PH 5.2 Buffering Compound

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Grimsawyer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
877
Reaction score
10
Location
Salem, OR
I am going AG as soon as I can afford and find some high temp food grade tubing and parts for an immersion wort chiller. One thing I want to avoid is pulling tannins off of the grain when I sparge. I will be batch sparging until I can get my hands on another keg so I'm sure that I won't have to worry too much about it. But... To be on the safe side I would like to buy some extra insurance against exactly that and I think it's in the form of a PH 5.2 buffering compound. I have heard that when fly sparging you can go a bit higher in temp for higher efficiency and it the tannins will not be extracted. What I would like to know is how much higher a temp could you go, if it's going to effect the performance of the yeast or screw with how much hop flavor or bittering might happen and will it change the flavor of the beer? oh yeah, and where do I get it if it's effect is a positive one? :D I am hoping that someone here has used it and could chime in. Thank you for your time. :)
 
I use it and usually sparge with 190degF water. No tannins to speak of. I just add a teaspoon to the strike water, and another later in the sparge water. I have cheap ph strips, but the water, before I add it to the grain is around 5.3-5.5 i would guess. In the mash it goes down a little.
It will make the water cloudy, but it doesn't make the beer cloudy as well.
 
I've started using it to the tune of about .6 (that's point six) tsp/gallon in both the mash and sparge water. I sparge with 180-185 degrees water and never had any adverse effects.

I must also say that I've had equally good results with a couple of tablespoons of gypsum in the mash and sparge.... much cheaper over time!

I keep telling myself that I'll do a batch with no treatment at all but so far I haven't had the guts.

jp
 
I batch sparge at 190F and have never had a tannin problem or any noticeable change in hop/grain flavors since I started using pH 5.2 My efficiency is about 5 points higher as well.
 
I heat my sparge water to 185. The temperature drops to about 177 when I get it in the HLT, and by the time it gets out of the sparge arm, it has dropped again to about 168 - 170. As I mash out to 168 before sparging I can keep the sparge at a constant temp of 168 - 170 for the full 90 minutes.

When I was experimenting with the temperatures, I once got the sparge a bit over 180 (without acidifying the sparge water), and got noticeable tannins in the brew. On subsequent attempts, I acidified the sparge water, but never got the temp over 175. When I got the temperatures dialled in, I dropped the water treatment with no adverse affects.

-a.
 
david_42 said:
I batch sparge at 190F and have never had a tannin problem or any noticeable change in hop/grain flavors since I started using pH 5.2 My efficiency is about 5 points higher as well.

Would you mind scanning or sending me the label instructions from the 5.2 Buffer? The UPS guy delivered my package and left it in reach of my dog. Needless to say, the package was destroyed and the label from the canister is in his colon somewhere.:mad:
 
"Would you mind scanning or sending me the label instructions from the 5.2 Buffer? The UPS guy delivered my package and left it in reach of my dog. Needless to say, the package was destroyed and the label from the canister is in his colon somewhere."

Have you checked his ph?
__________________
 
Hopfan said:
Would you mind scanning or sending me the label instructions from the 5.2 Buffer? The UPS guy delivered my package and left it in reach of my dog. Needless to say, the package was destroyed and the label from the canister is in his colon somewhere.:mad:
The directions say, "Use one Tbsp per 5 gallons." That's really about it.

I haven't done AG without it, so for me, it's an insurance policy against mash pH problems. I think I'll start using it a bit differently, though. I brew 15 gallon batches and have been adding 3 Tbsp to the mash right away. I think I'll add 2 Tbsp at mash-in for my next batch and add the 3rd Tbsp to the sparge water.
 
I think buffering is more important in the sparge water than in the mash. Unless you have radically bad water, the mash will be close, so you might want to put most of the buffer in the sparge.
 
Hehehe, looks like I'm going to portland!!! Must check out new brew store. Looks huge. Can't wait. :rockin: :rockin: :rockin: :rockin:
 
Yuri, I gave up add ing it to my mash and now just use it for my sparge water.

I have extremely soft water and found that the 5.2 didn't bring my mash down
to the 5.2 to 5.5 range when doing lighter coloured brews. Instead, I have to add
gypsum to get my mash right.
 
Austin Home Brew sells the stuff. I picked up some this afternoon for my next batch of Hefe when I get back from Europe.

I got a cheap PH tester and it works great. It comes in handy on checking if my Star San is still good.
 
For all of us in the Salem, OR area Doug at Homebrew Heaven on 12th street sells the PH 5.2 buffering compound. $4.50 I think. Not 100% on the price, but he has it! Might save someone a long drive to portland, although I still want to go up and check out that homebrew shop up there! :D I mean, I just HAVE to, it's a brew shop. *shrug*
 
Back
Top