I got a tub of the 5.2 mash treatment, for treating the mash water. Does this only need to be used on the inital mash water, or on the sparge water as well? I used on both the first time but I don't see why the sparge would really need to be treated.
5.2 pH treatment
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You really shouldn't use it in either, since people on here have done experiments that showed that 5.2 doesn't actually do what it's supposed to. Plus, it adds a lot of extra sodium to the beer. But, treating sparge water for pH is a good idea. As you continually dilute the grain bed with the sparge water the pH can rise, potentially extracting tanins, especially if the sparge water has alkalinity.
You'll get a lot of varied responses on the use of 5.2. Some love it, others see no point. It depends on your water. I think those who love it, have water that is close, but needs a little tweaking. For those with fairly hard water, this product is not so effective as it would take so much that you would taste it - or you end up adding so little it doesn't perform it's advertised job.
If you want to use it, the mash is the main place to add it. If you batch sparge, you might not need to add it to your sparge water. If you fly sparge, then you might want to add it. Again this will also depend on your water. If it has high pH and alkalinity, then you might see more benefit to using it (in sparge water).
I personally add it to both, but this is simply to use it up. I treat my water to reduce it's high carbonates. This requires me to then go back and drop the pH down to the proper range so I toss in a little 5.2, and then use phosphoric acid to reach my target pH. Again this is simply to use it up. I could simply use the phosphoric acid, and will do so once the 5.2 is used up
If you want to use it, the mash is the main place to add it. If you batch sparge, you might not need to add it to your sparge water. If you fly sparge, then you might want to add it. Again this will also depend on your water. If it has high pH and alkalinity, then you might see more benefit to using it (in sparge water).
I personally add it to both, but this is simply to use it up. I treat my water to reduce it's high carbonates. This requires me to then go back and drop the pH down to the proper range so I toss in a little 5.2, and then use phosphoric acid to reach my target pH. Again this is simply to use it up. I could simply use the phosphoric acid, and will do so once the 5.2 is used up
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