Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So... a simple topic?!?

There's an ever increasing number of posts where the OPs states that they are using "RainWater" or sterilized/distilled/or otherwise hyper-clean water... every Distillery Walkthu I've seen has them setting up near a stream/ spring where they get clean but semi-hard water because that water gives their 'spirits' the special

So what I'm asking, what, if any, effect does water have on the ferment? Are we better of using one type of water over another? Does it make any difference? Has anyone tried it?

I use clean water for the final dilution, that just makes sense... but this has me a little fershnookled!

Been wondering about thus also because everything i read points to acididy as key to good ferments, perhaps distillery's say alkine water because its readily available to them so they turn it into a feature.

I see it being good as they would be able to use more dunder each gen as the water would balance out the acid in the backset.

Other than using more backset cant see any benifit. Perhaps it adds a certain flavour profile they like.
I am with you i ferment with tap water but proof with filtered :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I started my distilling in the country with rain water and made great booze from the get go :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Then had to move to the city and had to use town water,which I filtered with a basic under sink filter.
At this same time I'd upgraded to a 100lt boiler and for the life of me i couldn't work out why, but my hearts cut wasn't any bigger and sometimes smaller . I fucked around and blamed everything I could including my gear and my ability to run my still. Most other people used town water with good success they said.But I had also noticed all old distilleries were parked up next to good water and also claimed there booze was great because of thier water.
So I went reverse osmosis water only an the difference was incredible, bigger heart cut,better tasting,faster ferments.
I always add calcium carbonate to the wash as I've read that it's good for yeast, and always use dap and some magnesium as well. I don't bother checking or adjusting PH anymore but probably should, because I haven't had a problem and I don't do generations .
Only thing with the RO is that it's slow but I can live with it for now but will get another one or a bigger one down the track :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Picked up a book on barrel ageing a while back, and the master distillers chose rainwater for watering down for its softened mineral profile and mouthfeel. Perhaps not recommended in metro high polluted areas though!

bayshine wrote:I started my distilling in the country with rain water and made great booze from the get go :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Then had to move to the city and had to use town water,which I filtered with a basic under sink filter.
At this same time I'd upgraded to a 100lt boiler and for the life of me i couldn't work out why, but my hearts cut wasn't any bigger and sometimes smaller . I fucked around and blamed everything I could including my gear and my ability to run my still. Most other people used town water with good success they said.But I had also noticed all old distilleries were parked up next to good water and also claimed there booze was great because of thier water.
So I went reverse osmosis water only an the difference was incredible, bigger heart cut,better tasting,faster ferments.
I always add calcium carbonate to the wash as I've read that it's good for yeast, and always use dap and some magnesium as well. I don't bother checking or adjusting PH anymore but probably should, because I haven't had a problem and I don't do generations .
Only thing with the RO is that it's slow but I can live with it for now but will get another one or a bigger one down the track :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So your vote for 'Clean Soft Water' is based on an increase in qty of hearts!?!? Have you measured this or is it more of a gut feel? I mean, if it's a difference measured in litres then that's obvious...?

The other thing I'm really keen to find out is, have you tested the difference or effect of each of the 3 ingredients you add? I remember you saying in another post that, since you use DAP you've not had a problem with your mashes/washes...

Sorry mate, just trying not to repeat stuff that's already been proven! Just lazy I guess.... :teasing-neener:

Not all town water would be the same ezi as I'd been talking to mac and he was using town water with no problems but then he moved house across town and was having the same problem,just seemed to be making tails.
Where I live the water barely keeps the plants alive and even the grass don't like it.
When I get impatient with the slow Ro I top up with the town water and I noticed a slight of taste and that fermenter taking a bit longer to finish. I've noticed so much of a difference in my booze I will never go back :handgestures-thumbupleft:

As the saying goes.... happy yeast will fart co2 and piss alcohol but stressed yeast will shit in your wash :handgestures-thumbupleft:

what is the ph of your water bayshine? curious how town water can be so bad over the other side of the desert.

Haha fair enough.

We took a sample of our tap water to the local pool shop for an analysis - low and behold it is alcaline and semi hard! pH was around 8 :scared-eek: but I keep thinking of those Distilliery walk-thrus and thinking it's alright...
Might have to go all Neverfail Springwater (shameless plug for my business!)...

