Add CaCl to priming solution?

[danielinva]

I recently discovered that my water's Cl:SO4 ratio is about 1:3, so suitable for hoppy beers but not so much for maltier beers. I have a porter that will be bottled on Monday and was wondering if adding a few grams of CaCl to the priming solution would help move the ratio more towards the Cl side or if it would totally muck up my beer. Any ideas about whether or not this would work?

 

[Denny]

I doubt it would do much good post brewing.

 

[chase]

I don't know if Cl- helps in the perception of maltiness or in the production of maltiness, but I would suggest getting some beers and dropping in a pinch of CaCl2 and seeing (perhaps blindly) if it enhances the maltiness of the beer.

 

[rocketman768]

I don't know if Cl- helps in the perception of maltiness or in the production of maltiness, but I would suggest getting some beers and dropping in a pinch of CaCl2 and seeing (perhaps blindly) if it enhances the maltiness of the beer.

It does. It's in Palmer's book. Just don't go over 250 ppm.

 

[danielinva]

I actually did try a pinch of it in a hefeweizen a couple days ago and it did enhance the body, so I suppose it does work. It actually tasted a bit salty though so I'm assuming the pinch I added was a bit much. I'll probably end up adding just enough to get the ratio even at 1:1.

 

[JKoravos]

The chloride ions don't really have a major effect in the brewing process, they're more of a spice. Same with the sulfate ion. Adding them to the finished beer should be fine.

Just be careful adding it in, it's easy to go overboard.