Adding water salts to the boil

[river water brewing]

Hello, so in my research about adding water salts i have read that the salts that would be added to the sparge water should be added to the boil kettle due to the fact that these salts do not have the enzymes in the water or the time necessary to break them down into the water so most of the salts would be left behind if added to the sparge water.

That being said, how do most of you add these salts to the boil? do you add them to the kettle during the sparging process while the temp is in the mid to high 100's or do you wait till the water is at a full boil, and if you wait for the water to boil do you add the salts at the beginning of the boil or the end?

I did this the first time on a recent batch and added the salts after the water started to boil. it made a big fizzel when i added them, did this cause evaporation of these salts? did i lose any of the benefits of the salts because of this?

Just wondering...... thanks for the time!!!

[slothrob]

I don't add salts to the boil, but I know John Palmer recommends it. I have always assumed they add them at the start of the boil. I can't think of any specific reason it would matter, you're just looking for the low pH of the wort to get the salt into solution, but it seems this would most closely resemble having water salts that are naturally in the brewing water throughout the process.

I do something different, and probably a little screwy, to get around this problem: I add all the salts at the beginning of the mash. I calculate my water salt additions based on my entire brewing water volume using the BTP Water Calculator. Then I decrease the water component to the strike volume, without changing the salt amounts. I then tweak the numbers, if needed, to correct the RA value, making sure I don't throw off the Ca++, SO4--,CL- and Na+ values. I've been happy with the results, despite the fact that mineral balance is a complex subject that I can't claim to have mastered.

[jawbox]

I add salts directly to the mash for the strike water volume. Then add the remaining salts required for the sparge water directly to the kettle.