Salt addition technique

[Drifting79]

I have been adding my strike salt directly to the mash and the just before sparging I have been adding my sparge salt to the mash also. I am herms recirculating on a single tier three vessel system.

Where do you guys add your salts? And when?

 

[laredo7mm]

I batch sparge and do 5.5 gallon batches so I usually use 8.5 to 9 gallons of water. I use a 10 gallon cooler for mashing. I add 9 gallons to the cooler and treat it with my salts to get the desired levels, then I remove a bit of water to get to my exact strike + sparge volume. I usually have to only remove a few cups of water. Then I drain off my sparge water.

I use a heatstick right in the cooler to heat my strike water. While it is heating I add my strike water acid. I also add acid to the sparge water at this time.

I don't know if it is technically correct, but it is what I do.

 

[Brew_G]

This is for my BIAB system.

I start with all of my water in my 30L Speidel and add all my salts - mash and sparge - to that water. I thoroughly mix it up (I really get at it) and then decant my sparge volume into the pot I use to heat up my sparge water. Finally, I add my strike water to my boil kettle and pop it on the burner.

I figure that doing it that way should allow for the proper ratio of minerals in both my strike and sparge water. Hasn't seemed to be an issue yet for the 10 or so batches I've brewed that way.

 

[SEndorf]

I keep it simple... and accurate.
I compute the combined mash and sparge additions to the HLT, adjusting the ratios to my starting volume of 20 gallons. This way, there are no separate measurements and volumes to screw up - one of the advantages of a HERMS three vessel system. Only add the Ph adjustment to the mash kettle.

 

[raysmithtx]

I add my acid (usually phosphoric or lactic) to the mash to get the pH correct. Once the mash is done I add the salts based on the estimated post-boil volume. That gives me more confidence that the salt additions are correct for the style I'm brewing. I use Brun water to calculate the salt amounts. Not the most common way of doing things, just my way.

 

[Yeastieboy]

For my recirculating eBIAB, I treat the full volume of distilled water in the vessel (single). I mash in. Then I adjust mash pH with Phosphoric acid after the mash temp has stabilized; after 5 minutes or so.

 

[Brew_G]

I keep it simple... and accurate.
I compute the combined mash and sparge additions to the HLT, adjusting the ratios to my starting volume of 20 gallons. This way, there are no separate measurements and volumes to screw up - one of the advantages of a HERMS three vessel system. Only add the Ph adjustment to the mash kettle.

Yup...same concept as mine, except that I BIAB. My acid adjustment is acidulated malt. I don't measure pH - I figure the Bru'n Water spreadsheet has me covered.

 

[raysmithtx]

For my recirculating eBIAB, I treat the full volume of distilled water in the vessel (single). I mash in. Then I adjust mash pH with Phosphoric acid after the mash temp has stabilized; after 5 minutes or so.

Just a question here.

If you add salts to treat the full pre-boil volume then aren't the salts too high post boil? I assume that the salts to not boil off.

For example if you start with say 9 gallons of water and treat the entire amount then the grains absorbed 1 gallon of treated water and minerals leaving 8 gallons of treated water. Then you boil off 2 gallons, leaving 6, aren't the mineral/salt additions ~25% too high at that point? Effectively you treated 8 gallons of water but ended up with 6.