Ph water stabiliser

Hi just used a ph water stabiliser on my last few boils.
Does it make a difference ?!?
I use a outside tap

bluphil52 said:

Hi just used a ph water stabiliser on my last few boils.
Does it make a difference ?!?
I use a outside tap

Click to expand...

Well, first of all, we have pretty much established that 5.2 is not a good product. It might work sometimes, might not many other times, and might impart flavors in your beer. There is no magic bullet to water PH and if you really want to target a proper range, you need to start with knowing exactly what is in your water in terms of ions and what your recipe is.

Also, more information would always be helpful when asking your questions. We have no idea what kind of water is in your tap, also knowing if you are an extract brewer or an all grain brewer and what you are brewing will help a lot too.

I have no idea what is in the water- I'm an all grain brewer- brewing IPA ,Porters-British ales etc.

The guy in the brew shop just said to me buy this ph stabiliser ?!?
He doesn't like explaining either
Is there anything else I should be putting in? Or is this stabliser okay?

Should I get a ph tester for water?

See if you can get a water report from your city water department. It may even be available on the city's website. If not, you could send a sample to Ward Labs - many people have done this to get an idea of what they're working with. You can also check out the Brewing Science sub-forum. There's a nice sticky there on basic water adjustments.

Is there something about your beer (an off flavor) that you're trying to eliminate?

Get an analysis from Ward labs. Money well spent. Then use Bru'nwater or another program to adjust your water. It has a little bit of a learning curve but takes the guess work out.

1) you might as well throw the 5.2 stabilizer in the trash like others have said it is useless despite what your lhbs guy told you when he sold it to you...

2) Read read read https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/
And especially read this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

3) get your water tested by ward labs (get the Brewers test kit) https://producers.wardlab.com/BrewersKitOrder.aspx

4)Yes buy a ph meter don't waste your time with the pH color strips either, you should find threads about choosing one in the links provided above. Here's the one I use http://morebeer.com/products/milwaukee-ph-meter-watc.html

5) look into brun water and other calculators but most importantly read about water chemistry until you have a good grasp on it. The brewing water chemistry primer really is a great thread to get you started.

J187 asked a good question.... are you an extract brewer or all grain?

Not sure why you would be adjusting ph during the boil....

I'm a grain brewer
Just that I use outside tap so thought it would be better to use ph stabliser ?!?

pH is a consideration when mashing, but the pH of the water itself is generally not significant (unless it's really odd water). See John Palmer's section on Understanding Mash pH at http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15.html. There is no point in adjusting pH after mash is complete.

+1

5.2 is not the "simple fix" that it (and those who sell it) implies. It does not magically make the pH "go to" 5.2.

pH is absolutely important in your brewing. You cannot consistently brew good all grain beer, across styles, if you do not have the ability to control your mash pH.

The only way to control your mash pH is to know what is in your water to start with. Ward labs is a simple way to find out what you are dealing with in your water. Or, just starting with RO or Distilled water and following the "primer" linked earlier is a simple way to get going in a "general" way.

The other major consideration if you are using tap water is chlorine/chloramine - if this is present in your brewing water you will end up with "bandaid" type off flavors. You have to remove this with carbon filter or campden tablets.

My water ph is 7.27.
So I've been using ph stabiliser before mashing? Will this help the balance?

bluphil52 said:

My water ph is 7.27.
So I've been using ph stabiliser before mashing? Will this help the balance?

Click to expand...

No. As we've been saying, probably not. If you want the mash PH to be in the right range, you'll have to use specific water adjustment.

pH is not as important as the concentration of the ions, or buffering capacity. To illustrate, I use rainwater (tankwater...I don't have mains water supply) with a pH of about 7.5, but is, for brewing purposes, almost pure.

To demonstrate buffering capacity, think of pure water (pH 7.0) and water with lots of salts that also has a pH of 7.0. In theory, a single mL (in fact, a single molecule) of HCl (Hydrochloric acid) added to the pure water will drop the pH to <1, but added to the second water will probably make no difference to pH. Your tap water tells us little about what is in there. Get a water report, then ask for more help.

My own testing with pH 5.2 (very basic and inconclusive) suggests that it might have some benefit in pH control in very hard water, but is next to useless in soft water (it is no good for my rainwater).

I like braukaiser's (braukaiser.com/) water recipes, if starting with RO or similar water.

Here is my water report

Hmmm. I'm no expert with water reports, but from what I can see the Calcium level is the only really useful thing on that one. It looks to be at the lower end of normal which is quite good for brewing (very generally). You need to get a water report that lists carbonate levels and hardness. You might need to discuss this directly with the water authority so that they know what you want and what it's for.