Please help me understand my water additions

Hi everyone,
Long time brewer but I'm just getting into building water and could use a little help with my water additions. I recently had my water tested and it appears to be very low mineral.
Na=4
Ca=7
Mg=1
CaCO3 (total hardness)=22
SO4=4
Cl=4
HCO3=19
CaCO3(total Alk)=16
According to Bru n water and through experience on my last 2 beers, I am able to hit a mash ph of roughly 5.4-5.5 with only small additions of acid malt.
I have 3 beers that I'll be brewing on the next few weeks that I want to add "salts" to. An American Blonde (yellow balanced), an IPA(pale ale), and a Cream Stout(dark balanced). Building these with Bru n Water, it looks like I can get away with adding different quantities of Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, Epsom Salt, and Baking Soda to the boil.
1.) Am I doing this right? Lol I just add these flavoring "salts" to the boil kettle? Surely it's more difficult than that? What am I missing?
2.) Using the mineral parameters that Bru n Water states, the lighter beers fall within the Bicarbonate level my water has but what about darker beers? So, I just need to add Baking Soda to the boil?
3.) I've been reading lots on the net and also have Palmer's "Water" book and I suppose Alkalinity and Total Alkalinity are the concepts that I'm having the most trouble understanding? Is it possible for someone to explain this in layman's terms or point me to a source that can? ISO "Water for dummies"

Thanks in advance everyone!
-N.O.D.

I don't think the process is any more difficult than adding 1/4 tsp or whatever of the salts. I generally add them to a very small mason jar with some water and shake to mix, then add to my vessel and pour the water on top. Sometimes I just add to the vessel and mix.

I never had need of baking soda (except that one time I added too much acid and had to compensate) to I can't help there. For most of my beers I add some Gypsum, and some Calcium Chloride, and sometimes Epsom Salt. My water is pretty alkaline, so I'm trying to bring the pH down. I normally start with RO water due to high alkalinity. The Gypsum and CaCl is for flavor more than anything.

The minerals are added to the mash water. All you really need to be concerned with when you're starting out is the mash pH. Follow the recommendations for the profiles for yellow balanced, bitter amber, etc. and you'll be fine.

And echoing Homercidals comment about baking soda, you almost never need to add anything alkali (baking soda, pickling lime, etc) unless you have a ton of dark grains. It jacks the pH way up and, in most cases, you need to bring the mash pH down.

Thanks for the reply. Once again, I don't really need any mineral additions to adjust my Mash Ph? So I guess I'm only needed flavor additions? I've read of others putting these in the kettle?

Minerals do affect the mash pH (although I struggled with that part of Palmer's book too.) Bru'n water accounts for the pH changes from the minerals, so if they're not in the mash, Bru'n water might not give you an accurate prediction.

Just for clarification, are you an all grain or extract brewer? Most of the Brun water adjustments are set up for all grain. Your base water is very similar to mine. I also usually only need to add a bit of lactic acid to bring ph into optimum levels. You also will want to add the minerals to the mash and sparge water as directed by Brun water.

Does your water report show starting ph. If it's not around 5.7 or so (if I remember correctly) you will want to adjust that so as not to have sparge issues

If you don't need those minerals for mash pH, then yes, add them to the kettle to flavor the finished beer.

Also be sure you are entering your grain bill as that, as mentioned above , could affect mash ph, especially with dark grains. As JohM said, the minerals, although primarily for flavor, do have an affect on mash ph. In other words, the amount of acid malt that Brun recommends is dependent on your other mineral additions, such that reserving your mash minerals for the kettle could cause you to over or under apply acid. At least that is my understanding, I'm no expert.