Ever Brewed a Beer with Mineral Water

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by JackRWatkins, Feb 9, 2022.

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  1. JackRWatkins

    JackRWatkins Maven (1,472) Nov 3, 2014 Georgia
    Trader

    Just out of curiosity, and for chuckles, has anyone on here ever brewed a beer with something like Evian? I have no plans to do this (too pricey) but I would be interested to know if anyone has, what difference (if any) something like that made.
     
    #1 JackRWatkins, Feb 9, 2022
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  2. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I use mineral water every time I brew... I make my own... add gypsum, salt, calcium chloride, epsom salt, lime...
     
    #2 jbakajust1, Feb 9, 2022
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  3. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Evian wouldn't be very good for most mashes. If my tap water looked like Evian, I wouldn't use it for brewing. Concentrations in mg/L, per their web site:

    Calcium 80
    Magnesium 26
    Potassium 1
    Sodium 6,5
    Nitrates 3,8
    Bicarbonates 360
    Sulfates 15
    Silica 14
    Chlorides 10

    The Bicarbonates are a lot of alkalinity to overcome with acids. The Sulfate and Chloride levels are painfully low, i.e. not good for crisp bitterness or for rounded maltiness. So for best results, salts would need to be added to increase sulfates and/or chlorides for flavor. IMO, if your water has stuff in it that you don't want, and needs stuff it doesn't have, you might as well just build from distilled or RO water, i.e. start with a clean slate.
     
    #3 VikeMan, Feb 9, 2022
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  4. warchez

    warchez Zealot (545) Oct 19, 2004 Massachusetts

    Great reality check for everyone from Vikeman. Water chemistry just makes a lot more sense once you start with RO first as opposed to this ridiculous dance around SRM and RA with the water you have coming out of the faucet.
     
    #4 warchez, Feb 10, 2022
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  5. JackRWatkins

    JackRWatkins Maven (1,472) Nov 3, 2014 Georgia
    Trader

    For the record I always start with distilled water personally.
     
    #5 JackRWatkins, Feb 11, 2022
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  6. YamBag

    YamBag Initiate (0) Feb 2, 2007 Pennsylvania

    I had to go to 3 places to get distilled water for my latest brew. Appears to be a shortage, which is not a surprise.
     
    #6 YamBag, Mar 20, 2022
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