrin wrote:
Fiddleford wrote:I would say let a bucket fill with snow boil it down let it cool and you got clean water for proofing
Fiddleford, did you know that snow is formed when moisture freezes around a dust particle? The dust is the nucleating media. So, a bucket of melted snow will include a layer of dirt in it. Try it and see....
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Not to mention, have you ever thought about where the gray water from airplanes go? You might think it goes to a holding tank but only black/blue water goes to the holding tank, gray water goes to an external drain and straight to the clouds unfiltered, everything that gets poured down the drains :esurprised: . There are approximately 100,000 commercial airplane flights worldwide every day, can you imagine how many people have puked in those sinks? Probably thousands of them are doing it right now, or poured whatever down them? :sick: Just something to consider next time you want to use snow or rainwater for something.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by The Baker »

In my youth the trains used to have a notice in the toilet, "Do Not Pull The Chain While Stopped At The Station".
That's because pulling the chain allowed the, er, contents of the toilet to drop onto the track.
Though I used to walk along the tracks I never saw any, er, evidence of this so maybe it broke up as it hit the sleepers and ballast?
Dunno.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by ebourlet »

heartcut wrote:Careful with DI, RO or distilled water, allh remove minerals from whatever they touch, including your body. You'd have to drink a bunch of spirits to hurt yourself, but keep in mind that those types of water are extremely corrosive and can hurt or kill you in high enough quantities. Drinking/spring water has minerals added to passivate the water.
Can't speak to DI water but all we drink is RO water. It a little low in PH but because it has no buffering as soon as it hits your mouth it raises. Most filtered water at the grocery store is RO. RO is great drinking water.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Worm_Drippinz »

I live near a spring that comes out of a cave. No iron.


If it's not the cave spring water, it's distilled.


Bottled or tap can cloud the distillate.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by NZChris »

RO is not something you should be drinking when working out. I use it in my likker when proofing, but there is no way I would put that stuff in my drink bottle for a bike, or a hike.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by bluefish_dist »

DI water should not be used. It is not good to drink. RO is fine as well as distilled. Almost all water makers on boats are RO systems. You can make a RO system from a pressure washer and a couple of membranes.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by jb-texshine »

I personally use the gallons distilled water they sell in the baby section. I figure if it's good enough for a baby then it's good enough for my booze.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by zapata »

Just found this awesome link
http://www.alcademics.com/2013/06/how-d ... hisky.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Really made me put more thought into what I'm using.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by zapata »

http://www.alcademics.com/2013/08/bottl ... tland.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
This guy is the booze-water nerd! Here are similar commercial water brands to match up to the scottish source waters referenced above. The bold brands are the closest matches for the type.

So use a highland style water to bring out honey notes, "additional layers of floral, herbal and peaty notes on the nose"
highland water.jpg
For speyside style water, "The soft water brought out more of the sweet honeyed and citrus fruit notes, and delivered a softer, sweeter and smooth rounded taste experience."
speyside water.jpg
Or for Islay style water to bring out "more peppery peat, iodine and brine with unripe fruits and cereal notes....creme brulee and smoke."
islay water.jpg
Not sure I buy it entirely, but if you're gonna use bottled water for proofing anyway, you have to choose a brand somehow. Also note these experiments were for adding water to whisky for drinking not proofing. I'd expect there to be more effect from proofing water simply because there is more of it for most of us, but it isnt necessarily the same effect noted here.
Out of all of them the only one I know is available locally to me is fiji. The others are available online for ridiculous prices, but I will keep my eyes open at fancy super markets when I stumble into them.
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Re: Proofing Water: Distilled, Filtered or Tap?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Mine comes straight from the rain water tank , filled from the gutters on the roof. Probably has a bit of bird shit and the odd dead frog in it. Been drinking it for 57 years so far and haven't died, no one has complained about the rum yet.
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