18 replies to this topic

[Poptop]

Hi All,

In my infantile experience with BruNwater, an amber rye I'm building appears to be calling for some chalk.  Is there something I can use that is more household or off the shelf (grocer, Whole Foods etc) rather than having to place an order to an online brew supply?

 

Thanks

[HVB]

I thought it was recommended not to use chalk and use baking soda insead?

[neddles]

Yes. Use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Mind your sodium values in BrunWater and read Martin's advice on it that he gives in the pop up boxes and on the info page regarding sodium levels. I haven't found sodium to be an issue because the baking soda seems to be pretty effective with only a small bump in sodium level. Depending on what you are making you might like the sodium bump you get. Good luck.

 

BTW per recent work done outlined in Water, chalk is largely ineffective due to solubility issues. If your sodium is already high then calcium hydroxide would be another option. You can read about that on the BrunWater info page too.

[HVB]

https://www.brews-br...ince/?p=1498907

 

 

Some light reading

[johnpreuss]

Wouldn't you be better off using Baking soda to raise alkalinity??

 

ARGH!  They beat me to it!!!  LOL

Edited by johnpreuss, 28 March 2014 - 07:48 AM.

[neddles]

https://www.brews-br...ince/?p=1498907

 

 

Some light reading

 

From that link.

 

[color=rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;text-align:justify;]For a pickling lime addition of 1 gram per gallon, the bicarbonate content of the water is increased by about 435 ppm.[/color]

 

Make sure you have an accurate scale that you trust if you go with calcium hydroxide.

[Poptop]

Much to read and consider, thank you fellas

[neddles]

Much to read and consider, thank you fellas

Your welcome. And the reading should be short. If you have become pretty familiar with BrunWater it should be an easy plug in and let it calculate it out for you. Good Luck.

[denny]

I thought it was recommended not to use chalk and use baking soda insead?

 

Pickling lime is my choice when I don't want the sodium from baking soda.

[HVB]

Pickling lime is my choice when I don't want the sodium from baking soda.

Yes,  after you mentioned that as an option I went and picked some up so I have the choice when I build my water.

[Poptop]

So my local grocer doesn't carry pickling lime and I scoured the canning section.  Where to next?

[HVB]

So my local grocer doesn't carry pickling lime and I scoured the canning section.  Where to next?

I got mine at Walmart.

[Poptop]

I was dreading that answer hahahahaha..........

[HVB]

I was dreading that answer hahahahaha..........

I really did not even want to type it out but I felt it was my duty to help.

[Poptop]

drezz, sign of a true Brews Brother, THANKS!!!

[neddles]

How high is your sodium? What style of beer?

[Poptop]

I've put together an Amber Rye ale I want to try next weekend.  Brunwater is calcing a low ph.

[pizzaman]

Tums/antacids are calcium carbonate and I have used them in a pinch

[mabrungard]

Tums/antacids are calcium carbonate and I have used them in a pinch

 

Super bad idea. Those products are often compounded with citric acid to help make them more palatable when you chew them. In addition, while the hydrochloric acid in your stomach will quickly react with that chalk, the very weak acids in the mash WILL NOT. And since you just added a dose of citric acid to the mash, the net effect is probably that the pH went down slightly. Chalk is a VERY poor choice for adding alkalinity to the mash since it is so insoluble. There are just a teeny quantity of stronger acids in the mash and they will be neutralized by the chalk. But that only moves the mash pH up by a MAXIMUM of 0.2 units. Look at Kai Troester's data on his Braukeiser site.