Water

[BobWelshJr]

I’ve been reading quite a bit through here, and in a lot of the recipes they just say so many gallons of water. But in documentation that has come with the one kit of ingredients, I ordered to get my feet wet, they said I needed to use distilled water. Is that important? I used distilled water, and if that is what is required I absolutely will continue to do so. I’m just curious if that is just an assumed piece of knowledge, so when individuals are saying 4 gallons of water, they mean distilled water and there is an understanding. Just trying to learn. Thanks in advance.

[jonnys_spirit]

Distilled water is not required or probably even desired for mashing or making a wash.

Have you ever checked out the lengths home brewers go to for their water?

How is your water? Is it from a well, a stream, a spring, the city?? Is it soft or hard? Has it been treated with chlorine or chloramine? Are you able to get or find an analysis of your water source?

I use tap water from the pipe the city has provided and I might sometimes treat it to remove chloramine but not always and it's fine..

Cheers,
jonny

[Dancing4dan]

I treat tap water for chloramine and use it to ferment and barrel.

You don’t want chlorine or chloramine going into a barrel.

[Deplorable]

All I've ever used, making beer or spirits, is tap water.
That said, I know my city water source is an artesian well fed from glaciers on Mt Rainier, the pH is consistently 7.0 and minimally treated with chlorine but by the time it reaches boiling temps for mashing, what little chlorine they treat it with is long gone.

If your city water smells like the public pool, invest in a a quality water filter and you'll be fine.

[MooseMan]

I’ve been reading quite a bit through here, and in a lot of the recipes they just say so many gallons of water. But in documentation that has come with the one kit of ingredients, I ordered to get my feet wet, they said I needed to use distilled water. Is that important? I used distilled water, and if that is what is required I absolutely will continue to do so. I’m just curious if that is just an assumed piece of knowledge, so when individuals are saying 4 gallons of water, they mean distilled water and there is an understanding. Just trying to learn. Thanks in advance.

Tap water is fine for setting up ferments Bob. If you're concerned about it then by all means look into treatments to remove additives.
I start all my ferments with the hot water that comes out of the condenser.

For proofing though, I will use spring water or RO filtered.

And don't order any more "Kits" have a go at some of the easier recipes on the T&T.
For examples, Odin's cornflake whisky, SBB Rum, UJSSM are all super easy, need no special ingredients and make a fine drop.

[BobWelshJr]

A number of the recipes here look great. In fact the sweet feed corn one a co-worker of mine recommended I try. Thanks for the feedback. I have a well. I’ll try well water. Thanks!

[Saltbush Bill]

No you dont need distilled water,
You will soon find that the information supplied by many sources including that which comes with some commercially built stills is BS.
The is more bad advice around in many place than good.
The good thing about forums is that the BS gets weeded out pretty quickly.