Equal Brewing Salt Additions to Strike Water and Sparge Water Additions

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Hello all,

I have recently learned about brewing salts and achieving a good water profile to make a certain beer. My question is, after you make a good water profile from beer smith or bru'n water, can you proportionalize the salt additions to make them have equal parts in each water step (strike, and 2 batch sparges)? for example, if my water profile requires 2 grams of calcium chloride for a total of 4 gallons of water I am going to be using for brewing, can I proportionalize this ingredient to equal parts within my strike water (1.5 gallons), and 2 batch sparges of equal volumes (1.25 gallons a piece), to come out with an equal water profile per volume for all parts that eventually go into the kettle? for example, 2 grams in 4 gallons, so 0.75 grams in 1.5 gallons to make an equal profile for that specific step, and so on. I understand how to do the math, and I understand that the Ph part of brewing now too. I am mainly wondering if this is how the procedure is done as far as splitting up your proportional water treatments. Of course you could just treat all 4 gallons before brewing and use that water for each step, but the equivalent additions may be easier.

 

[element533]

I treat the full volume of brewing water before separating it into mash and sparge portions.

I don't use any baking soda, chalk, or pickling lime, which I gather are not recommended for sparging. If you use these, I would reserve them for the mash only.

I think it's completely valid to do it either way. Whatever is the simplest for your process and setup.

 

[bjbear]

I'm no expert, but I've read that the salts should be added to the entire volume of water (not just the mash) otherwise this will affect the pH of the sparge

 

[mabrungard]

You can add minerals in any way you prefer, but you need to recognize that there can be effects on mashing pH. In general, I recommend adding most minerals to the brewing water in proportion to the volume. However, you could also add all the minerals calculated for both the mashing and sparging water volume to only the mash. Or you could withhold all minerals from the mashing and sparging water and add them directly to the kettle. Each of these techniques has an effect on mashing pH.

Another important thing is that mashing water and sparging water often have differing alkalinity requirements. Sparging water alkalinity should ALWAYS be low, however mashing water alkalinity may be range from very low to moderately high, depending upon the acidity of the grist.

A program like Bru'n Water can help you decipher how those various techniques affect pH and which might be more advantageous for your brewing methods.

 

[Homercidal]

I've used Bru'nwater for many years. I believe the way it calculates is to choose mash salt additions to affect for best pH, and the remainder can go in the sparge (or boil, if you prefer.)

Adding to the entire volume MAY get the proper pH in the mash, or not. And it MAY make your sparge water pH low enough, or not.