Automatic salt additions calculator

[oliver]

I think Brewfather has this feature if I remember, and you can tell it which salts you want it to use so it doesn't end up adding magnesium chloride or something.

 

[Herm brews]

At first, I found the calculator on this site quite intimidating. After I played with it a bit, and learned what to expect from an addition of salt, then it started to make sense. Since I started adding salts, it has become an integral part of my recipe building process. It just takes a little time, adding some of this, maybe subtracting a little, just trying to get in the ballpark. The goal is not to perfectly match a profile, but to get as close as is possible. And keep an eye on the projected mash pH. As @Yooper said, you don’t want additions to cancel each other, so baking soda and acid should not be in the same recipe.

 

[Meaulnes]

Well, you can definitely screw it up by hand too! But you are "smarter" than the auto calculator, which has a set of data points to match, which can be unobtainable. By just doing a tiny bit of thinking (why am I adding alkalinity and then acid to neutralize that?), and a tiny bit of reading on the subject, a brewer can make great decisions for brewing water, far better than any autocalculator can.

Really, think of those additions as seasonings- after all they are salts. Just like when you make spaghetti sauce, you can make it without any seasoning at all (like using distilled water in brewing). It won't be bad, just bland maybe. But adding a little onion, garlic, salt, you can get a great sauce. Consider that as using reverse osmosis or distilled water, with a few additions like calcium chloride and gypsum.
The additions aren't magic- but they can and do have a flavor impact, although subtle in small amounts. They can also affect the mash pH.

For some simple explanations of what these salts do (and don't do), we have a three part article on Brewing Water for Beginners that you may find helpful:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-1/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/19/brewing-water-basics-part-2/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2018/02/13/brewing-water-basics-putting-it-all-together/

I'm not totally opposed to adding an auto help calculator to Brewer's Friend, as long as it's one that actually works. Too many newer brewers rely on unrealistic calculations and the beer is not better for it. Most often, "less is more" works for all beers. For special cases, like a big IPA where you want a super firm bitterness, more sulfate is a great idea. But really, I can only think of a couple cases where large additions to RO water make that much of a difference in the final beer.

Thank you for this additional information. I am not expert enough to maintain the contradiction any longer and I rather tend to find what you say founded and reasoned.

After all, from what I have read elsewhere (Palmer and others) the water profiles are in general quite wide ranges of values and a manual approach (with a little practice) is ultimately less scarier than I first thought.

I promise to look at the links you gave me.
Thanks again for your time.