Mash pH estimation in water calculation

[Brew Cat]

My local brewery let me bounce a bunch of questions off of them when I added the RO water. They add zero chemicals other than acid. Nothing.
They get the pH set, and rock and roll.

Humans have been brewing beer for thousands of years. It’s unlikely we’re going to find a new way to screw it up.

people get way hung up on water less is always better. When Im'doing a profile I concentrate more on the ratio than the high numbers. works for me

 

[Craigerrr]

Well I've used Brewers Friend and BeerSmith water calculators and got similar results also used a Ph meter to check. Those all worked

I use Brewfather, very intuitive, and user friendly, works great for me.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

So does this mean you add some acid to hit your mash pH of 5.6, and then once sparged/lautered/drained you add a bit more acid to hit your boil pH of 5.1?

Yes. The pH of the mash is too high for the boil/pitch. This is because of the enzymes in the mash need a higher pH than the yeast needs at pitch.

Acid additions after mash/sparge are common among professional brewers and some homebrewers. The problem I see with homebrewers is that they focus on the mash and then ignore the pH from that point on in the brewing process. Pitching pH is, in my opinion, is the most important point in the process to nail the pH. German literature on brewing often times points out the same point.

I know a lot of people produce good beer without adjusting pH after the mash, but if you taste a beer with a high pH, it flavor is often described as "flabby". The bitterness can be harsh as well. Lower finishing pH helps with the beer's finish, especially with lighter beers that have a crispy finish. The pH meter just helps to get this right, I use it for every brew.

 

[Craigerrr]

I am that brewer that only considers the mash pH.
Could my beer maybe be a bit better?
Sure, maybe it could, I am more than happy with my results, and get high praise from friends and family who don't pull punches.
For me, it isn't worth the added equipment cost.
That is the beauty of the hobby though. I have full respect for the various depths that Brewers delve down into this rabbit hole.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I am that brewer that only considers the mash pH.
Could my beer maybe be a bit better?
Sure, maybe it could, I am more than happy with my results, and get high praise from friends and family who don't pull punches.
For me, it isn't worth the added equipment cost.
That is the beauty of the hobby though. I have full respect for the various depths that Brewers delve down into this rabbit hole.

Absolutely. Many brewers are happy with their beer, so why change? For me, I was getting inconsistent results and it forced me to dig deeper into science. It led me to what I explained above.

 

[Donoroto]

My local brewery let me bounce a bunch of questions off of them when I added the RO water. They add zero chemicals other than acid. Nothing.
They get the pH set, and rock and roll.

Humans have been brewing beer for thousands of years. It’s unlikely we’re going to find a new way to screw it up.

Don’t underestimate this crowd’s ability to screw things up.

 

[Brewer #422640]

Just a quick update for those who are interested.
I brewed my stout last Thursday, and I think it went quite well in terms of my first time trying to measure pH.
I measured my tap water to be pH 8.1, the same as my water report, then after adding a little gypsum, calcium chloride, and lactic acid it was pH 6.2. Then during my mash I measured every 10mins, letting it cool each time, and got pH 5.5 every time. So I'm quite happy with that.

After draining and sparging with untreated tap water, I measured a pre-boil pH of 5.6, so I added a touch more lactic acid to drop to 5.3 for the boil. Finally, checked again after cooling the wort, just before pitching, and measured pH 5.0 (I assume this is due to evaporation of water during the boil?). So maybe a touch low for the pitching pH, but we shall see. The fermentation is happily underway