Measuring brewing salt additions

[Kev R]

Hi I have decided to delve into the dark arts of water
The thing is Beersmith asks for additions as small as .1 of a gram. The questions are, 1 do you disregard these small amounts, and 2 if not how do you measure such small amounts?

Kev

 

[manticle]

Scales with 0.1g increments.

 

[Rocker1986]

I got some jewellery scales off eBay I'm pretty sure it was, that measure to 0.001 of a gram. I've found these very useful. They weren't all that expensive either but I can't remember what I searched for to find them now. :mellow:

 

[Kev R]

So 1/10 of a gram is important?
Thanks just picked up a scale on ebay.

 

[mr_wibble]

Geeze, I just put in a teaspoon / 20 litres worth.
But we have relatively acidic tank-water, so basically it's got no salts to begin with ... unless it's dissolving the roof.

 

[flocculated]

I too have been playing with salts without the aid of a super sensitive scale. I use this chart to convert weight to teaspoons, and then use kitchen measuring spoons to add salts.

For example, 3 grams of gypsum works out to be 0.75 teaspoons. So I can add one 1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp.

This is not going to be "laboratory accurate" but good enough for me.

 

[Rocker1986]

I mainly only use salts in my brewing of pilsners, and since I like to try to mimic the soft water, I use distilled water and add minerals back in at very small amounts so those scales come in quite handy given all the amounts are less than 0.5g.

I've found the ale beers produced with the tap water untreated have been perfectly fine, but the pilsners taste better with the abovementioned treated water. I might have a muck around with some salt additions on my ales as well though, but probably won't measure them quite so accurately.

 

[shacked]

I recently got a set of these http://www.jaycar.com.au/Test-%26-Measurement/Weighing-Scales/Miniature/100g-Pocket-Scale/p/QM7258 they work great although they are a little slow

 

[Reman]

I bought this one
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221778880895?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[MHB]

Another way is to make up a stock solution.
Say you dissolved 100g of CaCl2 in 1 liter of water, 100 mL would contain 10g, keep the stock in an old beer/coke... bottle.
Just check the solubility of your salts before you make up the stock, don't make them too strong and a 10% solutions makes doing the maths very easy, a 100mL measuring cylinder is a great hydrometer jar and very good for this type of addition and pretty cheap.
Mark

 

[S.E]

Just remember to subtract the 100ml or whatever stock solution you will add from your mash liquor calculation. h34r:

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Are tiny increments important? I'd say yes! I get a little confused when I've seen people just assume to throw in a teaspoon of calcium for 20lt brews as a guess when my calcs are more like 0.5g additions for a 40lt brew. :huh:

When you want a calcium level of say 75ppm. I'd say if some peoples guesses were calculated they'de be more like 1500ppm. :huh: So its fair to say tiny accurate measurements are important.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Ok - so excuse my ignorance.

What would the impact of too much gypsum be.

Ive never added salts until my last brew and I may be guilty of overdosing my first effort at using it recently.

I did a brew day with another brewer ages ago and wrote down the following from his process.

100g of Calcium Sulphate into 2 litres of water.
300 ml to a 30l Pale ale
600 ml to and IPA

Based on this the solution equates to 0.05gm in every ml.

So my 600ml addition means I put 30g into my Rye IPA.

 

[GalBrew]

Ok - so excuse my ignorance.

What would the impact of too much gypsum be.

Ive never added salts until my last brew and I may be guilty of overdosing my first effort at using it recently.

I did a brew day with another brewer ages ago and wrote down the following from his process.

100g of Calcium Sulphate into 2 litres of water.
300 ml to a 30l Pale ale
600 ml to and IPA

Based on this the solution equates to 0.05gm in every ml.

So my 600ml addition means I put 30g into my Rye IPA.

It's all meaningless without the water report and the malt bill.

 

[technobabble66]

BUT, 30g sounds like waaay too much, GP.

As Galbrew said, you've got to check what your local water report is like (& your recipe), but given pretty much all melbourne water is between soft to very soft, i'd say it's ~5x too much.

As a comparison, i'd use 1-3g gypsum in the Mash, bit less in the sparge, bit less again in the boil (manticle's method, kinda). Plus CaCl2 & MgSO4 in various similar quantities also, depending on what i'm trying to achieve.
I'd also suggest using a little Acidulated malt, lactic acid or citric acid to get your pH down, *if* you need to adjust the pH - there's only so much the salts seem to be able to do without adding handfuls.


Back on topic, as mentioned above (mant's etc), i'd get a set of jewellery scales from eBay. I got a pair for ~$7-12 from memory 2 years ago. They measure down to 0.01g, and seem to be quite accurate (as calibrated with water volume measurements).
FWIW, the first one i received was a dud, so i got a refund, and the 2nd one i got is the one i'm still using (that's perfect).
So not totally infallible, but worth the risk of the occasional dud, i reckon.
2c

 

[LorriSanga]

I've been looking at my water in Bruin Water lately, doing my first batch with salt additions next week.
Was pricing scales that do 0.1g increments. then did the following test in the spreadsheet.
Take gypsum for eg. (not my only salt addition), I will be adding 2.8g to the mash and 2.2 to the kettle resulting in 5.4ph. As i already have scales in grams increments my thought was how close can i get to my target amounts with them. The spreadsheet results that i would have to have the additions of 4.3g in the mash and 3.3g in the kettle to push the ph to 5.3. That's extra 50%
I'm thinking that i will do my best guess with the scales I have and taste the results.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

What would the impact of too much gypsum be.

Good question. I'd like to read into it a little but like anything, overdoses of Calciums are not good.. As far as my lack of knowledge goes our body can only make use of tiny amounts. I rather not take the chance of putting overdoses through my kidneys and liver and whatever else. That may be a bit alarmist though.

 

[klangers]

Generically, an overdose of gypsum (calcium sulphate) will over-buffer your mash and it won't reach the required pH.

Taste-wise, sulphates bring out hops. Excessive amounts can cause funny digestive issues.

Edit: Also, there's no point getting hung up about the accuracy of your salt measurements unless your measurements for everything else are of a similar relative precision.

 

[MHB]

Ok - so excuse my ignorance.

What would the impact of too much gypsum be.
Snip

Been posted before but run a search through this document for sulfite (not sulphate), there are lots of effects from too high a mineral content.
View attachment Complete_Beer_Fault_Guide.pdf
Someone brought a bottle of beer back from the US for me to taste, their claim to fame was that they made beer with local mineral water - tasted like beer made with mineral water - as much as I like both, just not in the same glass!
Couple of years ago now but think it was this one Berkeley Springs Brewing Company
Mark

 

[JDW81]

Another way is to make up a stock solution.
Say you dissolved 100g of CaCl2 in 1 liter of water, 100 mL would contain 10g, keep the stock in an old beer/coke... bottle.
Just check the solubility of your salts before you make up the stock, don't make them too strong and a 10% solutions makes doing the maths very easy, a 100mL measuring cylinder is a great hydrometer jar and very good for this type of addition and pretty cheap.
Mark

IIRC this is what is suggested in designing great beers. Make up a stock solution at a rate of 10% (i.e 1g per 10mL) and you just measure out the desired amount based on the concentration of your solution.

JD