I am adding some minerals to get a specific water profile for the beer that i make. In all guidelines i have read, they add the minerals before the mashing.
But to my knowledge the only important factor during mashing is the PH value. Adding the minerals before mashing, they might be just filtered out during the mash process. Therefore i always add them during boil.
what is the correct way. add minerals to water before mashing or during boil? If before mashing, what purpose do the minerals have?
I agree that the most important thing in the mash is pH to allow efficient conversion. I only add 50 ppm CaCl to the mash for the grains that require mashing primarily for pH and for the cofactors it provides enzymes that convert starch to sugar.
I add any grains that don’t require mashing after the mash is complete and I add any style or flavor minerals (such as gypsum to enhance dryness or more CaCl to enhance fullness) to the boil.
There isn’t one. It’s homebrewing. If it turns out the way you intended and it wasn’t a PITA you did it correctly.
One reason to add at least a little calcium to the mash, regardless of pH considerations, is to precipitate oxalate, which on the cold side leads to beerstone, which is bad.
In our experience, with our local water supply, we never modify the water. Nothing is added. We do filter the tap water with an RO unit, or a countertop filter.
Maybe we are lucky and our water just happens to be perfect for brewing.
For a pale Czech style beer, we use 80% RO water, and 20% filtered tap water.
For a German lager (think Frankfurt - Bitburger) we use 100% filtered tap. Nothing added.
When I build my water from scratch I always build it prior to the mash from RO or distilled. I only make mineral adjustments in the kettle under certain circumstances.
One thing to consider is that mimicking specific water profiles from specific regions is kinda silly and pointless (or, in my opinion it is). You have no idea how exactly that brewer in that region manipulated their water. Build water based on how you want the beer to taste and keep it as simple as possible.
Yes, you are lucky. You have good water for the styles you brew. No single water profile works for every style, though. Historically , brewers made what turned out well with their water.
I only do BIAB so I’m only interested in the water for the mash. I’ve had my water tested, treat it per the Bru’n water spreadsheet and have never had a problem brewing decent beer.