Are minerals sanitary?

Just wrapping up a Vienna lager here. I forgot to add my kettle additions of gypsum and calcium chloride and I am now aerating the cooled wort. It would be nice to get them in there because my water is low in calcium, but I am worried about adding them at this point because its post boil and I don't want to introduce any bacteria. So...my question: are minerals sanitary?

Hmm I wouldn't think so.. Not worth the risk in my opinion. However, all is not lost!

I think you could probably bring about a cup or so of water(however much you need to adequately dissolve your minerals) to a boil and stir in your minerals and let boil for about 15 minutes. A flask you would use for say making a yeast starter would work nicely. Cover and surround with ice to cool rapidly (shouldn't take long with a cup of water). Then you can ad the mixture without fear of contamination. Just a thought, I'd be interested to hear what others think.

rt4philly said:

Hmm I wouldn't think so.. Not worth the risk in my opinion. However, all is not lost!

I think you could probably bring about a cup or so of water(however much you need to adequately dissolve your minerals) to a boil and stir in your minerals and let boil for about 15 minutes. A flask you would use for say making a yeast starter would work nicely. Cover and surround with ice to cool rapidly (shouldn't take long with a cup of water). Then you can ad the mixture without fear of contamination. Just a thought, I'd be interested to hear what others think.

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Agree.

The powders are probably sanitary, but why risk infection?

Those minerals are needed during the mash and boil. Adding them now won't do any good.

bja said:

Those minerals are needed during the mash and boil. Adding them now won't do any good.

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This.

There is no reason to add those now.

I think the calcium will still be of use as it aids in yeast flocculation. Thanks for all the ideas. I ended up reboiling a cup of wort with the forgotten minerals and then adding them in before pitching. But you are right to point out that I won't get all the benefits of a true kettle addition.

I think you were definitely right to add them - Yes, the calcium will help the yeast but you will also get the chloride:sulphate ratio which you were targeting in the finished beer

bigmunchez said:

I think you were definitely right to add them - Yes, the calcium will help the yeast but you will also get the chloride:sulphate ratio which you were targeting in the finished beer

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Had to do some research after this post. Here is a post from TheChemist:

I did an experiment on this; same beer (mild), different salt levels - ratios (Cl:SO4 in mg/L) from 0:0, 1:5, 5:1, 2.5:2.5, and 5:5. The beer normally has 2.1:2.7. With the luxury of being able to analyse the beers, I can also say that they had the same acidity (~.05) and IBU (~2).

The consensus was that the beer with no salts had an almost oily aftertaste to it, the 5Cl beer was almost too thick/smooth, 5SO4 had a really strong bitterness, 2.5 equal was both smooth and had a full bitterness, and the 5:5 brew had an unpleasant aftertaste that tasted like minerals. These differences were easily detectable, and 6/7 people agreed in a blind tasting.

Chloride enhances sweetness and mouthfeel, sulphate complexity and detection of bitterness. Depending on your style (ie. more SO4 for bitters, more Cl for stouts), you can mess around with these accordingly. I'd say don't JUST add one or the other though - you need a bit of each to balance things out. Also, too much of both or either will cause weird tastes. Personally, I'd probably avoid ratios with a greater difference than 2:5.

Calcium has more to do with acidity and yeast metabolism than taste. More is better . Hope that helps!