Yes I killed him before the hotfix and yes I did use the hot water. After my post here I spoke to others about it and it does appear to be doable. Although I have to say that one must only have a split second to respond to his emote now to use the water because I did spend a half hour trying to kill him. I wish I had kept track of how many times I actually threw the water...I can only guess it was at least 20-30 times.