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Author Topic: Using Distilled Water  (Read 2107 times)

Offline golfgod04

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Using Distilled Water
« on: May 03, 2016, 09:14:51 am »
So I am a partial mash brewer.  My water is high in rust.  So last couple of brews, I've brewed half with distilled water and half filtered water and my hoppiness of brews have improved and definitely taste better . I was wondering what would happen if I switch to all distilled water? Would I have to add anything to the distilled water for brewing?  Thanks in advance for help.

Offline blair.streit

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Re: Using Distilled Water
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2016, 09:28:34 am »
So I am a partial mash brewer.  My water is high in rust.  So last couple of brews, I've brewed half with distilled water and half filtered water and my hoppiness of brews have improved and definitely taste better . I was wondering what would happen if I switch to all distilled water? Would I have to add anything to the distilled water for brewing?  Thanks in advance for help.
As far as general advice, I've seen plenty of places (and it makes sense to me) that if you're using DME or LME then the maltster has already made extract for you with treated water (e.g. minerals should be fine). That means you shouldn't need to really worry about this with extract.

In partial mash, it seems you have a batch that's part all-grain (which you need to adjust) and part extract (which you shouldn't need to adjust as the maltster did it for you).

I'd figure out your proportional volumes (i.e. 3G of wort from extract and 3G from mash), and then use a water calculator like Brewer's Friend or Bru'nWater for the partial mash portion. That will help you determine the appropriate amount of salts (probably Calcium Chloride and/or Calcium Sulfate) plus an acid addition to hit your appropriate mash pH.

Offline blair.streit

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Re: Using Distilled Water
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2016, 09:36:34 am »
And yes, if your water is high in rust I would advocate using distilled. A few grams of minerals in a 5G batch is all it takes to build up distilled water. You can get fancy with it, but even if you just went with distilled and built your calcium to 50ppm I think you'd notice an improvement based on what you've said about your water.

Given that you mentioned hoppy beers, you might be able to accomplish most of what you want with a modest addition of calcium sulfate (aka gypsum).

Offline golfgod04

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Re: Using Distilled Water
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2016, 09:39:11 am »
ok thanks.  I did use gypsum with the last batch of half distilled and half filtered water but it still wasnt as hoppy as I expected.  But definitely a difference from when I didnt use distilled.