Water Additions.......When?

My last few brew days I've added the necessary water additions, gypsum, calcium chloride etc etc., to the strike water (I brew in a Grainfather) and then dough in. I'm now questioning myself whether this isn't the best time to do it and perhaps add them after I've doughed in might be better. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hi,
I would treat my water with Campden tabs as the HLT fills up.
Treat the water for alkalinity with your acid(s) of choice.
Gypsum is difficult to dissolve and dissolves better in cold water than in hot water.
Add the gypsum (calcium sulphate) to the cold water in the HLT and dissolve.
Next add the calcium chloride and dissolve.
The water is now ready to be heated to strike temp.
I personally think it is better to add all your salts to your water and treat for alkalinity before you dough in.
As you have a recirculation system, you can probably add all your salts (chlorides and sulphates) you need, mixed into your grain.
High calcium levels makes gypsum difficult to dissolve.

My last few brew days I've added the necessary water additions, gypsum, calcium chloride etc etc., to the strike water (I brew in a Grainfather) and then dough in. I'm now questioning myself whether this isn't the best time to do it and perhaps add them after I've doughed in might be better. Any thoughts?

Thanks

A couple of questions spring to mind .Have the beers you have brewed previously been enjoyable ?,if yes don't try to fix it if it isn't broken.

If the answer is no,have you had your water analysed accurately by someone like wallybrew on JBK? .To do any liquor treatments otherwise is a total unknown shot in the dark .

The information provided by Murphys regarding water treatment advises to add salts to the mash. That’s how we do it at work. The only thing added to the HLT is acids for reducing alkalinity.

Thanks guys for the replies, much appreciated. I use reverse osmosis water, so I'm starting from scratch regarding water additions.

@Furbar, you're right if it aint broke etc etc. My last few beers I've made once I got my around the water additions etc have been very good. Now I feel I sort of understand water I want to try and get everything perfect.

Cheers all.

Thanks guys for the replies, much appreciated. I use reverse osmosis water, so I'm starting from scratch regarding water additions. .

You've been reading those Mercan beer forums . What can they teach us about beer ?

Thanks guys for the replies, much appreciated. I use reverse osmosis water, so I'm starting from scratch regarding water additions. .

You've been reading those Mercan beer forums . What can they teach us about beer ?

Only how to make bland tasteless beer
that's nothing like the style should be .

My biggest beef with American beers is that everything has that citrus-hop taste and aroma, regardless of style. I’ve had bitters and stouts with c-hops and it’s just awful.

The insistence on using reverse osmosis water, then building the mineral profile back up seems weird to me. Why not find out what is in your tap water, then go from there. I do that at work and we have great beers.

At home I use bottled water for pale beers and tap water for darker beers - that works great for me as it’s repeatable. The bottled water is pretty much good to go ‘as is’ with only minimal tweaks to the mineral content, so it’s convenient.

The insistence on using reverse osmosis water, then building the mineral profile back up seems weird to me. Why not find out what is in your tap water, then go from there. I do that at work and we have great beers.

I agree, I bought RO water once and making up a profile is a bit of a faff but that, and a couple of bottled water brews, gave me my best beers at the time. I've got hard water (260-275 as CaCO3) and prefer pale beers.

To make things easier, I bought an RO filter for £30 and just used around 10% tap water with RO to get the profile I want. The RO water takes a day to filter and waste water also gets collected, draining to 80 & 60 ltr plastic storage boxes outside the house. Waste water is then pumped through the IC on brew day, then the now-warm waste water is used for cleaning up at the end.

The insistence on using reverse osmosis water, then building the mineral profile back up seems weird to me. Why not find out what is in your tap water, then go from there. I do that at work and we have great beers.

I agree, I bought RO water once and making up a profile is a bit of a faff but that, and a couple of bottled water brews, gave me my best beers at the time. I've got hard water (260-275 as CaCO3) and prefer pale beers.

To make things easier, I bought an RO filter for £30 and just used around 10% tap water with RO to get the profile I want. The RO water takes a day to filter and waste water also gets collected, draining to 80 & 60 ltr plastic storage boxes outside the house. Waste water is then pumped through the IC on brew day, then the now-warm waste water is used for cleaning up at the end.

They made pale beers in Burton too, and their water was around as alkaline as yours, plus high in sulphates. They became pretty famous for their pale beers.