Primo "Fill It Yourself" bottled water from Wally World??

[jbb3]

Up to this point, I have purchased bottled Spring Water for my AG brewing. I haven't spent the time or mental energy to dive into and understand water chemistry/ water building aspect of brewing.

My questions is around the "fill it yourself" service that many Wally World locations provide. I think my store provides it for around .39 cents/gal.

First, does anyone use this Primo filtered water? And second, does it require any conditioning for good AG brewing or can it be used as is??

I know that some really get into the water chemistry so please keep it simple...

 

[helterscelter]

I'm no water expert, but I believe that water is produced through an reverse osmosis filter. This means it basically has zero salts and zero chemicals. This is perfect for building your water profile according to your recipe. You can use it at is with out adding salts and minerals but your beer won't taste as good as it could, but it also won't have off flavors due to chemicals added by your local municipality

 

[poptarts]

I use it, its RO water, you need salts, but it is the perfect starting point.

 

[Yooper]

If it's RO water, that is perfect!

Here's some info on how to manage a simple way to use that water in all beers: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=198460

 

[te-wa]

39¢ seems steep for R/O machines. i pay between 15 and 25, depending on the store. usually, it's "Glacier" brand machine. filters are likely very similar. i was surprised walmart is charging that much. anyway, i digress.

but yes, r/o water has very little (trace) elements and can be easily transformed into wonderful brewing water with a tsp. of CaCl2 and a tsp. of gypsum.
you will likely NEED some way to lower the pH in r/o, buy using acid or acidulated malt.
for 5 gal batches, i use a few oz of acid malt, unless im brewing roasted malts like stout/porter.

*edit, basically everything i typed was already in Yooper's thread, that she linked. hahaha!

 

[stoneBriar]

I used to use the Primo water at my Walmart all the time for light colored grists. It always let me hit the right mash pH based on calculations.

However, hast time I used it I noticed that there was a pipe coming in and a pipe going out to the drain. Nothing was coming out of the drain pipe, which I found quite odd since even super efficient RO systems dump 3 or 4 gallons for every gallon of clean water. I mashed in and this time my pH was almost 6 where before on similar grists it came in right at 5.4. I saved a 100 mL sample and titrated it at work with 1/50N H2SO4. The bicarb level was north of 130 ppm CaCO3! I went back to the walmart and noted that the last time the system was serviced was over 2 years ago. My guess is that the cartridges are so clogged it's just selling folks straight tap water.

Moral of the story: trust your gut, check the service log, if it's taken care of these systems produce good RO water on demand.

 

[aryoung1980]

39¢ seems steep for R/O machines.

39¢ is the going rate in my area.

Luckily I have good municipal water for brewing from Lake Michigan. I usually buy RO when I'm doing a Bohemian Pils and split my water 50/50 between tap and RO.

Depending on what your water is like, you could use the RO to dilute it instead of building it up from scratch with salts.

 

[te-wa]

my water is decent for the Phoenix area. Phx has some of the hardest, nastiest (chloramine) water i've tasted. and to think i grew up on the stuff. it's r/o for me since the price is good and im unable to install my own filter system atm.

 

[jbb3]

Some great info here! I think next time I'm at WW I'll check the service log on the Primo system and if it's being serviced, give the RO a try with the base additions.

Thanks All!

 

[GrogNerd]

I use the Primo water from WW and found, even after mineral additions, I needed a little acid malt. there are some minerals in there, but I brewed with the assumption the amounts were insignificant.

only used acid malt once, haven't brewed since, but before I did, none of my IPAs had any hop aroma/flavor and were several shades darker than brewing software predicted

minerals only got me additional bitterness, but once I added the sauermalz, the late addition hops showed thru.

but again, only have the one batch experience

 

[The_Nid_Hog]

I've used Primo water with excellent results. However, the real reason I buy it is to use the jug as a fermenter. The three gallon version is particularly nice when I don't want to brew five gallons of beer but don't feel like going to all that trouble for just one.

 

[m00ps]

I've used Primo water with excellent results. However, the real reason I buy it is to use the jug as a fermenter. The three gallon version is particularly nice when I don't want to brew five gallons of beer but don't feel like going to all that trouble for just one.

Whats the recycle # on the jug? I remember doing some research and found my 5gal primo jug I bought wasnt the correct type to safely contain alcoholic fluids. I think it remember being anything besides #1 and #2 can leach into your beer...

 

[Natdavis777]

I use the Glacier RO system at my local stores, and they run .39 a gallon, which isnt bad. I plan to check it soon with a TDS meter, and if the reading are too high, Ill most likely switch to a home system. But in my given experience with 40+ brews using this water, my beers dramatically improved. If your ground water is crap, this is def a better alternative.