Salts Calculator

This page provides a calculator for estimating the amount of calcium sulfate and calcium chloride that should be added to the mash or brewing liquor (water), based on volume of water, the desired ratio of sulfate to chloride ions, the target concentration of calcium ions, ion concentrations in the unadjusted water, and recommended limits of each ion. The conversion from grams to teaspoons is based on my blog post "numbers".

An output concentration in red indicates that (a) the calcium ion has not reached its target concentration, (b) the sulfate-chloride ratio can't be attained, or (c) an ion has reached its maximium concentration with the specified amount of salt. If this happens, you can accept the suggested compromise, or you can change the target concentration for calcium, the sulfate-to-chloride ratio, the limit for sulfate and/or the limit for chloride.

General Parameters:

Input Units:	metric or U.S. customary (e.g. gallons, ounces)
Output Units:	teaspoons or grams
Water Volume:	XX
Calcium Chloride:	anhydrous (CaCl2)   or   dihydrate (CaCl2·2H2O)

Sulfate-to-Chloride Ratio:

parts SO4-2   to

parts Cl−

Current, Target, and Maximum Concentrations:

Calcium (Ca+2):	current =	ppm,	target =	ppm
Sulfate (SO4−2):	current =	ppm,	maximum =	ppm
Chloride (Cl−):	current =	ppm,	maximum =	ppm

Results:

Calcium Sulfate (Dihydrate) (CaSO4·2H2O):

xxx tsp yields yyy ppm of Ca+2 and zzz ppm of SO4−2

Calcium Chloride Anhydrous (CaCl2):

xxx tsp yields yyy ppm of Ca+2 and zzz ppm of Cl−

Total Ion Concentration:

Ca+2 = xxx ppm SO4−2 = yyy ppm Cl− = zzz ppm

Ion Targets and Limits:

• The recommended amount of calcium for brewing is 50 to 150 ppm (Palmer and Kaminski, Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers, p. 45). The authors state that "beer can be successfully brewed with more or less calcium than this suggested range," but that a concentration exceeding 250 ppm can impair fermentation performance (ibid., p. 45).
• The recommended limit for the sulfate ion in brewing is 250 ppm (Palmer and Kaminski, p. 43). The authors note that "at concentrations over 400 ppm ... the resulting bitterness can become astringent and unpleasant." (ibid., p. 43).
• The recommended limit for the chloride ion in brewing is 100 ppm (Palmer and Kaminski, p. 42). The authors note that "levels greater than 250 ppm in most beers tastes pasty or salty. Levels greater than 300 ppm are said to affect yeast health" (ibid., p. 42). Because of (a) the large difference between 100 ppm and 250 ppm and (b) my own positive experience when using more than 100 ppm, the default maximum in this calculator is set at 175 ppm.