Stout brewing doubts

Hi all guys,

I am up to brewing my first stout tomorrow. Everything is more or less clear to me, but still, there are some doubts I would like to consult you.

My first doubt is about water. Namely, i have no data about my tap water. I checked two branded water types, and draw lines in nomograph from palmer's book. First water has estimated base malt mash ph 6.16, and the second has 6.02. I am not sure at the moment which water to use, and would you use this branded water without any adjustments or not?

Many thanks,
nexy_sm

I would use the bottled water without adjustments especially if you're unsure about your tap. It is said if the tap is good enough to drink then it is good enough to brew, but I just prefer to use bottled water for now.

Try adding Gypsum

Yeah, ok, but are these numbers acceptable or not? The other thing is that my tap water is drinkable. Should I be really concerned about ph or not in this case?

Well the question becomes what is your water source?

I have well water and have been doing AG for six months plus, and have had great success with it. I have never had it tested (other than when I bought the house), and never checked the PH.

Now if you have city water, you would probably be better off with bottled, due to the chlorine and other chemicals used to treat it.

Now I'm no water expert, but that's my $.02. I say you have a well and your water is drinkable....Try it.

nexy_sm said:

Yeah, ok, but are these numbers acceptable or not? The other thing is that my tap water is drinkable. Should I be really concerned about ph or not in this case?

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Without knowing the water content, you just don't know what the likely mash pH will be. It's not related to the pH of the water- it's related to the alkalinity of the water. The bicarbonate content of the water is what will mix with the acidic grain and create the mash pH.

Someone else mentioned adding gypsum- don't do it, especially for a stout!

The only issue with tap water may be chlorine or chloramines in your water. If you take steps to remove the chlorine (or chloramines, which don't boil off), then that water is probably fine.

At the moment I can only mash grains and measure PH of the wort with the test paper. If i realize that the value is not acceptable, is there anything i can do ad hoc or not, and can beer be completely ruined? If not, i ll just proceed.

+1 to Yoopers post... If you running your water through a charcoal filter to remove the chloramine then you should be fine if it still tastes good.

Dont worry too much about mash pH especially with a stout. There are enough roasted grains in there to help get you to where you need to be. Really you shouldn't have to worry too much about hitting pH unless you do a super lite beer and are unsure about the buffer capacity of your tap water.

IMO i would try your tap water (filtered of course) otherwise youll never know.

Ok, experiment is about to start.
Wish me luck.
The other doubt is following: My mash tun is a bit smaller, and I need to do beta glucan rest for flaked oats, is it ok to make decoction mashing?

nexy_sm said:

Ok, experiment is about to start.
Wish me luck.
The other doubt is following: My mash tun is a bit smaller, and I need to do beta glucan rest for flaked oats, is it ok to make decoction mashing?

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Skip the beta rest. Just do a single infusion mash when you use flaked oats.

Grain is mashed. It looks like ph is between 6 and 7. Sounds bad

What are you using to measure pH?

Papers from china

did you take care to bust up any dough balls and make sure that all the grain was thoroughly wet?

also stir a bunch after its even mixed just to make sure you hit a consistent temp in your whole mash bed.. you might be getting ph readings off of an area where there is only pale malt.

Make this simple. If your water doesn't have chlorine or chloramine and tastes good to drink, it's good enough to brew this batch. Later you can mess with adjusting your mineral content or pH. This batch doesn't need anything done to it. You also don't need anything but a single infusion for this. No step mashes, no decoction, just get the water to strike temp and add the grains. Make sure you stir well when you add the grains. Burn the pH papers you have that are from China. They won't be accurate enough to do you any good and will only cause you to worry unnecessarily.

RM-MN said:

Make this simple. If your water doesn't have chlorine or chloramine and tastes good to drink, it's good enough to brew this batch. Later you can mess with adjusting your mineral content or pH. This batch doesn't need anything done to it. You also don't need anything but a single infusion for this. No step mashes, no decoction, just get the water to strike temp and add the grains. Make sure you stir well when you add the grains. Burn the pH papers you have that are from China. They won't be accurate enough to do you any good and will only cause you to worry unnecessarily.

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The hard-hitting advice seems rather sage. Do you recommend ever measuring pH? Just curious and maybe the OP can benefit from that knowledge too.

OP, I think overall you're going to make good beer. Not sure about those papers though.

Hello said:

The hard-hitting advice seems rather sage. Do you recommend ever measuring pH? Just curious and maybe the OP can benefit from that knowledge too.

OP, I think overall you're going to make good beer. Not sure about those papers though.

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Yes you should measure pH for some brews, especailly the light colored ones because they don't have the dark grains that tend to pull the pH down as much. You need to watch how you measure the pH though and I'm not so confident about the papers. I bought a pH meter on Ebay that seems to do a really good job and tells me that the mineral content of my water probably needs adjustment. I've compensated by adding an acid blend but at some point I should get a water report to see what my mineral makeup is. It just seemed like the OP was trying to make things waaay to complicated.

Thank u all guys! The airlocks are singing and I'll see in a few weeks is this water ok or not.
Have a nice new years eve!