Boil top off water?

Hi

I’m using “nursery” brand distilled water for my first extract brew (caribou). Of course the 2.5 gallons of wort gets boiled… does the cool water needed to top off the fermenter to 5 gallons
need to be boiled or straight from the gallon jugs?

thanks

Strait from the jugs. Boiling water would be to kill any microbes that might be present, and there won’t be any in sealed jugs of distilled water.

Thanks!

When I first started brewing and only did extract kits I used water right from the tap to top up. Did remove the aerator from the faucet and sanitize it first though. Never had an infected batch due to that I know of. The bottled water might be overkill but if it makes you feel better it is a cheap investment.

You can also boil then chill your own water to save some $. Just don’t put an open container in the fridge. Refrigerators are not as germ free as one can imagine.

So long story short, keep on using the jugs of water and enjoy.

In most places where there is municipal water, strait from the tap is perfectly safe for top up water. If you get your water from a well, or are in a country with poor infrastructure, you may want to boil first.

And if your water tastes bad, bottled water is the way to go.