Feedback on my salt additions for a milk stout

[Brew_Meister_General]

Calcium 82
Sulfate 67
Chloride 107
Sodium 51

Ideally I'd like to get the calcium and sodium up by another 20 ppm's but I'm concerned the sulfate and/or chloride will become too high (along with the overall mineral content) and produce some kind of off-flavour.

 

[Yooper]

Calcium 82
Sulfate 67
Chloride 107
Sodium 51

Ideally I'd like to get the calcium and sodium up by another 20 ppm's but I'm concerned the sulfate and/or chloride will become too high (along with the overall mineral content) and produce some kind of off-flavour.

The chloride is a little high, and the sodium and calcium are fine. You can reduce the calcium chloride a bit, to reduce the chloride to under 100 or even less.

What's the projected mash pH? I like 5.5-5.6 for my sweeter stouts.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

The chloride is a little high, and the sodium and calcium are fine. You can reduce the calcium chloride a bit, to reduce the chloride to under 100 or even less.

What's the projected mash pH? I like 5.5-5.6 for my sweeter stouts.

By lessing each of the salts I can get into a more sensible range, I imagine this'll be my default profile as I only ever brew amber/dark beers:

Calcium 76
Sulphates 65
Sodium 48
Chloride 92

I'll be aiming for a 5.7 in favour of alpha amylase, if I hit that without the need for salts then I'll just add them to the sparge water.

Also, do you think it would be possible to add calcium chloride/sulphate (along with the sea salt) to the fermenter? I didn't use them in the mash for my last brew which is also a dark ale.

 

[Yooper]

By lessing each of the salts I can get into a more sensible range, I imagine this'll be my default profile as I only ever brew amber/dark beers:

Calcium 76
Sulphates 65
Sodium 48
Chloride 92

I'll be aiming for a 5.7 in favour of alpha amylase, if I hit that without the need for salts then I'll just add them to the sparge water.

Also, do you think it would be possible to add calcium chloride/sulphate (along with the sea salt) to the fermenter? I didn't use them in the mash for my last brew which is also a dark ale.

5.7 is a pretty high mash pH- I would really suggest going no higher than 5.6, preferably 5.5- for best flavor.

I don't know about adding things to the fermenter- you could, I guess if you need the flavor but I probably would wait and see.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I agree with Yooper on the pH. Keep it at 5.6 or under. You don't mention what your alkalinity is. Unless you have pretty hard water (and maybe you do), dark beers will drag your pH down. You may even need a little lime to pull it up. If you're not already using it, I highly recommend Bru'n Water. It's a great tool and, used correctly, very accurate for getting your additions and pH on target.

One possible issue on your salt additions. Sodium of 50+/- seems high to me. I will defer to Yooper on this but just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

5.7 is a pretty high mash pH- I would really suggest going no higher than 5.6, preferably 5.5- for best flavor.

Ok I'll do that then, would it be due to tannins or perhaps other flavour factors? Such as too much glucose from exclusively using alpha amylase?

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

I agree with Yooper on the pH. Keep it at 5.6 or under. You don't mention what your alkalinity is. Unless you have pretty hard water (and maybe you do), dark beers will drag your pH down. You may even need a little lime to pull it up. If you're not already using it, I highly recommend Bru'n Water. It's a great tool and, used correctly, very accurate for getting your additions and pH on target.

One possible issue on your salt additions. Sodium of 50+/- seems high to me. I will defer to Yooper on this but just thought I'd mention it.

My water has a total hardness of 264ppm of calcium carbonate, I'm not sure how this translates into bicarbonates although from experience I've had to use some phosphoric acid when brewing a stouts so hopefully the salt additions will do the same trick. If I find I hit my target pH too soon then I'll just defer any remaining salts to the sparge water.

I read that 70-150ppm of sodium produces a more rounded flavour so I thought I'd try and get that up a bit so long as I hit 70ppm of calcium.

 

[Queequeg]

Sodium is normally higher in a milk stout.

Milk stouts are normally mashed at higher pH too around 5.6 in order to promote body. You want to mash thickly too