Calcium Chloride – Brewing Water Treatment – 2 oz

Calcium Chloride is a common brewing water additive used to increase calcium and chloride levels in brewing water. Chloride helps enhance the perception of malt character, fullness, and mouthfeel, making calcium chloride especially useful for malt-forward beers as well as modern hazy and juicy styles where a softer, rounder flavor profile is desired.

Water Profile & Brewing Character

Adding calcium chloride allows brewers to adjust brewing water chemistry to better match the desired flavor balance of a beer. The chloride contribution can emphasize malt sweetness, body, and fullness, while calcium supports several important brewing processes including mash performance, yeast health, protein precipitation, and beer clarification.

Calcium chloride is commonly used in conjunction with gypsum to control the balance between chloride and sulfate. Higher chloride levels generally favor a fuller, smoother malt presentation, while higher sulfate levels tend to emphasize hop bitterness and dryness.

Use & Pairings

Calcium chloride can be used across a wide range of beer styles and is particularly useful when building water profiles for beers where malt character, body, or a softer mouthfeel are desired.

• Hazy IPA and New England IPA
• Pale Ale
• Brown Ale
• Porter
• Stout
• Scottish Ale
• English Bitter
• Amber and Red Ale
• Belgian Ale
• Many malt-forward lager styles

How to Use

Calcium chloride may be added to mash water, sparge water, or the total brewing liquor depending on your water treatment method. The correct amount depends on the mineral content of your starting water and the target water profile for the beer being brewed.

For best results, begin with a current water report or reverse osmosis water profile and use a brewing water calculator to determine the appropriate addition. Small adjustments can significantly change the mineral composition of brewing water, so accurate measurement with a gram scale is recommended.

Specs

• Package size – 2 oz
• Brewing water mineral additive
• Primary ions contributed – calcium and chloride
• Helps increase chloride concentration in brewing water
• Can enhance malt character, fullness, and mouthfeel
• Calcium can support mash performance and yeast health
• Suitable for mash and brewing water adjustment
• Use according to your starting water profile and desired brewing targets

Brew Tips

• Use a brewing water calculator rather than adding brewing salts by guesswork.
• Measure additions with a scale capable of accurately weighing small quantities.
• Consider both chloride and sulfate levels when designing your water profile.
• For softer, fuller beers, brewers often favor chloride relative to sulfate.
• For hop-forward beers with a sharper, drier bitterness, gypsum may be used along with calcium chloride to adjust the sulfate-to-chloride balance.
• When using reverse osmosis or distilled water, calcium chloride can help rebuild the mineral profile needed for brewing.
• Store tightly sealed in a cool, dry location. Calcium chloride readily absorbs moisture from the air.