Adding Gypsum To Beer - Brewing Water Experiment Part 2
Вставка
- Опубліковано 17 січ 2024
- We bring you the addition of Gypsum to the flavor threshold experiments in water chemistry.
After our last video on this topic where we tasted the threshold effects of Sodium and Calcium Chloride, some viewers asked for us to taste Gypsum.
Gypsum is Calcium Sulfate and is commonly used to enhance the hop bite and crispness from alpha acids in beer. We give it a go in plain spring water at some pretty high levels.
We also taste one more bonus mineral at 1000 PPM! Check out the video to find out which extra brewing salt we tried.
Here's part 1: • Brewing Water Salt Exp...
CHEERS!
#waterchemistry #gypsum #brewdudes
Check out our blog:
www.brew-dudes.com/detecting-...
About the flavor threshold. When you add, e.g., salt to food, you do not necessarily want to taste the salt, but you want the salt to lift the flavor of the food. So when adding sulfate and/or chloride to a wort or beer, you don't necessarily want to taste the brewing salts as much as you want the brewing salts to lift the flavor of the underlying beer flavors. Thus, adding less than the flavor threshold makes a lot of sense.
Agreed. And I make it a point in the last video that we are using total compound ppm here not the individual ions. I make the point that in plain water the flavor impression is still going to be very different than in wort/beer. Armed with this knowledge I still think it valid now to explore at where the threshold is in comparison when in a beer. How many people you know actually have emperical experience with the effect of Cl- or SO4 in their beer that isn't just that they read Cl- enhanced malt and SO4 enhances hops? We're just playing here for our own education and passing along our experience. Cheers! -Mike
I like the Ca in the absence of Cl drying out the palate theory. It supports the MgSO4 results here. Well done!
Thanks for the support! Cheers! -Mike
These are excellent
Thank you sir! Cheers! -Mike
Great series. Loving it! When I find my mash is a little low in pH, I usually just add a small amount of pickling lime aka Calcium Hydoxide. Gets the job done without really changing the taste.
Yes, the hydroxides are the fastest and most powerful way to raise pH. I forgot about Lime in the moment but that's a good catch, thanks. Cheers! -Mike
Again blown away by how captivating it was to watch two dudes drink from 10 glasses of water. 😂
We're so thirsty. Next week sea water! Cheers! -Mike
I’m usually right around 3-5 gram of Epsom per brewfather calculator
Me too. Cheers! -Mike
When are we going to see Magnesium Sulphate? 😂
Keep up the good work gents. Your videos are always great!
Magnesium isn't as important for the overall process as calcium. Adding gypsum is more rational.
Do any of the water calculators start as high as as your flavor profiles are impacted ?
Very informative. All this time I went with the minimum amounts of salts needed for a given recipe. I guess the trick is to add enough to affect the taste while keeping the ratios consistent.
In others words, "adjust to taste"?
I have always said there are two sides to salt additions. First is the mash for proper mash chemistry. The second is for flavor profile or effect. Sometimes the two are the same, but most of the time they are not. This means that what you want for Chloride and Sulfate levels might not work for a proper mash chemistry; especially if you're working from a wacky starting water profile from your municipal supply. The easiest way to deal with this is to use enough salts to maximize the mash efficiency and then add more of what you need in the kettle to get the right flavor profile you're shooting for. Cheers! -Mike
Love this experiment guys! My question has always been on the use of Epsom salts that the amount you are using in a 5 gallon batch is minuscule to what you wold take for constipation. Do you really think it would effect you that way in your beer? Cheers.
Not at normal levels. But everyone is different. I could see a scenario where if someone didn't really understand what they were doing the could swap MgSO4 in for CaSO4, really drive it up to say 600ppm SO4. If you drank enough of those maybe.... But 9 times out of 10 you're only adding maybe a few tens of ppm of Mg to the mix and the laxative effect is hard to reach. I just think it'd be irresponsible to not at least mention it. Cheers! -Mike
Interesting to hear that the epsom salt didn't have an offensive flavor at that high concentration. I was reading about it, and in order for the laxative effect to occur you need way higher concentration than you would ever use in beer. But I certainly think i will bump up the magnesium in my beers now that I'm not worried about negative flavors coming through.
Yeah true indeed. Still, I'd avoid replacing Gypsum with Epsom for total sulfates if you really like high high sulfated WCIPAs. After drinking 3-4 you might put yourself in that laxative zone. Maybe... Cheers! -Mike
@BrewDudes yeah, I wouldn't completely replace gypsum, but I'm thinking there is a good reason to keep the calcium limited. I'm still not going to go crazy with Epsom salt, but I will start adding at least a little more than I have. I was avoiding it when possible, but now I am thinking I will aim for at least 20-30 ppm of magnesium. A quick search suggests that you might want more for certain beer styles. I have a book for brewing water, and I need to read it sometime. It's hard to get into, though. I wish it would just get to the point, but they feel the need to fill 250 pages or whatever it is.
Magnesium chloride, worth considering if making, for instance, a Munich Hell where chlorides are prioritised over sulphates?
I was wondering about MgCl2, but you don't see it too often in brew shops for some reason. For a Helles though the amount of chloride you'd add would be so low I doubt you'd experience the Ca or Mg effect on the palate or in the chemistry I'd think. Just thinking aloud. Cheers! -Mike
Did you used MgSO4.7H2O? That could explain the lower "strength".
This is a good point and I didn't bring it up, but yes I accounted for the 'hydrate' portion. Cheers! -Mike