Going for a Pale Ale, just checking the water additions

[joshesmusica]

Ok guys, this time I'm going to attempt to do some additions to a pale ale. That's one style that has been consistently good with my tap water, but I'm ready to try to make it great. I'll be doing a full-volume mash, biab. Attached will be screen shots from the Bru'n water spreadsheet, and links of the types of calcium chloride and calcium sulfate I'll be using.

Does it look ok? And how do I determine how much to add of each - as in, I believe the gypsum is 100% so do I just add the 3 grams of that? Then the calcium chloride is 33%, so do I divide the 2.5 grams by 33%, so I would actually add 7.8 grams (or actually ml, since it's liquid)?

https://www.bryggselv.no/råvarer/ti...id-CaCl2-33pcnt-E509-100ml-700014-p0000000743

https://www.bryggselv.no/råvarer/ti...umsulfat-CaSO4-gypsum-100g-700015-p0000000744

 

[joshesmusica]

Guess I'll just brew it and see what happens.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm just starting to see if I can learn to use that calculator and if I can ever figure it out, I'm sure it'll be of great value.

It is the questions like you pose above (divide by .33?) that give me pause.

In fact, this seems so confusing at one level that I broke down and bought an RO filter system to feed water to my brewing. How's THAT for capitulation?

 

[mabrungard]

The free version assumes that the CaCl2 is in the dihydrate form. The supporter's version has the provision for anhydrous, dihydrate, and liquid CaCl2. The gypsum is assumed to be in its dihydrate form.

 

[joshesmusica]

The free version assumes that the CaCl2 is in the dihydrate form. The supporter's version has the provision for anhydrous, dihydrate, and liquid CaCl2. The gypsum is assumed to be in its dihydrate form.

So that means I should be dividing it by 33%?

Random question, since you've been answering a lot of my water questions, going off of the water reports, should I be treating my sparge water with some kind of acid if I'm doing a batch sparge? Reason why I'm wondering is I just did a ESB, it's still pretty fresh, but it had no real fermentation flaws after being kegged. It wasn't clear yet, because I planned on clearing it in the keg. I've tested it now after being in the keg for 6 days, and it just has this strange off-flavor that I'm wondering if it's tannins. I've never tasted a beer with tannins before, so I don't know what it's like. I know it's not the recipe because I've brewed it before, and I just made some small tweaks to it in order to try improve it from last time. I made no adjustments to the mash water, just used my water as is. I didn't even need to use acid malt, as without it the projected mash pH was 5.4. Obviously I'll allow it to condition some more in the fridge, but it's not really good right now. Last time though, I didn't even do a sparge, because I had a much smaller pot, so I topped off with water after the boil.

 

[mabrungard]

So that means I should be dividing it by 33%?

Nope.

As to the other question, if the tap water has alkalinity over 25 ppm as CaCO3, then it is wise to acidify that water to neutralize the alkalinity to below 25 ppm.

 

[joshesmusica]

Nope.

Ok, I found out that calcium chloride dihydrate is 78% calcium chloride. So that would make it about 2.4x more than a 33% solution right? So then would I want to be multiplying that 2.5g I need to add by 2.4, and add that? Which would give me 5.9ml to add this time.

As to the other question, if the tap water has alkalinity over 25 ppm as CaCO3, then it is wise to acidify that water to neutralize the alkalinity to below 25 ppm.

I know you said before that if I'm not depending on the calcium sulfate or the calcium chloride in order to help get the mash pH in range (in other words, that they're simply flavor additions) that I could even just add them to the kettle. So then would the same be true about after fermentation? Or does the yeast use up a lot of those minerals during fermentation?

 

[joshesmusica]

For those not interested in paying for the "donation" version of the spreadsheet, but that might be checking here to figure out the math:

It seems to be close enough.

First figure with the calcium chloride addition in dihydrate, meaning adding 2.51g in order to get to 60.7ppm:



Second figure with it in 33% form, of which you would add 5.94g in order to get 62.6ppm:




So it seems that the math will get you close enough. In other words, if you've got a 33% calcium chloride solution, and your spreadsheet is giving you the amount in dihydrate form, just multiply that number by 2.4, and you'll be incredibly close.

P.S. You should definitely spend the $10 to get the newest version. It's quite a lot better than the free one, with many more features. And who wouldn't wanna give back to the people who spent so much time on this amazing tool?

 

[arnobg]

I find it confusing as to how to get the supporter version. Can't find anywhere on the site with instructions on how to get it or how much to donate to get it.

 

[joshesmusica]

I find it confusing as to how to get the supporter version. Can't find anywhere on the site with instructions on how to get it or how much to donate to get it.

It's like the third line down when you click on the link from his sig. Here's where it leads you. $10 minimum donation to get the newest version.

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/w...63663d3faee8defcd6970d4fd9d661117ac2649af92bb