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Author Topic: calciuim chloride post ferment  (Read 2833 times)

Offline morticaixavier

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calciuim chloride post ferment
« on: December 13, 2012, 11:47:16 am »
Hey All,

My christmas beer is an oatmeal raisin stout with spices this year. It's all done and in the keg and it's pretty nice except for two things;

There is a bit too much astringency, I suspect because I soaked cinnamon sticks in vodka for a month and added the vodka to the keg. I suspect this because the astringency is kind of woody, like that you might find in a wood aged beer. Although I also think the skins of the raisins might have added some tannins, they were in the beer for a couple, three weeks.

There is a touch too much tartness, I suspect from the raisins as it's kind of raisiny/grapy/fruity tartness, I don't THINK it's infected but it could be that as well I supose.

So last night I decided to do an experiment, I took a couple tiny grains of calcium chloride and dropped them right in my glass with a couple oz of beer and swirled it around and I think it helped. I think by accentuating the malt a bit more it draws attention away from the flaws a bit while still allowing those flavours that I want to be showcased. I LIKE the tart raisin and the slightly woody cinnamon, just not quite so much.

Finally to the actual question. As a ball park how much Calcium Chloride should I be thinking about adding? I can't imagine I would want more than say 5-10 grams. Is there a convienient way to use bru'n water to figure out some PPM values for the chloride based on post ferment additions? I suspect I could simply by plugging in the volume of beer in the keg and adding the salt until the ppm is where i want it.

I see recommendations for a roughly 2:1 sulfate:chloride ratio for hoppy beer, would I want to reverse this for malty beers? 1:2 sufate:chloride?
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
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Offline mabrungard

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Re: calciuim chloride post ferment
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2012, 12:07:05 pm »
I haven't thought of this before, but maybe there is some merit.  Assuming that the spices added some excess tannins to the beer, it could be possible to chelate those tannins with a dose of calcium ions.  And since you wouldn't want to enhance the drying perception of the beer, sulfate is out.  So calcium chloride could be a valid option to help with this remediation. 

Do explore this effect some more.  It could work.  Your palate is as good as anyone's.  Although, I would suggest that you gather some friends and explore the effect more scientifically by performing blind triangle testing to assess the effect. 

Thanks for sharing!
Martin B
Carmel, IN

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Foam Blowers of Indiana (FBI)

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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: calciuim chloride post ferment
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2012, 01:06:48 pm »
I haven't thought of this before, but maybe there is some merit.  Assuming that the spices added some excess tannins to the beer, it could be possible to chelate those tannins with a dose of calcium ions.  And since you wouldn't want to enhance the drying perception of the beer, sulfate is out.  So calcium chloride could be a valid option to help with this remediation. 

Do explore this effect some more.  It could work.  Your palate is as good as anyone's.  Although, I would suggest that you gather some friends and explore the effect more scientifically by performing blind triangle testing to assess the effect. 

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Martin,

I will try to put something together.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline AnimALE

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Re: calciuim chloride post ferment
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2014, 09:30:17 am »
I know this thread is very old but im curious to know how it turned out adding calcium chloride to finished beer? I have a beer right now that is good but i would like to draw out some of the sweetness a bit..Its just a little too tart which takes away from the malt presence..I figure i will boil a few ml of water with about 1/2 tsp calcium chloride and throw it in the keg hot

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: calciuim chloride post ferment
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2014, 09:42:53 am »
I know this thread is very old but im curious to know how it turned out adding calcium chloride to finished beer? I have a beer right now that is good but i would like to draw out some of the sweetness a bit..Its just a little too tart which takes away from the malt presence..I figure i will boil a few ml of water with about 1/2 tsp calcium chloride and throw it in the keg hot

it helped a little. with this particular beer, in the end, I decided mulling with sugar was the answer and that worked quite well. drank a lot of mulled spiced stout last winter.

I've done it since on other beers and it works to fine tune but it doesn't make a big difference.

Try it on your beer in the glass. it dissolves just fine in beer so you can sprinkle a tiny bit in a pint to test.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline AnimALE

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Re: calciuim chloride post ferment
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2014, 10:08:39 am »
I know this thread is very old but im curious to know how it turned out adding calcium chloride to finished beer? I have a beer right now that is good but i would like to draw out some of the sweetness a bit..Its just a little too tart which takes away from the malt presence..I figure i will boil a few ml of water with about 1/2 tsp calcium chloride and throw it in the keg hot

it helped a little. with this particular beer, in the end, I decided mulling with sugar was the answer and that worked quite well. drank a lot of mulled spiced stout last winter.

I've done it since on other beers and it works to fine tune but it doesn't make a big difference.

Try it on your beer in the glass. it dissolves just fine in beer so you can sprinkle a tiny bit in a pint to test.

good idea rather then adding it to the keg..cheers