Which type of water does everyone use to brew?

[Kepler57]

I am going to be brewing a few batches and before i go out an buy some water, i was just curious what experiences people are having with different types of water.

I live in a town with very hard water (the kind that necesitates 3 coffee makers per year usless your smart enough to use bottled) so i have previously brewed with distilled water. This time i was thinking of using Spring Water.

What does everyone else use? Any reccomendations (Distilled vs. Spring)

~ Mike

[brewmeisterintng]

I live in Clarksville, TN and have city water which has a strong (in my opinion) clorinated smell. I have an under the sink water filter that I bought at WalMart and have Pur brand filter on the tap. It takes a while to get the water I need but I am sure that it's good water.
They say that beer is 90% water so I insure that my water is pure.

V/r

James

[BillyBock]

I use a granulated active charcoal (GAC) filter and RV drinking water hoses from the outside tap. It's flow rate is 0.5 gpm. But it removes chlorine, organic volatiles, and anything else that might taint the flavor of my beer. If you want to know your water chemistry, check with the city--they'll usually post it on-line.

[richanne]

Mike,

Definitely choose spring water over distilled water. Distilled water has all the chemicals stripped out of it. Spring water is great for beer, although admittedly more expensive than most other water.

We use mostly Brita-filtered water and adjust with chemicals depending on the beer style. But if you're going to be just using the water as is, spring water is the best way to go, and distilled water is about the worst.