Hi! when i add salts to my mash an HLT i always dissolve all of those in a little jar with hot water but gypsum is always very hard to dissolve. It always forms little rocks and i am afraid that it does not contribute enough sulfate and calcium to the mash…
Do you have a better way to dissolve gypsum?
thanks!
The lower pH of the mash should dissolve the gypsum and other salts better than the high pH of the water. I would recommend adding the salts to the mash, not the HLT.
Gypsum dissolves more readily in cold water.
Somewhere in here or on the main page, or in howtobrew.com chapter 15.
https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge
Rocks? Gypsum is fairly soluble. But I agree that it takes time to fully dissolve. I note that even when you add gypsum to cold beer to check if it benefits from additional sulfate, it takes time. I add my gypsum to my brewing water in the HLT and that too “takes time”.
The ‘Rocks’ thing is quite odd. My gypsum is a fine powder and it never agglomerates into little rocks. Is this a brewing product or something else?
just guessing if i am using the correct gypsum…is there a “food grade” gypsum? i am using the one that is used for construction…
Yes, the food grade stuff apparently is a little finer ground and it probably dissolves a little better. Its still going to be slow…several minutes.
…and, the lower pH of the mash will help dissolve the salts. 
Hopefully not from China!
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