15 replies to this topic

[bigdaddyale]

I'm just starting to play around with brewing salts.Which salt do you add to the...

Mash tun

Sparge water

Boil tun

[neddles]

Do you know your mash pH on each batch? It's kinda useless to add any salts if you haven't ensured a proper pH in your mash/kettle. The salts will dink with your pH and the pH has a greater impact on the flavor and quality of your beer than the salts do.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

I touch up all my brewing water with a calcium chloride and gypsum. Amounts depend on the balance I'm looking for. My pH is tweeked with lactic acid. EZ water is what I use but there are other spreadsheets out there.

[BarelyBrews]

I touch up all my brewing water with a calcium chloride and gypsum. Amounts depend on the balance I'm looking for. My pH is tweeked with lactic acid. EZ water is what I use but there are other spreadsheets out there.

Pretty much what i use. Except i use B'run water.

[positiveContact]

Usually it's only in the mash tun.  If for some reason I really wanted more sulfate I might add whatever wasn't needed for pH adjustment in the mash tun to the kettle.  I think I've only had to do this on darker IPAs though.  most of my other hoppy beers require a lot of pH dropping in the mash so I can add gypsum to my heart's content right into the mash.

[HVB]

I follow Bru'n Water and I will add to both the mash and sparge.  Sometimes I just add the sparge additions to the kettle.

[Big Nake]

You would need to know your water composition first. The standard pieces would be calcium chloride, gypsum, calcium carbonate or baking soda and probably lactic acid. The trick is to know what the salts do and what your water is already high or low in. You want to have some amount of calcium in the water for yeast health and clarity but which of these do you want to add for that? Calcium chloride and gypsum will both lower your mash pH as will lactic acid. Calcium carbonate and baking soda will raise it. Calcium chloride gives the beer a smooth, round, fullness. Gypsum accentuates a crisper, drier character. Too much of one or the other would/could be an issue. I had a brewer email me saying that his beers were REALLY dry and harsh. He said he added gypsum to get his calcium up but he didn't know the makeup of his water. Turned out he already had 10 times more sulfates in his water than chlorides so he was compounding the problem. Get a water analysis if you haven't already. Then you'll have a better feel for what additions to make.

[positiveContact]

Since I started using bru'n water there has not been a single beer where I need to raise pH.  all beers required no change or much more often a healthy nudge downward towards 5.3.

 

Calcium Carbonate has been said to be basically useless - I'm not even sure it's an effective way to add calcium - can anyone confirm that?  Other than this Ken's info is all spot on.

 

for IPAs I get my sulfate up around 300 typically.  I sometimes boost my low chloride number up to 80 or so to help smooth things out a little.

 

for balanced type beers I keep the sulfate and chloride below 100 each.

 

for stouts/porters/dark malty beers I have had good luck using calcium chloride and leaving the gypsum on the shelf.

 

for delicate lager type beers (which I don't make that often) my future plan is to add no salts and just adjust with acid malt.

 

for any lighter styles if I've hit the limit on what I'd like to use for salts but my pH still needs adjustment I'll use acid malt (pretty equivalent to Ken using lactic acid).

[Big Nake]

If the water was soft and you wanted to make a stout, you may have to raise the pH, I suppose. This is the exact opposite of what I run into (harder and higher-bicarb water and I typically make light styles) so I am *ALWAYS* knocking pH downward. To the OP: Darker grains ALSO lower mash pH and I believe that many years ago before brewers understood water and how it impacted beer, they concluded that dark beers came out better than pale beers (later realizing that was a pH issue) which is why many beers long ago were dark... especially if the water was hard. This is a very deep subject and additions go hand in hand with mash pH and water which deepens the subject further. BNW is a great tool although I still can't seem to get it to agree with real-life brewing numbers which suggests that I'm doing something wrong (though I did send my document to Martin who said I had done everything correctly). IME, soft water is the best water to have because you can add things to get where you want. The more stuff that's in your water, the trickier it can be (depending on style) because you either have to remove it, dilute it or account for it some other way.

Edited by Village Taphouse, 06 March 2015 - 07:51 AM.

[positiveContact]

If the water was soft and you wanted to make a stout, you may have to raise the pH, I suppose. This is the exact opposite of what I run into (harder and higher-bicarb water and I typically make light styles) so I am *ALWAYS* knocking pH downward. To the OP: Darker grains ALSO lower mash pH and I believe that many years ago before brewers understood water and how it impacted beer, they concluded that dark beers came out better than pale beers (later realizing that was a pH issue) which is why many beers long ago were dark... especially if the water was hard. This is a very deep subject and additions go hand in hand with mash pH and water which deepens the subject further. BNW is a great tool although I still can't seem to get it to agree with real-life brewing numbers which suggests that I'm doing something wrong (though I did send my document to Martin who said I had done everything correctly). IME, soft water is the best water to have because you can add things to get where you want. The more stuff that's in your water, the trickier it can be (depending on style) because you either have to remove it, dilute it or account for it some other way.

 

my water is pretty soft.  I think my bicarb is 29 ppm or something like that.  even still I don't need to raise pH for a stout.  in fact on my last stout I added some calcium chloride to push it down slightly and to enhance the malt a little more.

[denny]

I'm just starting to play around with brewing salts.Which salt do you add to the...

Mash tun

Sparge water

Boil tun

 

I look at brewing water additions in 2 ways...what you add for pH and what you add for flavor.  Anything that's strictly for flavor can go in the kettle.  But a lot of that stuff can also adjust your pH, so then it goes into the tun.  More added to the kettle if necessary.

[neddles]

I look at brewing water additions in 2 ways...what you add for pH and what you add for flavor.  Anything that's strictly for flavor can go in the kettle.  But a lot of that stuff can also adjust your pH, so then it goes into the tun.  More added to the kettle if necessary.

Totally agree with the bolded with a priority on pH first as it is the more critical IMO.  

 

I prefer however to add everything to my mash. While very light additions won't matter too much adding a bunch of brewing salts (for example 300ppm SO4) to the kettle can throw off your kettle pH and potentially the pH and flavor of the finished beer. 

[denny]

Totally agree with the bolded with a priority on pH first as it is the more critical IMO.  

 

I prefer however to add everything to my mash. While very light additions won't matter too much adding a bunch of brewing salts (for example 300ppm SO4) to the kettle can throw off your kettle pH and potentially the pH and flavor of the finished beer. 

 

I do it the opposite way...I add what I want for flavor first, then use acid to get the pH I want.

[neddles]

I do it the opposite way...I add what I want for flavor first, then use acid to get the pH I want.

I should clarify as I do it the same way. I was recommending that the OP (who is in the process of learning how to do this) mind his pH before worrying about salts for flavor. Once adept then absolutely get your flavor ions in line first and then your acid to correct/desired pH as a process for any single recipe.

[denny]

I should clarify as I do it the same way. I was recommending that the OP (who is in the process of learning how to do this) mind his pH before worrying about salts for flavor. Once adept then absolutely get your flavor ions in line first and then your acid to correct/desired pH as a process for any single recipe.

 

Got it....agreed!  And don't try to get all your pH adjustment through salts.  That's what acid is for!

[neddles]

Got it....agreed!  And don't try to get all your pH adjustment through salts.  That's what acid is for!

Exactly.