philm63
Grandmaster Brewer
Ok, so I have done a few batches now using salts to adjust my water and it's becoming apparent I need to add my salts in each step as opposed to how I first started doing it - by dumping 8 or 9 gallons of filtered tap water into a kettle, putting the salts in to get my desired profile, and dividing it up between the mash and sparge steps - didn't pay much attention to pH.
For my last brew, an IPA, I used the Bru'n Water calculator as I usually do, and figured the salts I needed to get the profile I wanted based on pre-boil volume and noted on my brew sheet the amount of Gypsum that was going into the boil. I then proceeded to recalculate for CaCl using the volume that was going into the mash. I then added that amount of CaCl and about a 1/4 of a Campden tablet ground up into my mash at dough-in, and my pH settled in at 5.4. I added Phosphoric Acid and the other 1/4 Campden tablet to my sparge water and it settled in at pH 5.5 at room temperature. and finally; I added the Gypsum at the start of the boil.
At the time it seemed logical to me that to calculate the total amount of CaCl needed for this brew, I'd use the total water going into the mash as that's where the CaCl is being added - I may have overlooked the fact that the mash water will become part of the boil volume and as such, should've had the amount of CaCl that corresponds to the total boil volume which likely would've given me another point or two reduction in mash pH, assuming I'm understanding this stuff correctly. Using all light malts, I also know adding CaCl to the mash will help bring the pH down and is also good for conversion.
Are there some basic how-to's or hard fast rules out there for dividing up your salt additions during each phase of the brewing process, or is it really THAT important to keep them separated? Could I just add all of the CaCl and Gypsum to the mash based on total boil volume, or should I hold the Gypsum for the boil? My goal is to maximize the benefits of water adjustments without adding one thing that gets canceled out by a later addition of something else. I also want to be sure the salts I'm adding at each step are actually making it into the water and/or not being left behind in the grain (I know some minerals are less soluble than others depending on several factors...)
For my last brew, an IPA, I used the Bru'n Water calculator as I usually do, and figured the salts I needed to get the profile I wanted based on pre-boil volume and noted on my brew sheet the amount of Gypsum that was going into the boil. I then proceeded to recalculate for CaCl using the volume that was going into the mash. I then added that amount of CaCl and about a 1/4 of a Campden tablet ground up into my mash at dough-in, and my pH settled in at 5.4. I added Phosphoric Acid and the other 1/4 Campden tablet to my sparge water and it settled in at pH 5.5 at room temperature. and finally; I added the Gypsum at the start of the boil.
At the time it seemed logical to me that to calculate the total amount of CaCl needed for this brew, I'd use the total water going into the mash as that's where the CaCl is being added - I may have overlooked the fact that the mash water will become part of the boil volume and as such, should've had the amount of CaCl that corresponds to the total boil volume which likely would've given me another point or two reduction in mash pH, assuming I'm understanding this stuff correctly. Using all light malts, I also know adding CaCl to the mash will help bring the pH down and is also good for conversion.
Are there some basic how-to's or hard fast rules out there for dividing up your salt additions during each phase of the brewing process, or is it really THAT important to keep them separated? Could I just add all of the CaCl and Gypsum to the mash based on total boil volume, or should I hold the Gypsum for the boil? My goal is to maximize the benefits of water adjustments without adding one thing that gets canceled out by a later addition of something else. I also want to be sure the salts I'm adding at each step are actually making it into the water and/or not being left behind in the grain (I know some minerals are less soluble than others depending on several factors...)