Anyone else skip Gypsum

Epsom Salt will also boost sulfates, so gypsum may not be necessary depending on how high you want to go (just be careful you don't drive up Mg too high).

 

Just out of curiosity, are you by any chance trying to replicate the Burton upon Trent brewing water?

Cheers!

 

The inclusion or exclusion of gypsum is directly related to the water profile you wish to achieve. A recipe does not necessarily require gypsum at all.

(Plus understanding what your minerals are to start)

 

Oh yes,
Its a naturally occuring form of calcium sulfate and like Jack said, a critical component if trying to replicate Burton water. It lowers mash pH, but may or may not be necessary at all depending on what the water chemistry you are starting with where you are trying to go.

For example.your water souce may already start at 150ppm of Calcium Sulfate and give you a mash pH of 5.4. In that case it may not be needed at all. The only way youll know if its needed or not is to 1. Test your water source or 2. Start w distilled.and build it.

Its definitely not a blanket requirement for a recipe.

I do operate a brewery, starting with RO water. So i use gypsum specifically for style. Im happy to better describe further, if this isnt clear. Just DM.

(If you already start at 150ppm, perhaps the addition takes you to 1200ppm (made up) and is unfavorable. It potentially could be better if you do skip. But you wont know.unless you know the makeup of the water you are starting w)

Calcium Chloride of course has calcium and Epsom is magnesium sulfate, thus you may be reaching calcium and sulfate targets by those two without gypsum...but again wouldnt know.at all without a water test or distilled.

 

What’s your starting water like?

 

It really all comes down to what your plan is for brewing water. I typically do not add gypsum to my brewing water but I will soon be brewing my annual batch of English Bitter Ale and I will indeed be adding some gypsum for that batch of beer as per usual.

Cheers!

 

It takes a decent amount of either CaSo4 or CaCl to really notice much difference. CaCl will make a beer smoother up to a certain level then it gets chalky and astringent. This is cause by the Cl ion in the presence of large amounts of Ca.

CaSo4 will really help certain beers appear lighter on the pallet. Let’s take an IPA that has a FG of 1.014 or 1.016 and an ABV north of 7 you’re going to want more sulfates to help this beer appear lighter and easier to drink. Where as the same ABV with a final gravity of 1.008 would probably benefit from a more Cl heavy water profile as the beer is already reasonably dry.

When you add the brewing salts can also have a huge impact on what makes it into the final beer. If you’re just adding salts to your mash and sparge water it’s possible that 50% of your calcium won’t even make it into the kettle (however the CL and So4 ions will make it through). You never read about adding salts to the kettle in Homebrew literature for some reason. If you want a certain amount of Ca in the fermenter (100ppm is recommended for a lot of beers) it’s better to add salts to the mash and kettle and skip the sparge addition. You also shouldn’t really be relying on salts alone for pH adjustment. Yes they help but salts plus acid for pale beers and salts plus alkalinity (also a salt usually) for dark beers.

 

I build from distilled water, so I rarely skip gypsum. But just to reinforce what's already been said, it depends on the water you're starting with and what you want to accomplish (as influenced by styles/grain bills/preferences) . Here's a water treatment primer that might be helpful:
http://sonsofalchemy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Intro-to-Brewing-Water-Treatment.pdf

 

This is a good point. It’s a good idea to save some of your salt additions for the kettle.

 

I do not see Calcium (Ca) listed and for Sulfate (SO4) they list ND (Not Detected). You need to add something to add Sulfate and needless to say but Gypsum (CaSO4) would do that.

Cheers!

 

You want acid.

 

?

 

It's much easier to get a stable pH with small additions of lactic or phosphoric acid than relying on mineral additions alone. If you have hard water and rely on minerals alone, you will probably taste them in the beer, and not always in a good way.

 

or use my spring. ,or another somewere, never added a chem and usually good or better beer

 

used to skip gypsum all the time
beers got a whole lot better when skipping the gypsum stopped

 

I brew from RO water and use Burton Water salts. The full Burton on Trent profile.