Jewrican

Recipes 

back from the dead!!!

Since i cannot reach my salt "goals" based on the calculators to achieve the water profile i would like to do a stout without risking PH being too high, what are your thoughts on using 5.2 stabilizer in conjunction with the salts.

I am looking at:

1.5 grams gypsom
1.8 grams baking soda
1.4 grams calcium chloride
1.8 grams pickling lime

One calc says ph at 5.2. the other says it will be 5.61.

would 5.2 Stabilizer stop me from reaching a higher mash ph? I realize that your recomendation is the just use ca chloride, measure ph and try again next time if needed but i dont have a PH meter just yet. I also feel that without the salts added, my ph will be too low based on both calculators. Could i use 5.2 to stop me from going to high with the addition of these salts?

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JewRican Brew Works

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ResumeMan

Recipes 

To be clear upfront - I am most certainly NOT a water chemistry expert. However I've been reading up on it a lot. (and I must say I have really been enjoying Martin and AJ's ongoing good-natured bickering - y'all are like an old married couple, but with Ph.D's )

Anyhow -

1. I've never used the 5.2 stabilizer, but most everything I've read says it doesn't do what it's supposed to do. I have no idea why -- or if that's even the case. But if you so some searching you'll find more info.

2. There was another suggestion at the beginning of the thread that I'd like to highlight. One way to get rid of your pH concerns for the stout would be to leave the roast grains out of your mash, and blend them in right at the end (or even steep them and add the steepage (?) separately). That would make the grist more like a pale ale malt bill. I haven't done this myself because I, uh, only heard about it a couple days ago. But quite a few folks do it and I can't see anything that would cause a problem.

Just a few things to consider by way of an over-read noob...