Adding salts in boil for dark beer

[MHBT]

Would you be better off adding calcium chloride and gypsum to the boil rather then the mash for dark beers?..I am on brun n water and using distilled water adding 1 gram/gallon of chalk gets me a ph of 5.2, (calcium 107) (sulfate 1)(chloride 4) and alkalinity of 338..if i add any chloride or sulfate the ph gets too low.

 

[Yooper]

Would you be better off adding calcium chloride and gypsum to the boil rather then the mash for dark beers?..I am on brun n water and using distilled water adding 1 gram/gallon of chalk gets me a ph of 5.2, (calcium 107) (sulfate 1)(chloride 4) and alkalinity of 338..if i add any chloride or sulfate the ph gets too low.

First, get rid of the chalk and use baking soda or pickling lime if you need to add alkalinity. Chalk is almost impossible to use because it doesn't dissolve properly without extraneous measures.

Depending on what you're making (dry stout, sweet stout, porter, etc), you probably don't want to go as low as 5.2- target something more like 5.5 for a pH. Also, some styles may not want sulfate in it, so it's important to know what you're making before recommending adding gypsum or calcium chloride and when.

 

[MHBT]

First, get rid of the chalk and use baking soda or pickling lime if you need to add alkalinity. Chalk is almost impossible to use because it doesn't dissolve properly without extraneous measures.

Depending on what you're making (dry stout, sweet stout, porter, etc), you probably don't want to go as low as 5.2- target something more like 5.5 for a pH. Also, some styles may not want sulfate in it, so it's important to know what you're making before recommending adding gypsum or calcium chloride and when.

Dry stout is the beer..so add some baking soda in place of chalk to get the ph i need? im assuming gypsum should left out so add a little calcium chloride to the boil for flavor?

 

[Yooper]

Dry stout is the beer..so add some baking soda in place of chalk to get the ph i need? im assuming gypsum should left out so add a little calcium chloride to the boil for flavor?

5.2 is a good pH for dry stout. I'd use calcium chloride and gypsum, but in very modest amounts, say about 40-50 ppm of each in total.

 

[mabrungard]

Don't add much sulfate to dark beers since sulfate is drying on the palate and so are the roast malts. Sodium and chloride are good in darker styles. Don't go above 80 ppm sodium since the flavor comes across a little too prominently to me. The ranges that Yooper mention seem reasonable for chloride.

 

[MHBT]

Thanks alot yooper and martin for chiming in..I figure im gonna add .5 grams/gallon of calcium chloride, .75 grams/gallon baking soda and .5 grams/gallon of pickling salt to achieve a ph of 5.41
120 ppm calcium, 62 ppm sodium, 46 ppm chloride, 1 ppm sulfate(maybe boost that in the kettle) and 377 alkalinity..hows this look? am i on the right track?

 

[mabrungard]

That is very low sulfate...probably too low. The beer might not finish dry enough. But its always possible to add gypsum to the finished beer, if it fails to dry out enough for your tastes.

Are you sure you need that much alkalinity? You only need to add alkalinity to the degree necessary to bring the mash pH into the 5.4 to 5.6 range for a typical porter or stout (not dry stout).