TOPIC:

After reading this pre-publication, I added calcium sulfate to my brew water last weekend.

Do you have an opinion on the best material to use to bring up the calcium levels, and how it relates to other water components?

Oh, and I'd run out of 5.2, but despite it being a relatively pale beer, my mash pH was in the region of 5.2 - 5.4.

It depends on the beer style. My other article of water covers what the most common water constituents bring to the character of beer, but the most important one is the sulphate/chloride balance. Sulphate tends to be good for hop crispness while chloride increases fullness. So I'd go with calcium sulphate in pale ales and calcium chloride in stouts and porters. In truth, I usually add both when brewing hoppy beer because I like beers with full character, so make up the calcium requirement using some of each.

I found the following quote while reading this thread[/url:3gvtnxwx] on HomeBrewTalk. It's a response to a request for an analysis of 5.2 stabiliser in distilled water:

"... The 5.2 stabilizer is a blend of two salts. They are neutralized versions of phosphoric acid. They are monosodium phosphate (Na H2 PO4) and disodium phosphate (Na2HPO4) in the right ratio they will form a buffer that locks the pH at 5.2..."

I guess this means that calcium additions are required even if some stabiliser is added to the mash (assuming your water is deficient in calcium to begin with).

So it's high time I had a good look at my water, and thanks for writing this Thom it's really useful. But I was wondering, a: does anyone know a pet/fish shop in the city centre that stocks these water kits? Secondly, is calcium chloride/sulphate readily available in any form anywhere or will I have to order it?

Thanks

&amp;quot;Hendrixcat&amp;quot;:1f4be5wq wrote: Sulphate tends to be good for hop crispness while chloride increases fullness.[/quote:1f4be5wq]Cool. I used Calcium Sulphate, (sold as Braugyps in German, gypsum). Now I need to figure out what the chloride is <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

I got onto the county water engineer the other week...a keen brewer in his day he was! He said apart from testing my water ....which he couldn't justify doing as there is nothing wrong with it ...I should check out SI 278 2007. Its the European water treatment paper and what all our local authorities are meant to conform to
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/Environmen...ownLoad,14547,en.pdf">www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/En ... 547,en.pdf is the link. Doesn't really do it for me though . Still no idea of what's in my water although he did tell me where my water was from and said that most of the Dublin water supplies are very soft and lack the hardness required for making beer. Well that's what he tells me anyway. None the wiser really but it's something I want to get a grip on. My supply is the Ballboden treatment plant but I cant find jack about the analysis online so not too sure where to start so apart from using my ph 5.2 I do nothing.