5.2 stabilizer + Calcium chloride?

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DavidSwede

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Hi! Just want to experiment a bit with additions to maybe progress a bit with the brewing. To be honest I bought this stuff cause of the promises it makes.... pH 5.2 cause it stabilizes any water regardless of starting pH. Then Calcium Chloride cause it said it will give 'a soft full flavour, assist with floculation...' .... however the more I read the more I feel like it isnt necessary to use both? Furthermore is it unsafe to use both? Am I doubling up on any ingredients?

If there is already a thread discussing this I couldnt find it. Also I appreciate that my water may be good enough already.... I just like experimenting and seeing what the results are.... it means I can tell my girldfriend I have to drink more in the name of science!
 
Download BruNWater - learn how to use it and you'll be able to treat your water to adjust pH and minerals for any profile you desire.

pH stabilizer should be thrown in the garbage.
 
Yeah I tried 5.2 and the results were not good - it tasted almost salty. I downloaded Brunwater and was able to get my local water report, made the appropriate additions (our water is very soft so I actually needed to harden it) and got great results with subsequent batches.
 
5.2 pH stabilizer may rely on the Ca + PO4 + (OH) binding mechanisms to reduce alkalinity which is why they state that better results come from hard water. So they introduce phosphates bound to sodium ions which break when reacted with water (H20). The phosphates then bind with calcium and hydroxyl ions, which precipitates the calcium and the phosphate from solution at the expense of additional sodium ions.

The movement to use less calcium in brewing liquor and the introduction of sodium ions work against this product, however I haven't seen any experiments with this product and hard water.

Adding CaCl2 and using 5.2 pH stabilizer are compatible with each other, the CaCl2 for the additional calcium to be bound with phosphates from the 5.2 and then precipitated.

If you know how hard your water is and it has a lot of Ca (100+ ppm) and Mg, this product may work for you, though I haven't seen any experiments of the sort. Water with low calcium levels would most likely be introducing additional sodium while have little effect on pH.
 
Thanks for the reply! Good info! I managed to find a report on the local water and it gives the pH as 8.4! I mostly brew the lighter stuff, PAs, weiss, saisons... so I think lowering this would be a good move!
 
Malt grain is acidic and will buffer the pH down. Paler malt will lower it less than darker malt (if I’m not mistaken). Brunwater has inputs for your malt; don’t just go off of the water pH. 8.4 is pretty normal.
 
Throw that stuff in the trash. A buffer only functions as a buffer at +\- 1.0 pH unit from its pka. Phosphate has pkas of 2.2, 7.2, and 12.1

Phosphate does not act as a buffer at pH 5.2. That stuff is garbage.
 
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