Calculating PPM

[Brewer #278136]

Greetings!
I’m fairly new to Brewer‘s friend. I have a recipe that calls for 250 to 300 ppm of gypsum. I would add this towards the end of the boil so assuming I have 6 gallons, is there a way to figure out based on my water profile how much gypsum I would add?
Thanks in advance for any help

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

While there may be a good reason to add gypsum to the boil, I have only ever added gypsum to the mash. Are you brewing all grain or extract? I could see adding gypsum to the boil if you are brewing extract. As far at the ppm question goes: As long as you know your source water and target water profiles, I think it would be easier to just use the Recipe Calculator and the Brewing Water Calculator on this site rather than deal with converting ppm to grams or teaspoons.

 

[Zambi]

1 ppm is one part per million
So in grams it is 1 mg per kg
And 1 litre water weighs 1 kg in normmal circumstances

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Keep in mind that gypsum (calcium sulfate) has retrograde solubility. Which means the hotter the water, the less soluble it is. If you want in your beer and stay in your beer, you need to dissolve it in cold water. It's not the easiest to dissolve, it hits a saturation point of 2.5 grams per liter of water. I do add it to the boil on my IPA's, so I dissolve it in cold water a day or two before I brew.

Just use the water calculator and add you water profile, water volume and start playing with the numbers. 250ppm is a lot of gypsum.

 

[Donoroto]

Generally, brewers add their 'brewer's salts' (Ca, Mg, SO4, Cl3, Na, etc) at the beginning of the process, as it is the mash that needs those ions and not so much the boil.

To see how much Gypsum (or whatever), use the water calculator here on Brewer's friend:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/water-chemistry/
There, use a trial-and-error method to add the salts a gram or so at a time to see their effect, until you get the water profile you want. Note that in addition to Calcium, the ratio between Chloride and Sulfate is something important for the overall taste of your beer - if you are going to modify your water, pay attention to that as well.

Gypsum is Calcium Sulfate, it will add Calcium and Sulfate (in equal parts-per-million). Note that Calcium Chloride also adds Calcium, as well as Chloride (2 chloride ppm for each Ca ppm), as it is CaCl2). 300 ppm Calcium is Burton-on-trent type water, very hard and minerally, good for very specific styles but not for most. This means, it is probably a dark beer you're after.

It is helpful to know the characteristics of the water you have. There's a list of many places' water profiles: From the top menu, follow Tools > Water Profiles. Find where you are and see if there's a profile posted. Or use distilled or bottled water, which has a known profile. Also, find what the target profile should be, so you have a clue what the goal is.

As a quick and direct answer: 34 grams of CaSO4 (Gypsum) will give you 300 ppm of Ca. But it also adds 716 ppm of SO4, which is an awfully large amount, far more than recommended. And almost regardless of the Chloride amount, that's a very high SO4-CO3 will make your beer highly bitter.

 

[Brewer #278136]

While there may be a good reason to add gypsum to the boil, I have only ever added gypsum to the mash. Are you brewing all grain or extract? I could see adding gypsum to the boil if you are brewing extract. As far at the ppm question goes: As long as you know your source water and target water profiles, I think it would be easier to just use the Recipe Calculator and the Brewing Water Calculator on this site rather than deal with converting ppm to grams or teaspoons.

I am doing an all-grain brew.

 

[Brewer #278136]

While there may be a good reason to add gypsum to the boil, I have only ever added gypsum to the mash. Are you brewing all grain or extract? I could see adding gypsum to the boil if you are brewing extract. As far at the ppm question goes: As long as you know your source water and target water profiles, I think it would be easier to just use the Recipe Calculator and the Brewing Water Calculator on this site rather than deal with converting ppm to grams or teaspoons.

I was reading an article that said adding gypsum would cause a drier / crisper mouth feel; especially for a WC IPA. I mash <150 and for my next batch, was thinking I would use Pilsner malt and lighten up on the crystal malt. Both were suggestions from professional brewers. Probably will do a light dry hop as well.

 

[Craigerrr]

I was reading an article that said adding gypsum would cause a drier / crisper mouth feel; especially for a WC IPA. I mash <150 and for my next batch, was thinking I would use Pilsner malt and lighten up on the crystal malt. Both were suggestions from professional brewers. Probably will do a light dry hop as well.

I guess it is great advice if you like what these professional brewers make.

As @Donoroto mentions, it is important to know the profile of the water you are using.
Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, and other water additives are referred to as "salts", think of them as seasoning in a recipe.
A little goes a long way.
If your beginning water already has a decent level of So4, you may not need any gypsum, or maybe just a very small amount.
Personally I start with RO water, which is so close to zeros across the board, you can consider it zeros across the board.

Here are the additions I make to a west coast style IPA that I make.

This is the theoretical resulting water profile which is about 2:1 sulfates to chlorides

This is the grain bill, note that I use 60 grams of acidulated malt to bring the pH down to 5.4

 

[Craigerrr]

If you don't know your beginning water profile, that is okay, in that case add nothing and brew it.
If you feel like it needs a bit more "brightness" in the flavor and mouth feel, add a small amount of gypsum.
Small amount as in maybe a gram.
You want to avoid a situation like when you have made say a soup and it needs more salt.
If you add too much and it is too salty, you can't take it out...

 

[Brewer #278136]

I guess it is great advice if you like what these professional brewers make.

As @Donoroto mentions, it is important to know the profile of the water you are using.
Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, and other water additives are referred to as "salts", think of them as seasoning in a recipe.
A little goes a long way.
If your beginning water already has a decent level of So4, you may not need any gypsum, or maybe just a very small amount.
Personally I start with RO water, which is so close to zeros across the board, you can consider it zeros across the board.

Here are the additions I make to a west coast style IPA that I make.
View attachment 31667

This is the theoretical resulting water profile which is about 2:1 sulfates to chlorides
View attachment 31668

This is the grain bill, note that I use 60 grams of acidulated malt to bring the pH down to 5.4
View attachment 31669

Thanks for the advice and YES, I will be using the recipe calculator to give me a better idea where I am at and where I MIGHT want to go. I am not new to brewing, but I am new to making water adjustments. I have really good well water, so that is a pretty good start. I just want to make adjustments to make a given style that much better. See attached ....

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Note that in addition to Calcium, the ratio between Chloride and Sulfate is something important for the overall taste of your beer

I have heard it said that the ratio of those two salts is more important than the actual values themselves. You don't need to hit the numbers exactly, just get in the ballpark.

300 ppm Calcium is Burton-on-trent type water, very hard and minerally, good for very specific styles but not for most.

I tried getting close to Burton-on-Trent target profile for a ESB and didn't really like it. The salt additions, especially gypsum, just stood out far too much for my palate.

 

[Craigerrr]

Thanks for the advice and YES, I will be using the recipe calculator to give me a better idea where I am at and where I MIGHT want to go. I am not new to brewing, but I am new to making water adjustments. I have really good well water, so that is a pretty good start. I just want to make adjustments to make a given style that much better. See attached ....

I'm not sure how the water calculator works here on Brewers Friend (I use other software).
Hopefully you can create a beginning water profile with the numbers in your report which will update as you make additions of "salts".

 

[Donoroto]

Thanks for the advice and YES, I will be using the recipe calculator to give me a better idea where I am at and where I MIGHT want to go. I am not new to brewing, but I am new to making water adjustments. I have really good well water, so that is a pretty good start. I just want to make adjustments to make a given style that much better. See attached ....

I agree, you have good water. Very good, in fact.