Sanatized all containers but still sour - is it the water?

[shoey]

I'm on my fourth batch of homebrew now (all kit beers still), and each round have carefully sanatized all containers. In three of the four instances I got sour beer, and the once which the beer tasted okay, I used bottled water (and sanatized the bottle snout prior to pouring). So I am beginning to suspect that its the tapware & tap water thats causing the infection...

Is there generally anything I can -or should- do to treat tap water prior to using it in the brew? Bottled water is very expensive, so I am thinking of either filtration or some sort of purification tablets that is used by travellers.

P.S, of course, boiling the water prior to use is an obvious solution but unfortunately I do not have large enough containers to boil & chill 20Liters of water in one go..

[Halgarmeister]

Until recently, I was unable to do a full boil brew. What I did was to boil everything but what I could handle for the brew boiling process, cool it and transfer it to my 6 gallon bucket and separate presanitized container (I use the bucket as a measuring device to put a full 5 gallons into the fermenter). Once I had the "excess" water boiled and sanitized, I then did the remaining 2 or so gallons with the LME and hops, which was also cooled and added to the other preboiled water, again, totalling 5 gallons.

Anything that has been boiled or touched the boiling water for any period of time may be considered "sanitized". Anything else must be passed through your sanitizing wash, be it an iodine solution or whatever else you're using.

The justs of what I've picked up from reading the forums here is that while you do want to sanitize everything, and be careful with your cleanliness, ultimately, the fermentation should take care of most unwanted bacteria. You could be picking up an infection at the time you prime and rack your brew. Be careful that you sanitize your racking equipment and preboil the water and priming sugars before introducing it to your brew. Also, that mustiness or sourness could be the materials you are using over bacterial infection. Example, I purchased a "honey ale" kit that had a definite musty/off flavor to it. Come to find out, unless great care is taken during the brew and fermentation processes, honey ales can take on a burnt or fungal flavor, which my first ever attempt at brewing had.

[zoom6zoom]

You don't need to boil all the water at once. You could do a gallon at a time and then seal it in sanitized jugs.

Bottled water at my supermarket is 69 cents a gallon. I used to boil it, but now I just boil any used for makeup (and have skipped that on occasion with no ill effect).

[wortchillergoal]

Just for the sake of me being wrong, how long after you bottle or keg are you tasting your beer?

[shoey]

thx for the replies guys. i think i will stick to boiling the water in stages & then cooling it in sealed jars.

wortchillergoal: in my last two "unsuccessful" batches, I would estimate they were made around 2 months ago. Today I opened a bottle, and yep, its vinegar country =)

I always thought that its less likely to be infected when priming/bottling, because by this stage the brew is alocholic and thus would be bacteria resistant?