Type of water for a mash?

[Blue82]

I searched the forum on this topic and didn't yield any clear results. Before I discovered this forum I read and saw on youtube that people use distilled water in their mash. Does tap water or distilled water matter?

[Prairiepiss]

Distilled water for diluting spirits for drinking.

Dechlorinated tap water would ne better for fermenting. Distilled water has had all the minerals taken out of it. Those minerals are beneficial to yeast health. Regular bottled water would be fine for fermenting too.

And I can't beleave you couldn't find anything on this with a search. It gets brought up all the time. And why I'm working on a reading lounge thread about water.

[jholmz]

it has been answered several times but distilled water has the nutrients already distilled out so your tap water would more than likely be better depending on whats in it try your tap and see what happens you may have to boil your tap water or use filtered water depending on the chlorine content or iron and other subsatances
prarie keeps beating me

[grnsteelhead]

My wife and I were at a local brewing supply store talking about wine and beer last weekend, and this lines up with what the guys were saying about yeast and water as well. I just filed that away for mash making as I figured it would be the same.

Thanks for the responses!

G

[Prairiepiss]

And these stupid YouTube videos are killing us. They are getting as bad as the stupid moonshiner show. Idiots gotta have their 15 min of fame. So they gotta post a video on YouTube about shit they don't know anything about.

[Blue82]

Distilled water for diluting spirits for drinking.

Dechlorinated tap water would ne better for fermenting. Distilled water has had all the minerals taken out of it. Those minerals are beneficial to yeast health. Regular bottled water would be fine for fermenting too.

And I can't beleave you couldn't find anything on this with a search. It gets brought up all the time. And why I'm working on a reading lounge thread about water.

thanks

[Blue82]

And these stupid YouTube videos are killing us. They are getting as bad as the stupid moonshiner show. Idiots gotta have their 15 min of fame. So they gotta post a video on YouTube about shit they don't know anything about.

Glad I ran into this website and veered away from youtube lol. I have learned so much the past few days from this website. I feel more and more confident the more I read the novice section. Great stuff in there.

[talon]

When I brew beer I put tap water in two big pots, bring them to a boil and let them cool overnight, and add a small amount of salt. You don't have to boil, but I'd suggest letting it sit in a pot overnight so chlorine will evaporate. If your on city water you can get a water report that will give you a good idea of you water condition.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Jimbo]

And these stupid YouTube videos are killing us. They are getting as bad as the stupid moonshiner show. Idiots gotta have their 15 min of fame. So they gotta post a video on YouTube about shit they don't know anything about.

AMEN!

Add some gypsum to your mash water too. 2 tsp per 5-10 gal. Even if you use tap water. Yeast LOVE calcium. It also lowers your ph a tad which helps the mashing process. Gypsum is available at your local HBS (homebrew shop).

[rtalbigr]

Once tap water is de-clorinated it works great. However, ya need to pay attention to the pH. Tap water generally is neutral to slightly alkaline. Yeast like a slightly acidic environment, pH of 5-6.

Big R

[Alphadog]

What about collected rain water off a roof top? Sure it might have some bird crap and filtered through some leaves ... But then you add some yeast nutrients and yo re good to go?