Tell me more about your RO unit... Cost?

aussiebrewer wrote:what is the ph of your water bayshine? curious how town water can be so bad over the other side of the desert.

It was around 7 I think from memory and doesn't change after being through the Ro plant.
Pretty sure it drops to below six when I mix up a macrum batch with all the goodies but it's been a while since I bothered checking.
Oh and I definitely fucked around adjusting ph of my town water with no real change in final product :handgestures-thumbupleft:

This one I think https://www.psifilters.com.au/laundry-w ... ste-1.html

At my mains pressure of40psi it wastes around 1-4lt but I've set her up with a pump and get 110psi at around 1-1 waste, she takes all day to batch up 300lt of macrum :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Being back out in the bush on rainwater is awesome, no more of that mucking around with hard town water :dance:

lol. i would shout out for a bigger one lol

EziTasting wrote:Haha fair enough.

We took a sample of our tap water to the local pool shop for an analysis - low and behold it is alcaline and semi hard! pH was around 8 :scared-eek: but I keep thinking of those Distilliery walk-thrus and thinking it's alright...
Might have to go all Neverfail Springwater (shameless plug for my business!)...

Tell me more about your RO unit... Cost?

Most town water will be between 7-8pH
However it depends on the mineral content of the water as to how hard it will be to bring it down
I've just switched to rain water for my beer brewing, I figured as I'm boiling for 60-90 minutes that any bacteria is going to die anyway, so she'll be right
Same with distilling, the wash will be above 75C for quite a while, so it'll get pasteurized in the boiler anyway
go rainwater :D

Unless Im being lazy I almost exclusively use spring water for fermenting and watering down, much faster ferments and a better overall product IMHO. I have done several comparisons with Ag Whisky and Rum using spring water and filtered country town water. Helps I have access to awesome water :teasing-neener:

Looks like I will have to have a go at it next time...

Original TPW we did had the nicest flavour and fragrance of all the TPW we've made so far. That was done using spring water (NF - actually IN the NF Bottles)... so I guess should have picked up on that!! But, as a newbie, your head is floating with soooooo much information and stuff you've read, it'll take some time to sort it all and then filter it down to what you need and want!

Good thing we're out of ingredients, so its like starting over! :wtf: :laughing-rolling:

In Melb there is a shitload of chlorine in the water, some days you can smell it while showering, the missus says thats why i avoid showering.. ha ha
No really, i read somewhere that Vitamin C added to tap water will alter its composition and displace the chlorine, even though standing the water for several days outside (in the sun), will do the trick also. I kind of do this without any real ability to measure anything but figure that it cant hurt. Probably coz i believe what i read. All my washes 'seem' (subjective evaluation only) a bit smoother since i have started doing this. I use rain water sometimes but it seems a lot of stuffing around. I figure a teaspoon of VitC powder in the water a day or two before making up a wash is the go.There is other (Chloramine, i think) in the water also but it is very hard to get rid of.I think, even though the concentrations of chlorine in the water are lowish, it is supposed to impact on the action of the yeast.

PH values - PH is like Snake Oil - they preach = you spend money! We are not fermenting pool water!

Same as heart attack risks - the less you hear about the risks, the less chance the paranoia of it will kill you!

Yes, I have had some truth syrup tonight!

Kenster wrote:In Melb there is a shitload of chlorine in the water, some days you can smell it while showering, the missus says thats why i avoid showering.. ha ha
No really, i read somewhere that Vitamin C added to tap water will alter its composition and displace the chlorine, even though standing the water for several days outside (in the sun), will do the trick also. I kind of do this without any real ability to measure anything but figure that it cant hurt. Probably coz i believe what i read. All my washes 'seem' (subjective evaluation only) a bit smoother since i have started doing this. I use rain water sometimes but it seems a lot of stuffing around. I figure a teaspoon of VitC powder in the water a day or two before making up a wash is the go.There is other (Chloramine, i think) in the water also but it is very hard to get rid of.I think, even though the concentrations of chlorine in the water are lowish, it is supposed to impact on the action of the yeast.

Doesn't need to be outside in the sun. Chorine will naturally gas off water over a couple of days. Heating it will make it dissipate quicker though.