I,m doing all-grain breweing perty much nowand I was wondering if it would affect anything if when I gathered my water I get it at 100 degrees… to help speed heating… my tap water is good and for what I brew for I use no additions or have any trouble… thoughts?
Heck yeah… let your water heater do the heavy lifting. The only reason you might not is if you have a water softener on your hot water line. If your tap water tests out fine, go for it.
Do a taste test from your hot water tap and your cold water tap. Fill a glass from each one and let both stabilize at room temperature. You will probably find that the water from the hot water tap/water heater tastes much different.
I did this with our water. We have our own well. The minerals that had accumulated in the hot water tank were really unpleasant to taste.
[quote=“flars, post:3, topic:21323, full:true”]The minerals that had accumulated in the hot water tank were really unpleasant to taste.
[/quote]
This is why I would be hesitant to use the hot water heater. If you taste it and it passes the taste test I would still get a lab report on it so I knew the mineral content, which will be different than your cold water since it does pick up minerals that have accumulated in the heater, as @flars said.
If you had an on demand water it would work fine.
Hah… I’d listen to these guys before me. I use distilled, after all.
Now heres a crazy twist, a friend that brews uses water AFTER the softener and always has great brews… That said, Tankie, I’ve done water from the hot water heater and didn’t like how my brews tasted, so went back to half tap and half RO… And yes I do drain my water heater every spring, hoping to flush out the sediment crap that accumulates…. Sneezles61
Electric storage water heaters usually have a “sacrificial anode” which I believe is made of zinc. I can’t remember why it’s there, something about ionic charge and helping prevent rusting of tank. But I imagine that zinc affects the water that comes out the hot tap.
If this is true you’ll still need a water report. Zinc is important to yeast growth but go too high and it will prevent the growth.
1 Like
Most electric water heaters are low budget and I don’t know what the tanks are made of and I wouldn’t use the water from it but that’s me. A good indirect hot water heater has a stainless tank so it may be a better option. All storage style tanks draw the hot water from the top so sediment is probably not an issue.
I am new here and just learning my self. I can’t say much about what is not wanted in water for beer. However I can speak as a guy that has worked in the plumbing trade for many years. I personally would not drink any more water from a water heater then I have too. It definitely helps if you drain the stuff in the bottom of the heater once a year however that does not get everything out. When the cold water is directed into the heater it is directed directly towards the bottom mixing up with all the crap that is down there. There is also a Anode rod that is down there that helps protect your heater that may come into play with what is in your water and fast. Most of us do not have a stainless steel heater and if we do we would know just from writing the check to replace them. I don’t think unless you are talking about commercial or something special like a indirect heater you will see SS in a home. Of course the biggest thing that comes into play is the water coming into the heater some heaters my stay very clean. Just my two cents worth on insight.
@ Shawn1: How do you feel about the on demand water heaters? I have one of those, where it heats the water in a coil as you require it. Because of this thread, I did a blind taste test and had my wife fill a glass with cold tap water, and another with hot tap water. She put both in the fridge to let them equalize in temperature, and then my daughter and I both taste tested. We could not tell any difference at all between the 2 glasses of water. I am going to try using the hot water from the tap on my next brew day, April 30.
I am sorry I did not see your question until now. As far as heating up water very quickly they work great and you don’t have to maintain the temp. I would assume the coil is SS or maybe coper. As far as recommending one to anyone to install I am sure they have their place however it really depend on your services to your house. Some people might not have a big enough electric panel if they are running electricity. Gas might be a better option for some people however depending on your service again. The main point they do work as advertised just not for every application
