Epsom/Gypsum,

[Jeff20578]

I’ll be brewing a hazy tomorrow and Recipe calls for epsom and gypsum. At what point do I add these? At boil?
Thx

 

[rburrelli]

Salts are generally added to the brewing water to bring pH into the proper range. They can be added at the kettle as well. All this is dependent upon your current water. If a recipe just tells you to add a certain amount that is not taking into account your current water. I would be leery of that.

 

[Jim R]

If a recipe just tells you to add a certain amount that is not taking into account your current water. I would be leery

or to go one step further, the recipe writer doesn't have a clue about how he should be advising the management of brewing water.

 

[Yooper]

Really for a hazy, the answer to epsom is “never” and the answer to gypsum is “rarely”. The recipe sounds at fault, and definitely not you!

 

[dmtaylor]

Really for a hazy, the answer to epsom is “never” and the answer to gypsum is “rarely”. The recipe sounds at fault, and definitely not you!

I stopped by to say the same thing, but it's already been said. +1

 

[mabrungard]

If a recipe just tells you to add a certain amount that is not taking into account your current water. I would be leery of that.

Amen to that! I’m betting that many of those recipes are saying to start with RO or distilled water, but if they don’t state that, the salt addition recommendations are worthless.

With respect to ‘when’ to add salts, there are options and there probably isn’t a wrong answer. Adding calcium and magnesium salts in the mashing water provides a pH lowering effect and that might be desirable for mashing. Adding those salts directly to the kettle assures that all those ions make it to the final wort, but that result for chloride and sulfate isn’t really much different from adding them to the mashing water.