the "best" water for starting fermentation (for wine)?

[justsipn]

Hmmm.....ok, I’ve been using distilled water and now I’m reading that’s bad. My well water comes from 350 feet down and has been filtered for many many years.

Is the well water better for wine than distilled?

 

[balatonwine]

The only times I use water for wine making is fruit wine (cherry and mullberry). I did not over think this, and simply used tap water. We have hard water. But worked fine for me.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Distilled is not bad, OPINION,,, however overkill since most water will work
In lab testing we have used distilled for preparation of foods since it is a variable that is easy to eliminate, IF! a dispute happened,, with a customer in Europe or Asia or Northbrook Il.

Well water is what I currently use since the city sources from wells, in Houston the surface water (rivers) had turbidity so cleaning it up was worth while, even before running a still to make lab grade water. A FYI, the “fill your own bottle“ at Walmart is reverse osmosis, ie city water run through a micron filter.

Hmmm.....ok, I’ve been using distilled water and now I’m reading that’s bad. My well water comes from 350 feet down and has been filtered for many many years.

Is the well water better for wine than distilled?

 

[skyfire322]

I use tap, with the exception of early-late spring simply due to the runoff going into the city's three rivers. Luckily, I can ask for the monthly mineral readout to make that determination. Many of my other friends around here that brew typically do that as well with no issues.

 

[justsipn]

Distilled is not bad, OPINION,,, however overkill since most water will work
In lab testing we have used distilled for preparation of foods since it is a variable that is easy to eliminate, IF! a dispute happened,, with a customer in Europe or Asia or Northbrook Il.

Well water is what I currently use since the city sources from wells, in Houston the surface water (rivers) had turbidity so cleaning it up was worth while, even before running a still to make lab grade water. A FYI, the “fill your own bottle“ at Walmart is reverse osmosis, ie city water run through a micron filter.

Just thought of something. I bet my county extension agent would have the mineral makeup of the aquifer water.

 

[skyfire322]

Just thought of something. I bet my county extension agent would have the mineral makeup of the aquifer water.

Yep. If your city/town has a website, it might be somewhere on their utilities page. Here's what mine looks like

 

[wine newbee]

Thx, troops, for all the input; it's been eye-opening for me ....

Mitch

 

[Rice_Guy]

buffering capacity of things in our world: (as measured by TA calculated as tartaric)

2.20% orange juice frozen concentrate
0.24% crest toothpaste
0.02% grandkid baby drool
0.11% pepsi, flat
0.20% Pepsi fresh
6.00% distilled vinegar
0.03% watermelon juice 2020
0.02% laCroix water, flat NO CO2
0.28% laCroix water as canned with CO2

0.60% muscadine grape juice
0.30% Riesling grape juice 2018 Chile
0.50% Malbec grape juice 2020 California
0.89% millot grape juice 2020, Wisconsin

the water does not play a significant role in the chemistry