Mineral additions to boil or fermentor

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by atomeyes, Jul 22, 2015.

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  1. atomeyes

    atomeyes Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2011 Canada (ON)

    I've become pretty comfortable with my mineral additions to mash/sparge.
    The area I'm unsure of is when I'd want to add minerals to the boil and/or to the wort prior to fermentation.

    anyone have any handy tips?
     
    #1 atomeyes, Jul 22, 2015
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    For additions that you want to affect flavor and/or yeast flocculation, but not mash pH, add them to the boil.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Jul 22, 2015
  3. atomeyes

    atomeyes Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2011 Canada (ON)

    trying to think of an example of when i'd want that.
    like, IPAs - i want the mash pH down.
    mentally going through the list of beer where i'd want it affecting flavour but not pH and coming up empty.
     
    #3 atomeyes, Jul 22, 2015
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Depends a lot on the grist, your starting water, and your goals of course, but I have lots of recipes where the amount of CaCl2 and/or CaSO4 needed to dial-in mash pH is less than the amount that would bring Calcium into at least a 50 ppm-ish range, or get a bigger Sulfate or Chloride presence.

    That said, I also make plenty of beers with no boil additions. FWIW, I build from distilled water.
     
    #4 VikeMan, Jul 22, 2015
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  5. atomeyes

    atomeyes Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2011 Canada (ON)

    yeah, i assume it is water profile dependent. in Toronto, we're blessed with amazing all-purpose water.
     
    #5 atomeyes, Jul 22, 2015
  6. dmtaylor

    dmtaylor Savant (1,149) Dec 30, 2003 Wisconsin

    For those few styles that specify water profiles with high carbonate content, I often keep the baking soda out of the mash to prevent it from screwing up the mash pH (it would be too high) then just add the soda to the boil for flavor purposes.

    Also if your mash pH is just fine without salts, but you want to jack up your sulfate content (like for IPAs), you can just add it in the boil if you want.
     
    #6 dmtaylor, Jul 22, 2015
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  7. atomeyes

    atomeyes Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2011 Canada (ON)

    again, something i need to wrap my head around with Toronto's water profile. our mash pH is usually a bit high for most styles, so a wee tweet to lower the pH does us good.
     
    #7 atomeyes, Jul 22, 2015
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