Water Questions

[Chopper]

Three questions:

1. What kind of water do you use in your wine? Is it OK, flavor-wise, to use distilled water? I have access to spring water and reverse osmosis filtered water as well.

2. What kind of water do you "top up" with? Distilled?

3. Is it OK to use Oxy Clean to wash primary fermenters and carboys, or should something milder be used?

Thanks in advance.

 

[PAwinedude]

Chopper,

There are several schools of thought on water....you can search this topic here, but most folks that I have talked to use normal tap water

Topping up....If you can help it.....don't top up with water.....use a similar wine. you might have to hit the wine store and buy some cheap version of the wine you are making. Bolla is a cheap version you might consider. Some folks will also sanitize a bunch of marbles and toss them in the carboy, thus reducing the available volume/surface area and negating the need for topping up.

For cleaning, I would recommend easy clean....its a one step cleaner and may not be as abrasive as Oxyclean

 

[Runningwolf]

It is not ok to use distilled as it contains no minerals. If you have good tap water use it. I also use oxy-clean for cleaning.

 

[Wade E]

In the beginning you should not use distilled water as minerals and nutrients and also 02 have been removed and these can be vital to a good fermentation despite adding additional nutrients. Once fermentation is over if using water to top your wine off (which I dont recommned) distilled water is now the better choice so as to not add any addition 02 to your wine. If you like the taste of your water use it, if not buy cheap bottled water.

 

[Tom]

For me If you drink it then its OK for wine. Stay away from distaled water though. Now Spring water...

 

[Dufresne11]

I top up with a similar wine also.... It is worth the additional expense

 

[Arne]

We had a water issue here last summer. Normally we have some of the best water I have ever tasted. Got a little bug in it lastJune and they chlorinated it. Think they went a little overboard, didn't hurt you but had a very strong chlorine taste. Also was to kill the little e-coli stuff, worked on them but also worked on my yeast. Found out had to leave the water in a bucket for a day or so to let the chlorine out. Everything fine after that. If I suspect they have been puttin the chlorine in again and want to start a batch, I go to the store and buy spring water. Less than a buck a gal. No worries. Arne.

 

[Smartdog]

Delta water

Our water comes from the California Delta (which is not really a delta but rather an estuary), and varies a lot. During winter and spring (our rainy season) the wate is generally very good, but with increased sediments, during the late summer and fall the salt content increases (less run-off, more sea water).

Has any one tried using a water filtration system with good results? I do not mean using a wate softner, whihc replaces hard minerals with softer minerals (eg salt).