How important is it to adjust mash pH?

First AG batch tomorrow and my LHBS didn't have the Five Star 5.2 pH Stabilizer. Is adjusting the pH a very important thing to do or will the beer turn out 'wrong'? I hear the word 'astringent' thrown around quite a bit and thats not a good taste for beer (brewing a stout).

I have never used Five Star 5.2 but I have found my efficiency with PM batches improves dramatically if I do an acid rest over night before brew day.

My mash tun is a very basic 20qt SS stock pot, but I run low to mid 80%s brewhouse with an acid rest. I just heat whatever volume for strike water to the top of the acid rest range, 113°F comes to mind, dough in, stir, cover an forget.

By morning all the water is absorbed by the grain but the mash has that acidy flat sour thing going on. It isn't ruined, and it will perk right up after you finish your protein rest(s) and head for carbohydrate rest temps.

I don't really have time to do an acid rest but since we're brewing today. (And I don't want to postpone brew day) Is it worth running down to another brewshop and picking up some 5.2 stabilizer or water treatment of some sort?

If your water tastes good, just use it.

What water are you using? Tap water from your own well would often be high in pH and might benefit from additives like 5.2

If you can go with spring water or even mix some distilled water with tap water, it will help to bring down the pH.

An acid rest doesn't need to be done overnight to be effective - you can do it in just 20 or 30 minutes.

What kind of beer are you brewing? Style of beer can make the water profile more or less important. Generally, darker beers are more forgiving to higher pH. Do you have any pH test strips to check the mash pH ?

I wouldn't just assume you have a PH problem immediately. I think getting the mash temp right is the first order a business for new all grain brewers. If you have efficiency problems or astringency problems, then start learning about the chemistry side.

Yeah, I know I got worried about pH and hardness when I first started AG. Unless you have some really funky water, I'd say don't worry with it immediately. In fact the only thing you might want to buy for your first batch is pH strips. You can just see what your pH is looking like as you're brewing....and if it's getting too low or high, you can then look at what minerals to add in subsequent batches.

I wound up getting some minerals....and occasionally I use them for more ecclectic styles. With most my beers, though, I don't add any minerals. I've noticed that whenever I do test for pH, my mash does seem to already be at optimal range.

I'm using tap water that can come from several places (Southern CA) so I never really know what I'm getting. I'm brewing a stout so I don't think its that big of an issue. I've read that its more important for hoppy beers. I'll give the mash a test today and see what the pH is so I can adjust for future batches if need be.

I'm assuming your talking about Home Brew Mart as your LHBS. I talked with one of the brewers there (Ballast Point), who said they don't add anything to the water. I thjink his exact words were something like "San Diego's water is near perfect for brewing." They just run it through a charcoal house filter and all is good. They sell them there or at home depot. I started using that and never looked back. My efficiency went up and my beers have tasted great. I have never even checked my ph.

My water is so crappy that I have to start with reverse osmosis water. I'm paranoid, so I always try to add salts to match a specific locale's profile. Now I'm wondering if this is even necessary? It would be nice to forget about pH and ions and all that if it doesn't change the taste all that much.

schristian619 said:

I'm assuming your talking about Home Brew Mart as your LHBS. I talked with one of the brewers there (Ballast Point), who said they don't add anything to the water. I thjink his exact words were something like "San Diego's water is near perfect for brewing." They just run it through a charcoal house filter and all is good. They sell them there or at home depot. I started using that and never looked back. My efficiency went up and my beers have tasted great. I have never even checked my ph.

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Niiiiice!! :rockin: A fellow San Diegan! Thanks for the insight. For my first AG batch I had 77.7% efficiency. Not bad I think. All I did was dissolve a campden tablet and dilute my starting water (about 9 gallons) with a gallon of distilled. Thanks for the replies...

That's awesome for you first batch, and will be pretty damn good if you can maintain. Way to go.

Nice job on the great efficiency! I think my first batch was around that, but then got a lot worse on the subsequent batches until i figured out my issues. Now i'm around 80% for big beers and closer to 90% for 1.060 and under. Although my recent IIPA gave me 92%! And this is with not doing anything besides a charcoal filter from home brew mart. Barley Crushers are GREAT!

schristian619 said:

Nice job on the great efficiency! I think my first batch was around that, but then got a lot worse on the subsequent batches until i figured out my issues. Now i'm around 80% for big beers and closer to 90% for 1.060 and under. Although my recent IIPA gave me 92%! And this is with not doing anything besides a charcoal filter from home brew mart. Barley Crushers are GREAT!

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So what were your issues that caused your efficiency to suffer? Seems odd to have your efficiency go down when you are gaining experience. Hopefully you can impart some wisdom to an AG newbie so I don't make the same mistakes.

I started monitoring and correcting pH and I get excellent efficiency. Fly spargers do not get any better efficiency than I do batch sparging. It's cheap and it's easy. I don't know of one good reason not to do it. I guess if your getting 90% efficiency and it tastes good then there is no reason to monitor pH. I'd never just put 5.2 stabilizer in. I've been adding small amounts of phosphoric acid to the sparge watter.

So i just got my city water report (for Escondido)...the pH ranges from 6.9-8.3 but the average is 7.4. Is this too high?

What did your actual mash pH turn out to be ? Did you test it during your brew ?

My efficiency went up the most after I got my barley crusher. But soem thingg I did differently that helped prior to that were not doing a mash out. and using hotter sparge water. I fly sparge and used to follow the softwares direction for mash-out (beersmith) and tempurature and volume of sparge water (beersmith and beer alchemy). I now don't do a mash out and always collect 8-9 gals of 180-185F water to sparge with. Once I hit my pre-boil volume, I stop the sparge, stir, and collect a sample. My first all-grain was Edworts Haus Pale. Then I did larger and more complicated grain bills which I associate with my initial drop in efficiency. But all is good now. If I were you, I would brew a few normal beers (1.060 and under) until I really got the hang of it, then move onto bigger and more complicated beers. Just my .02

XXguy said:

What did your actual mash pH turn out to be ? Did you test it during your brew ?

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I didn't test it...didn't have the tools.

I will next time though!!

Hello fellow Diegan's, I just came across this thread trying to figure out some of my problems.
The water around here as you reported above is in the 7-8 range. I think the optimal PH is 5.2
I use the 5.2 stabilizer, not sure if it does anything as we are so far away from the optimal range.
My wife is not a huge beer drinker, but she always says that our homebrews always taste "heavy". Not like too much alcohol, but a heavy mouthfeel. I think it has to do with our water. now that I have thought about it, if I drink our water straight from the tap, it does taste kind of "heavy".

Do you guys notice this? does the charcoal filter help at all?

I have been diluting my water with about 1/3 distilled and adding salts and what not when necessary. Beers taste great! I use the BeerSmith water profile thingy to help me out sometimes too.

I wouldn't use anything until you do a batch and test the PH of the mash. Why put something in your beer you may not need?

A water profile would help you a lot if you are concerned.