Importance of Calcium in the Mash?

Calcium chloride dihydrate (20% by weight) dissolved in ethanol (95% ABV) has been used as a sterilant for male animals. The non surgical procedure consists of the injection of the solution into the testes of the animal. Within 1 month, necrosis of testicular tissue results in sterilization.

Seriously, it does help the enzymes do their thing in the mash

 

It's interconnected... calcium's influence on mash pH obviously affects the activity of amylases. I think a reasonable amount of Ca also helps precipitate some compounds from the husks (not just phytates) that you don't want in your beer. You probably can't have too much Ca per se, but the anions that come with it are another story!

 

Calcium is a “cofactor” for alpha amylase, meaning it needs to be present to allow alpha amylase to cleave those bonds. Lowering calcium will also lower the temperature stability of alpha amylase.

As you mentioned.... Calcium aids in beer clarification and yeast flocculation. It influences mash pH (lowers it). An enzyme created during malting called phytase acts on an acid called phytic acid (way cells store phosphate). Phytase hydrolizes phytic acid, releasing phosphates in the form of phosphoric acid. Calcium reacts with the phosphoric acid to create calcium phosphate (which precipitates out) and release 2 hydrogen ions (which are acidic and lower pH).

 

From Palmer's Water (page 147) : "Calcium is the friend of all brewers who brew with alkaline water. The reaction with malt phosphates is one of the primary mechanisms for the mash pH drop. It is remarkably flavorless. It protects, stabilizes, and promotes enzyme activity in the mash. It aids in protein coagulation, trub formation, oxalate precipitation, yeast metabolism, and yeast flocculation. The calcium levels in the water need to be high enough to carry sufficient levels through the boil and fermentation. A range of 50-200 ppm in the water for the mash is recommended."

 

Below is what Brad Smith discusses concerning Calcium in brewing water:

“Calcium (Ca)

Calcium is the primary ion determining the “permanent hardness” of the water. Calcium plays multiple roles in the brewing process including lowering the Ph during mashing, aiding in precipitation of proteins during the boil, enhancing beer stability and also acting as an important yeast nutrient. Calcium levels in the 100 mg/l range are highly desirable, and additives should be considered if your water profile has calcium levels below 50 mg/l. The range 50mg/l to 150 mg/l is preferred for brewing.”

Cheers!

 

So what happens in low calcium water like Pilsen? A less "efficient" mash or longer time is needed or something else or nothing in the grand scheme of things?

 

According to John Palmer (in his online book How to Brew) the ‘trick’ is to perform an acid rest as part of the mash profile. I personally have only performed an acid rest once for my homebrewing of a Grodziskie beer. That acid rest helped me to lower my mash pH for that beer.

“The Pilsen region of the Czech Republic was the birthplace of the Pilsener style of beer. A Pils is a crisp, golden clear lager with a very clean hoppy taste. The water of Pilsen is very soft, free of most minerals and very low in bicarbonates. The brewers used an acid rest with this water to bring the pH down to the target mash range of 5.1 - 5.5 using only the pale lager malts.”

Cheers!

 

Jack,

Certainly an acid rest can make up for the pH reduction that Ca brings to the mash. But it seems, as Koopa notes, that Ca brings a lot more to the party than just pH adjustment.

I find the original question very interesting, as there is at least one "water expert" who espouses the idea that pilsner can be brewed without any Ca in the brewing liquor. Koopa's response seems to indicate that this may not be the best way to proceed.

Cheers!

 

Mark,

Everything that I have read concerning the brewing of Pilsner Urquell indicates they brew with water that has 10 ppm (mg/L) of Calcium. So, while it is by no means a zero value it is certainly way less than what has been posted previously of a minimum of 50 ppm (mg/L). IMO, Pilsner Urquell is a quality beer. Based upon this one ‘data point’ I am personally prepared to state that a quality Pilsner beer can indeed be brewed with low Calcium brewing water.

As to the other aspects that @koopa made mention of (e.g., beer clarification, yeast flocculation, etc.), I suppose that the lager brewing process ‘compensates’ for the lack of Calcium in Plzen water?

You are the water expert so I would be interested in hearing you specific comments on the importance of Calcium (e.g., ≥ 50 ppm) in brewing water.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Interesting points about PU and the brewing process for lagers. While I can certainly calculate Ca concentration based on a salt addition, I am still trying to figure out the best ion concentrations for a given style. Hence, my interest in the original question.

One time in the past I did brew a pils with distilled water only, but this was before my foray into water chemistry. That experiment was inconclusive, as I am pretty sure I had an infection in that particular batch.

Cheers!

 

I have gone as low as 30 ppm calcium and plan to go lower for the next Bo Pils. You get a fair amount from the malt, see Palmer's water book. Extra Ca would help ales flocculate. With lagers you need time and low temps to clear the beer.

