I brewed a RIS and although young (4 weeks in the bottle) I've been told its alkaline. When mashing dark malts do you adjust your water? Im thinking of using 5.2 stabilizer on the next. I have no issues with other beers.
Mash pH and dark malts.
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I'd be surprised if it was alkaline. A RIS grist is typically fairly acidic due to the roast and other accessory grains. I see that you are in Chicago and their lake water has relatively modest alkalinity. If anything, I suspect that a beer made with that water might end up a little more acidic than desirable.
I could also imagine that overly roasty or tannic could be a descriptor under this situation. A sign of an overly alkaline (high pH) condition would be a dulling of the malt flavor and a coarseness of the hop bitterness and flavor.
I could also imagine that overly roasty or tannic could be a descriptor under this situation. A sign of an overly alkaline (high pH) condition would be a dulling of the malt flavor and a coarseness of the hop bitterness and flavor.
Dark grains will definitely acidify the mash. Something else to do is to add about 2 tsp per 5 gallons of Lactic Acid to your sparge water. Since a lot of grain buffering gets taken away in the first runnings, acidifying the sparge helps.
