Palmers Zymurgy Article on water

I read it, understood some of it.

I have never really been too concerned about mash pH considering I use the buffer from 5 Star to lock my pH in at 5.2 regardless of what my grains do. I typically use half of what the container recommends and I have tested it (litmus strips) and it works.

But,

Palmer makes a strong point about calcium for yeast metabolism. And he sttresses that calcium should not be lower than 50ppm no matter what.

Delivered, my tap water is at 40ppm as per last months report. Furthermore, when I brew Pale Ales and Lagers I blend the tap water half RO, half Tap. I suppose that mean I essentially cut my calcium down to 20ppm (depending largely on the amount of calcium that may or may not make it throug filtration).

So, approximately how much calcium carbonate should I be adding back to my water to make up the difference based on these 2 scenarios (all tap and half tap)?

And when (mash or boil)?

Lastly, do I understand correctly that typical agricultural/horticultural chalk is calcium carbonate? Just in case I need to source from someplace other than the LHBS. (I have read that Blackboard chalk is calcium sulfate and I already have too much sulfate in my water as is)

edit: I just found that most calcium supplements are also calcium carbonate but, may also contain Vitamin D. I am guessing these are the next best source?

Thanks for the heads up, any chance you can link to the article.

No link. He basically says the same stuff he put in How to brew but, this time it sorta sunk in and a connection was made.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-4.html gives a table for manipulating ion concentrations with salts.
It is best to treat all the water used for brewing.

-a.

Not necessarily.

If you read into Palmer some more, you'll find that he advocates NOT treating your strike water but the mash directly. Makes sense really if you think of it, considering, that regardless of where your water starts the addition of the grain (dependent on the grain bill) will effect concentrations.

Furthermore, depending on the chemical makeup of your water, some salt will not properly dissolve.

I was in fact able to answer my own questions. Store bought calcium supplement are in fact Calcium Carbonate with some additional fillers and binders. And they can work as a replacement for LHBS Calcium Carbonate if you don't mind the fillers and binders. Some include vitamin D.

I found that for a 10 Gallon batch I need to add nearly 1tsp to tap water to make the 50ppm minimum or 2 tsp to the blended scenario.

Easy Peasy.

Now, to actually use it and note whether or not fermentation is in fact benifited by the increased calcium availabilty or not.

Very intense article with a ton of science. Not so hard to understand but confusing none the less. I was interested in the Residual Alkalinity piece of the article where basically two ends of the spectrum use different amounts of RA. So I brewed two single hopped EPAs based on his findings - one with a high RA and one with a low RA. They are still fermenting away so I will have to post the results later. Sounded like really good advice. I will see what turns.

My next experiment is to brew two Porters or stouts with the same controls to see how that turns.


I have to believe that every brew will vary depending upon the ingredients in the brew. I suppose the key is knowing how these ingredients react with the salts/minerals in the water. I guess basic run of the mill recipes will follow Palmer's results but have to believe that more complex brews will not follow suit.

Thoughts on this?

- WW