 

So let me turn the question around a little bit. What does Ca bring to a beer that one does not want in a Bo Pils? Cheers!

 

The

The accompanying anions. Using RO water (12 ppm TDS) and adding CaCL2 to get 30 ppm Ca, there was an out of place mineraly taste. Not over the top, but noticeable.

Next time I will try to replicate PU water and see if that improves the flavor.

 

I didn't intend on my previous post being taken by anyone as putting calcium on a pedestal, although it is certainly the most overall beneficial water mineral for brewing. As for the pilsner discussion it seems to have sparked (ie well then how can some styles that call for soft water be just fine) I'd say:

1. @wspscott alpha amylase isn't fighting all alone in the conversion war. don't forget about beta amylase!

2. lagering, filtering, and/or finings can help the clarification (calcium expedites clearing, but isn't required for beer to clear)

3. an acid rest (purity law approved), acid malt, and/or phosphoric or lactic acid addition can be made to lower the mash pH rather than relying on calcium to do that.

 

That sounds really, really unpleasant. I sure hope those poor animals were at least anesthetized before a bunch of alcohol and calcium was shot into their boys. And if they weren't, I hope that first horse this was tried on didn't break too many of the hapless vet-tech's ribs.

 

Pilsner Urquell IS a quality beer. Every now and then I grab a four pack of it just for kicks. It's consistently a fine example of the style. So I wouldn't say that n=1, only that brand names that came to the top of your mind equals one. This brewery certainly has an n value of far more than one.

That's not to say that it's therefore easy to brew a quality pilsner with 10ppm calcium. Lucky for me, my water has plenty of minerals and I don't have to try. Don't know the exact profile, but San Antonio's water report (Edwards aquifer) shouldn't be hard to find. I haven't doctored my water because I haven't needed to (other than adding a half a tab of campden per five gallons or so, just in case there's chloramine). I haven't brewed any styles that are too far out there or require special water tho*, and my IPAs are plenty hoppy. Anybody live here that doctors their water (TAP water, obviously not reverse-osmosis** stuff)?

*well I did brew a lager. don't really know what special things I should have done, but I know which ones I did. None of them. It turned out fine, in fact I was quite pleased with my first attempt at a lager. Could have maybe been a bit clearer, but it was certainly see-through, just not perfectly clear. I was too lazy to use finings because generally I don't place having crystal clear beer very high on the list of priorities.

**[extreme tangent alert] having a reverse osmosis system in San Antonio seems like a waste of money. We really do have an excellent source of tap water. It really infuriates me when someone tries to cast doubt on San Antonio's water and starts spewing forth crap about bottled water somehow being "better." It's better alright, better for the stockholders and CEO of pepsi; for the rest of us it's merely voluntarily choosing to pay 10,000 times more for the same (or even inferior) product, and not minding if the bottle it's stored in was made with petroleum and shipped from wherever via CO2 and particulate belching trucks. Toss that bottle in the trash too why don't ya, what's the point in having a clean ocean when we've already screwed it up this bad? BTW every year the "tree hugging hippie club" (green society) at school does the "tap water challenge." You are given four blind cups of water, two bottled, two local tap. I've never seen anyone correctly guess all four (nor did I). So your preconceptions about how clever you are for buying bottled water... can you say horse-crap? Only when your water is actually contaminated (read: chemical spill in Virginia type contaminated) should you be hyper-ventilating and rushing out to buy bottled water. But even then, used 3 gallon liquid extract jugs hold tapwater just fine, stock up on THOSE for when you're hunkered down in your bunker, ready for Armageddon to hurry up and arrive already so we can all live happily ever after

 

I brewed a Bo Pils with straight up RO water. I added around 4g of CaCl to the strike and mash water and that was it. Can't recall the numbers I had.

Felt the beer came out great, mega clear, very crisp. It was a low amount of calcium as a total in the water, I do know that.

 

I found this via a web search: Typical Range of Concentrations for Freshwater Edwards Aquifer:

· Calcium: 50 – 100 mg/L

· Magnesium: BMDL – 4 mg/L

· Sodium: 5-15 mg/L

· Potassium: 5 – 15 mg/L

· Bicarbonate (HCO3): 200 – 400 mg/L

· Sulfate: 30 – 60 mg/L

· Chloride: 15 – 50 mg/L

The one thing that ‘jumps out’ to me is the Bicarbonate amount. Those levels represent brewing water with high alkalinity which classically is suitable solely for brewing dark beers (e.g., Porters, Stouts, etc.).

Do you measure your mash pH? You probably should treat your water to achieve a proper mash pH when brewing pale beers.

Cheers!

 

I typically have been using pH 5.2 adjustor when mashing. Guess I should keep using it! Haven't measured the mash tho. Might shoulda ought to grab a pack of pH strips and check it out. And maybe my hoppy beers could come out better? who knows, they're never around long enough for any kind of comparison to be made.