water salts - available locally?

[Kyle]

For those that do water chemistry adjustments, is there a good local source of gypsum and other salts?

[Richard]

Not that I've found... I'd be interesting in finding a decent supplier for epsom/gypsym. Seems like something that should be readily available in bulk quantities.

[HappyHax0r]

Cant you get epsom salts at just about any drug store?

[Richard]

Aye, they're meant for adding to baths - I'm not sure if they'd be food grade.

[HappyHax0r]

o.O is that the same thing as bath salts?

[Kyle]

no... "bath salts" is just a pseudonym for a very nasty sounding drug. Epsom bath salts, are, well, salts. The type of salt matters though, just dumping in a bunch of epsom would be very easy, but its the gypsum specifically that I want to add to bring out the crisp, focused hop bitterness.

[Richard]

I've been using both epsom and gypsum with the pales lately, as gypsum alone can get quite sharp... and yeah, they're bath salts but you won't eat someone's face because of them

[fakr]

ontariobeerkegs.com have water additives, and at a good price.

[jeffsmith]

If you have a need for Calcium Chloride you can find Pickle Crisp at Superstore or Canadian Tire usually. In the preserves section with the Mason jars.

[Kyle]

cool.

Also, regarding gypsum, I have 2 extra sheets of drywall, but the whole "food-grade" thing tells me not to crumble a corner and add it to the kettle...

[Chris Craig]

[pliny]

cool.

Also, regarding gypsum, I have 2 extra sheets of drywall, but the whole "food-grade" thing tells me not to crumble a corner and add it to the kettle...

Kyle, while you're at it, just collect some road salt sometime this week for Calcium Chloride.  

[brew]

For raising PH, sodium cabonate (not bi-carbonate - this stuff is much stronger) is available at the pool and spa shop (there are two downtown). They all have this in raw form, but you do need to check the ingredient list. I have had good luck on eBay for potassium carbonate (pot ash) - its a better ph "upper" if you dont want the sodium, and yeast like potassium. A lot of eBay distributors sell it for soap making... I have also ordered in 1KG bags of Calcium Carbonate from Wine Kitz - fairly reasonable price, but takes a week or two.

[sdixon]

What products are you guys using for the following speciic adjustments?

Alkalinity (CO3/HCO3) - Baking Soda (NaCO3 ?)
Sulfate (SO4) - Epsom Salts (MgSO4 ?)
Calcium (Ca) - Where would you find Calcium Chloride (CaCl)??
Magnesium (Mg) - Epsom Salts (MgSO4 ?)

[Richard]

Yes - there's a good spreadsheet for it, although I've only used Epsom and Gypsum (and also a blend of the two - Burton salts, but I'm not entirely keen on losing more control there).