Epsom salts

[rickthebrew]

hello!!

looking at doing some water treatment for my next brew - are epsom salts such as these:
http://www.althealth.co.uk/product/deta ... s_bp/200g/
suitable for brewing? Also is this a good price ?

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[Aleman]

looking at doing some water treatment for my next brew - are epsom salts such suitable for brewing? Also is this a good price ?

Yes and Yes


However You are much better off using Gypsym (calicum sulphate) as this adds calcium to the mash (Use a tsp in the mash and 1 in the boil . . . for a 25L brew) . . . Magnesium is only required in trace amounts and the mash provides more than enough.

 

[rickthebrew]

Cheers Aleman - i found a local (to me!) homebrewer who has a website and posts water values for my area, but from 1999 do you think they will still be relevant? I`m going to e-mail him to see if he still brews as i don`t know hardly any brewers in my area,
http://www.exwick.eclipse.co.uk/h/water.html
here`s a link to his water treatment page - if you or anyone has five mins to look at it i would really apreciate it if you could tell me if this looks OK - he has done all the hard work and if it is still relevant would be great! I`m gonna contact this guy anyway as he can only live 5mins walk from me as we both live in the same area of exeter!!
my knowledge of water treatment is very limited so thanks again :whistle:

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[Vossy1]

i found a local (to me!) homebrewer who has a website and posts water values for my area, but from 1999 do you think they will still be relevant?

In a word...no. Water can vary by the season, massively. I take the yearly average for my figures, not ideal but better than nothing...just
A will better advise on treatment

 

[rickthebrew]

cheers V, i can`t seem to find southwest waters stats on line so will e-mail them also, i`ve done six brews so feel ready to start looking at some water treatment - will keep it simple though

 

[Aleman]

That is a good page . . . and is pretty much right . . . for pale beers , although I go about things in a different way. My water is even 'softer' than yours it certainly has less minerals in it. . . . and this is what I do

Add around 120-150ppm calcium . . . The decision to use Either calcium chloride or calcium sulphate for this depends on what I want flavour wise in the beer . . . If I want to emphasise the hops then I use calcium sulphate, if I want to emphasise malt and mouthfeel then I use calcium chloride . . . . I use a mixture of the two if I want a balanced beer. Where that leaves the sulphate or calcium is of little import, what matters is to get a sensible level of calcium in the mash and boil.

As I said earlier The malt will supply more than enough magnesium required for the brewing process, and I have yet to fathom why anyone would add sodium to brewing liquor . . . it is totally not required by any brewing process.

As for values from 1999 being relevant? I would bet that your water is only drawn from one reservoir and changes it composition rarely during the year . . . like mine . . . There are brewers whose water composition can change dramatically between one week to the next, and the only way to be truly certain what the water composition is is to actually measure it.

Salifert make two tests kits One for Total Alkalinity (carbonate) and one for calcium . . . I do no brewing unless I have checked the alkalinity and calcium levels in the liquor. . . . and adjusted them appropriately.

It gives you a reasonable starting point . . . and if the mash pH (After 10 minutes) is within 0.2 units of 5.3 then your water treatment is adequate.

 

[rickthebrew]

cheers for the informative reply Aleman - this will be an ongoing project for me so i will no doubt have more questions for you in the future as i start to understand the chemistry behind the numbers!! The forum is great for gaining knowledge !!

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