Adding Gypsum

[UKBrewing]

I have ordered some Gypsum as I want to make my tap water more 'Burtonised' so I can make a nicer IPA.

Now I am a total noob at this, but thought if I bought the gypsum and know what my levels are, Brewers Friend would tell me how much to add, but its not that simple (unless I am doing it wrong!!).

I got these details from my suppliers water report...

Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 Alkalinity pH
130 5 42 63 83 238 (HCO3) 8

The report did not give me the Magnesium level, or the PH... So I guessed the MG by taking it from someone else nearby, and PH was 8 by default on Brewers Friend.

The gypsum will add to the Ca and SO right? What kind of levels should I be going for for the IPA? I'm thinking take the Sulphate up to 180 or so?? But the Ca is already quite high, so would this have a negative affect?

 

[Tribe Fan]

This thread was most enlightening for me. Highly recommend:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/

Host of calculators out there to get you close. Lots use Brun water. I use Beersmith's water profile tool and Mash Made Easy for the pH estimation.

Here's your base water with beersmith's Burton profile. Your Cl is already too high which you can't fix unless you dilute, and then add even more stuff back in. Personally, I think putting this amount of sulfate into a beer intentionally is nuts, but this is the math.

The BS London profile is what I'm using for an english ESB. If you wanted to use that one, you would use equal amounts of your water and distilled or RO water and per 5 gal add 1 gram of baking soda, 1 gram of table salt and 1.5 gram of epsom salt and you would be right in the neighborhood.

Again, the primer thread helps lay this all out.

 

[UKBrewing]

Thanks for doing that mate, yes I looked at the burton preset on brewers friend and it said to add a silly amount of chemicals to get the sulphate level that high.

I read somewhere getting it up to around 250-300 makes a difference, I can do that if I add about 4 teaspoons to 50L, but it makes the CA+2 go up to 204, which I also read is a little high, but seems like a bit of a happy medium.

If Cl is chlorine, I add a campden tablet to reduce that before I heat the water. I cant see how to add one of these into Brewers Friend though so cant see what impact this will have on the numbers.

I'll have a read of that thread though and see what I can learn

Cheers!​

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for doing that mate, yes I looked at the burton preset on brewers friend and it said to add a silly amount of chemicals to get the sulphate level that high.

I read somewhere getting it up to around 250-300 makes a difference, I can do that if I add about 4 teaspoons to 50L, but it makes the CA+2 go up to 204, which I also read is a little high, but seems like a bit of a happy medium.

If Cl is chlorine, I add a campden tablet to reduce that before I heat the water. I cant see how to add one of these into Brewers Friend though so cant see what impact this will have on the numbers.

I'll have a read of that thread though and see what I can learn

Cheers!​

Cl is chloride- yours is 63 so it's not too high unless you add more.

The only issue I see is your high alkalinity. You'll need some acid (like phosphoric or lactic acid) or acidulated malt to bring that way down for an IPA. For IPAs, I like my sulfate around 135-150 ppm for most of them. You could add enough calcium sulfate (CaSo4, also known as gypsum) to get there, and the calcium level would be fine. You will need a mash pH of about 5.4, though, so check that out with the proper amount of acid.

 

[Yooper]

Brewer's Friend has a 3 part article on brewing water for beginners that can explain why you alkalinity is the most important thing in your water. Your water is very nice, except for that so lighter colored beers are definitely going to need some acid to get a good mash pH.

Here's the first article: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/

Part 2 is the part that explains the alkalinity and why yours is too high: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-2/

Part 3: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2018/02/13/brewing-water-basics-putting-it-all-together/

 

[UKBrewing]

Thanks for the info and links, I have had a read of those...

Unfortunately I dont think I can get any acid before I brew this weekend, but if I did have I guess I want to add enough until my HCO=0? (rather than the current 238).

Brewers friend has a setting for 'Light Coloured Hoppy' profile and it shows HCO=0 as the basis for that.
Looks like 30ml of 80% lactic acid would bring it basically to 0 so shame I didnt buy that as well as the gypsum.

Having input my recipe the mash PH without adding anything comes out at 5.72, and when I add 6 grams of gypsum I get these figures:

Ca+2 = 153
Mg+2 = 5
Na+ = 42
Cl- = 63
SO4-2 = 138
238 HCO3

With PH of about 5.7

Worth a try I think for the experiment?

Then next time I will get some acid and reduce alkalinity to 0 and see how that works out, and also see about getting the mash PH to nearer 5.3 or so.

 

[greyghost]

Brewer's Friend has a 3 part article on brewing water for beginners that can explain why you alkalinity is the most important thing in your water. Your water is very nice, except for that so lighter colored beers are definitely going to need some acid to get a good mash pH.

Here's the first article: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/

Part 2 is the part that explains the alkalinity and why yours is too high: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-2/

Part 3: https://www.brewersfriend.com/2018/02/13/brewing-water-basics-putting-it-all-together/

Hey Yooper where do you find these in Brewers Friend ?

 

[Yooper]

They are in the “blog” area. I found it by the search, because I knew it was there!

 

[UKBrewing]

Right, managed to pick up some citric acid granules today... not my first choice but it was the only choice.

If I add 15 grams to 50L of brewing water (for mash and sparge) and 5 grams of gypsum, I get these stats:

Ca+2 153
Mg+2 5
Na+ 42
Cl- 63
SO4-2 138
HCO 56

So takes the alkalinity down from 238 to 56, and gives a mash PH of 5.47

I dont want to add too much citric in case this gives off flavours, but this is an IPA so a bit of citrus may get lost anyway.

Any risks with adding 15 grams of citric acid to 50 litres (quarts)?