Soufeastboy
Member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2012
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 6
Has anyone tried using rain water for brewing. Would testing the makeup be advisable?
Rain water
- Thread starter Soufeastboy
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2013
- Messages
- 3,890
- Reaction score
- 2,938
If you collect enough rain water for a brew depending on your packaging size I would definitely recommend getting it analyzed.
Any water you use it would be advisable to get tested!
Any water you use it would be advisable to get tested!
Depending on how you collect, rain water is not typically fit for consumption. I would not use it as an ingredient for beer.
I do use my rain catchment water to help me chill my wort after boiling by creating an ice bath with the rain water in a cooler, then putting in the brew pot. I'm very very careful that nothing splashes or drips into the pot.
I do use my rain catchment water to help me chill my wort after boiling by creating an ice bath with the rain water in a cooler, then putting in the brew pot. I'm very very careful that nothing splashes or drips into the pot.
rain water is probably some of the cleanest water you will ever find. the issue is really how clean is your collection apparatus? it all comes down to the weakest link. But once you boil a lot of "issues" will be resolved.
I can'timagine it's any worse than using tap water. Guess that really depends on where you live.
I'd probably filter it real good first anyhow and it's going to be really soft so you'll need to "build" it with salts and what not.
I'd probably filter it real good first anyhow and it's going to be really soft so you'll need to "build" it with salts and what not.
Tap water is regularly tested and if need be treated to make it fit for human consumption. Rainwater is neither of those things.
Rainwater also does not sit in giant tanks growing all sorts of funky micro-biological fun that needs to be killed with such treatments as chlorine and chlorimides. Rainwater also does not contains things like flouride or other things that are not pure water.
Rainwater is going to pickup atmospheric polutants for sure so, as stated, it's going to depend on where you live as to how much it picks up. Which where the good filter part of my post came in. I probably wouldn't advise using it if you live in an industrial area with noatbly bad air quality.
Same goes for tap water I'd imagine. If I lived in NY that has very clean very well treated water (or so I've heard anyways,that may be inacurate) then brew away. If I lived in Flint Michigan, I probably wouldn't use the tap or rainwater for that matter.
So again, I can't imagine rainwater being any worse than tap water, but I'd filter it anyways just for good measure.
Just for kicks i set out a glass during a down pour . I figured it would be nasty . We checked it with a TDS meter and was shocked it read 2ppm. I thought someone on here used collected rain water to brew . I just can't remember who.
I wouldn't expect rainwater to contain much in the way of minerals that come from the soil, what with it not having had any contact with it at all.
The pollutants that are not very beneficial to your health are measured in ppb so you'd need much more sophisticated equipment to measure them.
I wouldn't expect rainwater to contain much in the way of minerals that come from the soil, what with it not having had any contact with it at all.
The pollutants that are not very beneficial to your health are measured in ppb so you'd need much more sophisticated equipment to measure them.
Yeah that makes sense . I never have to worry about it because it never rains enough here lol. Others would laugh at our "down pours lol"
Gnomebrewer
Well-Known Member
I use rainwater for brewing. It's clean, tastes good and is very low in TDS. Fortunately I live in an area with some of the world's cleanest air (Tasmania, Australia), so I'm not worried about pollution in my water. If I lived in a large city or near a large industrial area, I'd probably reconsider. A good guide is whether many people in the area drink from rainwater tanks. If people drink it, it should be safe to brew with.
Gnomebrewer
Well-Known Member
Also, I like to think the added bugs, rotting leaves, possum and bird faeces and dirt just adds to the character of the beer and nutrient for the yeast!
I knew someone here brewed with rainwater!
It's not important where you live but what water rains on your head. Sulphur compounds from steel plants in the US create acid rains in Sweden.
Tasmania and New Zealand are probably among the few places on the planet where you can collect decent quality rain water. (Written in February 2021)
RO water is decently cheap and probably much better.
Tasmania and New Zealand are probably among the few places on the planet where you can collect decent quality rain water. (Written in February 2021)
RO water is decently cheap and probably much better.
Ogilthorpe2
The man in the black pajamas
The key is collection. If you can get clean rainwater why not try it?
Problem is...Most people I know Who collect rain water get it from a barrel that collects water From a rooftop. That means besides environmental pollutants you‘re looking at picking up nasties from everywhere between the cloud and the barrel. Asphalt shingles? Bird droppings? Decaying plant matter in the gutters?
Problem is...Most people I know Who collect rain water get it from a barrel that collects water From a rooftop. That means besides environmental pollutants you‘re looking at picking up nasties from everywhere between the cloud and the barrel. Asphalt shingles? Bird droppings? Decaying plant matter in the gutters?
InspectorJon
Well-Known Member
Where does everyone think the water that comes out of the faucet comes from. Pretty much all water that is no desalinated ocean water is rain water.
Ogilthorpe2
The man in the black pajamas
Well yeah, but it is naturally filtered by mother earth before being filtered again and treated.
Also, Much Of the water in the Great Lakes region comes from...wait for it...the Great Lakes.
Depending on where you live, it might be illegal and/or have severe restrictions for collecting and using rainwater.
InspectorJon
Well-Known Member
The Great Lakes are full of rain water or snow melt which is just frozen rain.
Ogilthorpe2
The man in the black pajamas
Would you brew with water straight out of the lake?
Ogilthorpe2
The man in the black pajamas
Which is nonsense
You can use rain water.
You can make beer with lots of different water sources, but will it be good to drink?
These dudes brewed on the ice using lake water, and they're drinking it.
You can make beer with lots of different water sources, but will it be good to drink?
These dudes brewed on the ice using lake water, and they're drinking it.
Given that it's distilled water I would get it tested to see what it picked up atmospherically but would bet that it's better than my local water.
IvanCAllen
Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2020
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 2
Good one, but if they were filled with frozen rain you wouldn't need a boat
ha-ha (it's a joke)
I wouldn't expect rainwater to contain much in the way of minerals that come from the soil, what with it not having had any contact with it at all.
Last weekend it rained mud here, not joking. Ultra-fine sand / dust from the Sahara gets blown up into the atmosphere and it then migrated north in the clouds. The clouds were visibly "yellow/orange" and it rained orange mud, not a raindrop with a tiny bit of sand, we're talking thick brown drops of mud falling from the sky.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/wind/saharan-dust
So yes, it's possible for rain water to contain a lot of minerals...
Obviously I meant "dissolved" minerals as only those will affect a TDS reading.
I saw the phenomenon you describe too although it didn't rain where I live so the only clue was that the light looked really funny for a while. I suspect we don't live that far apart.
I saw the phenomenon you describe too although it didn't rain where I live so the only clue was that the light looked really funny for a while. I suspect we don't live that far apart.
Yeah, I know, I was posting that more as a warning to using rainwater. Although locally the tap water is 50% rainwater (reservoirs) mixed with water from wells and the lake...
I can't PM you, likely because my post number is now 10.... But I'm on the shores of western Europe's largest lake...
