There are many things that people can put into beer. Some are good and some are debatable. Here at Main Street, we tend to be minimalists, and usually do not recommend many of the stranger additives that can go into your brew.
In the world of commercial brewing, there are some very strange chemical compounds that breweries add into beer. The brewing industry has lobbied Congress for many years to continue to be allowed to NOT be forced to put ingredient lists on beer labels (as the food industry has had to) on the (probably accurate) assumption that people would think twice about drinking a beer that has 15 or 20 different chemical compounds added to it.
Homebrewers need not add anything other than the four basic ingredients of Reinheitsgebot (the German Purity Law):
water, barley, hops and yeast.
This is all that is required to make beer. But sometimes adding something to your brew will help to achive a desired effect. Here are some things you may or may not want to put in, and some of my personal notes about them.
| Name | Description | Kev's Opinion |
Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Gypsum (CaSO4) |
This is a water hardening agent that gives beer a dry, bitter edge. It takes away maltiness. Most often used in English style pale ales and IPA's, it can also be used in any beer in which you want to take away sweetness and emphasize bitterness. |
a very benign, safe and acceptable additive. It replicates natural water found in many cities around the world. |
50 cents/1 oz. 80 cents/2 oz. |
Burton Water Salts |
This is a water hardener: a combination of gypsum, Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) and potassium chloride. It adds *much more* hardness, per teaspoon, than does gypsum. Emphasizes bitter qualities of hops, reduces sweet malty flavors. |
a very benign, safe and acceptable additive. It replicates the natural water compounds found in the famous brewing city of Burton-on-Trent |
$1.95/1 oz. |
Calcium Chloride |
This is a water hardening agent and also a salt. It takes away bitterness and adds a sweet malty character. Best used in malty styles, such as ambers, browns, bocks or any other style where you want to suppress bitter qualities. |
Another safe additive, this is naturally found in water in various brewing locations around the world. Use as desired. |
$1.25/2 oz. |
Irish Moss |
This is a clarifying agent: it takes away haziness and cloudiness in beer, producing a more crystal clear beverage. Should be added in the last 45 minutes of the boil, NOT the last 15 minutes as is commonly written. |
It is a seaweed, plant-based, and used in very small amounts. I have used it for many years, and although it is not guaranteed to work in every batch, it usually produces a better clarity. |
$1.25/1 oz. $4.00/4 oz. |
NEW Whirfloc NEW |
These are compressed Irish Moss tablets. You add one of them (per 5 to 10 gallon batch) for the last 5 minutes of the boil. Works better than straight Irish Moss and will almost always produce a crystal clear beer. |
Again, this is plant-based (seaweed) and seems pretty benign. I think it is better than Irish Moss in many ways. |
$2.50/ 10 Tablets |
Isinglass |
This is a clarifying agent made from sturgeon (or cod) bladders. Should be added while the beer is in the secondary or keg, and is most often used in English-style real ales. |
I'm not a big fan of animal-based products in beer, so I tend to not recommend this, but for authentic English real ale, it may be a good option. Here is a wiki article on isinglass. |
$2.95/1 oz. |
Gelatin |
This is a clarifying agent made from pork, cow and horse by-products. It is added while the beer is aging in the secondary, or in the keg. |
With all the mysteries of mad cow disease, and just the fact that gelatin comes from discarded animal parts, does anybody really want clear beer *that* badly? Here is the wiki. |
$2.50/4 oz. |
For a great web page that describes the water quality and mineral compounds of many famous brewing cities, click here.
And for another good page (by Ray Daniels) about water compounds and their effects, click here.
Here is an interesting archived news video from the 60's about a popular brewery in Quebec that added a chemical into their beers for extra head retention and wound up killing people. Remember, droogs: four basic ingredients: that's all you really need.
