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&amp;quot;beaulieuboy&amp;quot;:27t35bjs wrote: burtons water crystals,how do use them and do they do any good. <!-- s:?: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_question.gif" alt=":" title="Question" /><!-- s:?: -->[/quote:27t35bjs]

this is a blend of calcium and magnesium sulphate, which is intended to make your water like that of the famous brewing town Burton on trent, where they brewed very hoppy pale ales. Calcium is necessary in your water for lots of things including getting good conversion while mashing. Calcium sulphate in particular will also emphasise the hoppy character of the beer, while calcium carbonate (not in burton salts) would emphasise the malty character. how much to use depends on the make up of your water to begin with, but I would recommend trying 1tsp to begin with, if the pack doesn't come with instructions. Add it to your mash water as you are heating it up and stir well. if you are brewing extract, I'm not sure what you should do (sorry!). It should give your beer a crisp hoppiness. Maybe you should get a calcium text kit to see how much calcium you already have. Thom has an article on calcium here[/url:27t35bjs] with related discussion here[/url:27t35bjs]