Burton Salts

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tmurph6

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Hey, I'm going to be doing my first all grain batch next weekend, and I'm also going to venture into water adjustments. I got my water report and realized (through this board) that I'll need a 75% dilution of RO to tap water for various reasons. I also checked into the use of Burton salts to adjust my water profile for my pale ale. My question is, when it gives how many PPM's per unit weight of burton salt, it states something along the lines of 1119 PPM per 5 gallons. Are we talking 5 gallons of water or 5 gallons of wort?

http://morebeer.com/view_product/5955//Burton_Water_Salts_-_2oz

Based on these concentrations I would need to use a total of 7.5 grams of salt if we're talking a 5 gallon batch of beer, but I'll be using 7.5 gallons of water total to mash/sparge, and as such would need 50% more salt, so 11.25 grams? Which is correct?
 
My problem is I cant find epsom. The burton salt gave me exactly my concentrations I needed
 
You should be able to find epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) in any drug store.
 
Not really a problem. Magnesium, beyond its role as co-factor, doesn't really bring much to the party and malt contains plenty for the co-factor job.

Interesting. I have always added a bit of MgSO4 to bring my Mg up from about 2ppm to 11pm, which brings my SO4 from about 6ppm to 43ppm. If I am brewing something "British" that wants some SO4, I factor in what I have added through MgSO4 in calculating my CaSO4 addition.

I enjoy the final product, and it is cheap and easy to do, but I know I only do it because of the Palmer "range" for Mg, and I have no idea whether I could taste the difference. That being said, I am neither curious enough, nor do I get the opportunity to brew enough, to run the double-blind, comparison experiment. I may leave the MgSO4 out on a batch of something that does not need the SO4 and at least get a subjective impression.

Hey, maybe it at least helps keep me regular, lol.
 
Yes, it does have an effect on that part of your plumbing. That is one of the reasons some avoid it (the other being that it leads to bitterness). OTOH it is supposed to have a beneficial effect on the heart. It's been noted that life spans are longer in parts of the world where the local water contains a lot of it.
 
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