Catastrophic Gypsum Overload

[mtgoat]

Well, I just had a sickening moment of realization. I've never used gypsum in my brew before but decided to take a stab at it with a new imperial stout recipe. This would have been fine had I copied down "3 tsp" instead of "3 oz."

I'm wondering whether I should just dump the whole load now or ride out the storm. Is there any chance of my yeast even surviving the pH storm I've released? If the yeast does survive how incredibly salty will the resulting mess be?

Ugh. I feel a bit sick just looking at this mess.

 

[iron_city_ap]

I think it will make the beer more clear than you want it to be, not sure how salty or how bad the ph will be for the yeast. Try measuring the Ph and see what you get.

Otherwise, I say ride out the storm. If you pitch it now, you'll never know what 3oz of gypsum does. See what you end up with and edumacate the rest of us.

 

[Yooper]

Even 3 teaspoons seems to be alot! That's what? About 15 grams or so?

Well, I guess it depends on your water chemistry. If you have very soft, alkaline water it would be different than hard and/or slightly acidic water.

What was the basic water profile?

 

[mtgoat]

The water in Portland is pretty soft/low in minerals to begin with. Here's the numbers:
Calcium 1.8
Magnesium 0.75
Sodium 1.6
Chloride 10
Sulfates0.5
Carbonates 7.5
Hardness 8.6

 

[Reelale]

Um, according to TH's spreadsheet, you're Ca concentration is 632 ppm (recommended brewing range is 50-150). And your sulphate concentration is 1548 ppm (recommend brewing range is 50-350). Anything above 400 ppm is "harsh and unpleasant". In my opinion it won't be good. But you've already brewed it, the damage is done. Might as well wait it out and see what happens.

 

[bosco_NJ]

you could always brew another batch (or 2 or 3) and blend them.

 

[mtgoat]

I thought about that but I'm not sure about contamination. This beer has been at room temperature for 24 hours already and would stay there for at least another 24 before I could get a second batch ready. My concern is that bacteria would take over before I could mix, resulting in two spoiled batches instead of one. Are there general guidelines for doubling up and mixing to counteract bad brews?

Also, thanks for all the feedback. It's nice to have someone to commiserate with!