What Guy and I have intimated specifically applies to liquors with a goodly amount of calcium prior to any salt additions.Top Cat wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:01 pmIt’s all making a lot more sense now, especially the added salts and when to add.
I put the final wort quantity into the calculator, and TBH there wasn’t that much difference in salt additions, between start and finish volumes.
As Guy is saying, it can be an art as much as a science, a little trial and error can go a long way!
Beer can be made without any additional calcium, but there are beers and beers. Unless you are an experienced and devoted brewer of low mineral Pilsner beers, then the minimum amount of calcium in brewing liquor is generally thought to be 50mg/L, but serious text books advise calcium level of between 100 and 200 mg/L. Now Guy's water comes within that range as does Joebrews', who reinitiated this thread. Mine is close enough for me to mash in without additional salts and not worry about pH for an hour and more.
In such cases much, if not most, of the calcium initially present will deposit with phosphates and oxalates as insolubles in the mash, and be in need of replenishment, when I will determine the timing of additions. A significant amount of this added calcium and that supplied by the water will deposit in the mash during the sparge and much of what survives will deposit in the boiler with hot break.
Calcium also acts as a catalyst to support enzymes survive the hostile environment and enable the production of Free Amino Nitrogen, an essential for a good, fast and clean ferment. While very little calcium is needed by yeast for fermentation, they struggle when there was little in the mash and when their job is almost done, without it, they don't flocculate well.
Yes, brewing is an art, with a limited amount of applied science.