Recipe calls for 2g/gal gypsum

[5SonsBrewing]

Is the 2g/gal based upon mash in water amount or batch size or?

I am brewing a recipe that calls for

• WATER - 2 g/gal gypsum added to reverse osmosis (RO) water.

I am mashing in with 6 gallons of water and then sparging with 2 gallons, do I add 16g of gypsum for this recipe or 12grams?

When I go with 16grams to my RO Water, Brewfather says
Ca 150
Mg 0
Na 8
Cl 4
S04 348
HC03 16

That seems crazy.

 

[marc1]

Is the 2g/gal based upon mash in water amount or batch size or?

I am brewing a recipe that calls for 2g/gal of gypsum. I am mashing in with 6 gallons of water and then sparging with 2 gallons, do I add 16g of gypsum for this recipe or 12grams?

That's going to depend on the recipe. Is it based on starting with RO/distilled water? If not, does it tell you what mineralization you are trying to match?
What's the recipe? That would help give good advice.

 

[5SonsBrewing]

Sorry about that, yes it's 2g Gypsum per gallon added to RO Water. I will edit my first post as well. Thanks.

 

[5SonsBrewing]

I'm actually NOT using this recipe, but this is where the 2g/gal gypsum is called out. I'm brewing a different Zombie Dust recipe (Skeeterpleezers). I'm just looking for a suitable water profile and to understand why they would have such a drastic Chloride to Sulfate Ratio.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/three-floyds-brewing-zombie-dust-ipa-clone/

 

[marc1]

Is the 2g/gal based upon mash in water amount or batch size or?

I am brewing a recipe that calls for

• WATER - 2 g/gal gypsum added to reverse osmosis (RO) water.

I am mashing in with 6 gallons of water and then sparging with 2 gallons, do I add 16g of gypsum for this recipe or 12grams?

When I go with 16grams to my RO Water, Brewfather says
Ca 150
Mg 0
Na 8
Cl 4
S04 348
HC03 16

That seems crazy.

That's high, but not unheard of for IPAs. Do you like what sulfate brings to the party? What's the highest you've gone before?

If it worries you, go less.

Tasty McDole's hoppy water profile was 350ppm SO4:
https://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=242225
When I made his Janet's Brown, I cut it back to 234ppm SO4, and it was fine. If I do it again, I'll probably try it at the original level. It's all personal preference, though.

It sounds like it is calling for you to treat all of your water with it. You could do your 2g/gallon total water, and add it all to the mash if it would help get the pH you want, or split between the mash and sparge.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

When I made his Janet's Brown, I cut it back to 234ppm SO4, and it was fine. If I do it again, I'll probably try it at the original level. It's all personal preference, though.

I'm having a similar experience with Janet's Brown Ale. For my taste, I'm currently reducing the S04 about 50%. It appears that I am one of "those people" (link) who prefer a lower level of sulfate in beer.

 

[hottpeper13]

I always do total brewing liquor for treating. On a big brew day we did the zombie clone and all were surprised how full the cup was. I can't remember the numbers but we did the total of mash gallons and added the rest to the boil. If you add it all to the mash your pH might go low. Pretty sure we killed the keg at our summer party.

 

[mabrungard]

For my taste, I'm currently reducing the S04 about 50%. It appears that I am one of "those people" (link) who prefer a lower level of sulfate in beer.

Considering where the original recommendation was, 50% is still fairly high in sulfate! But as mentioned, preferred sulfate content is a personal preference. Sulfate is drying to the palate and that allows hop bittering to come through to the drinker. That 2g/gal gypsum dose is fairly common for west coast IPA and pale ale, but might not be so suited for that brown IPA.