pH management

I'm two days into fermentation, and my LHBS doesn't have any calcium carbonate. Is there anything else I can use to keep the pH from dropping too low?

Baking soda will buffer acid......have no idea how much to use

degass. swirl shake it etc. get the co2 out of it.

tweake said:

degass. swirl shake it etc. get the co2 out of it.

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I'd go this route first myself. Have you tested the pH to see if you need to even worry about low pH yet? How is your fermentation moving along? If it aint stuck no reason to try to unstuck it yet.

TheBrewingMedic said:

I'd go this route first myself. Have you tested the pH to see if you need to even worry about low pH yet? How is your fermentation moving along? If it aint stuck no reason to try to unstuck it yet.

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Yeah, most mead doesn't need correction. The best ways to avoid problems with pH are to avoid acid additions until later in the process, and to degas.

Wonder if it's another case of "the guy at the LHBS said I should...."

TheBrewingMedic said:

Wonder if it's another case of "the guy at the LHBS said I should...."

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this statement makes me chuckle because the guy at my lhbs said don't believe everything you read online when it comes to home brewing...lol luckily I just go there for supplies not advice

completelyuncorked said:

this statement makes me chuckle because the guy at my lhbs said don't believe everything you read online when it comes to home brewing...lol luckily I just go there for supplies not advice

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Haha! Too true. I had the same response when I was asking about how to raise my pH. First question had to do with my recipe (though I didn't know why that was relevant to my question), then he went and bashed the internet for bad advise, then proceeded to tell me to use an acid blend (to raise pH?).

Anyways, I ended up writing a whole article on the experience, and hopefully try and make something educational out of it.

http://www.chrisheier.com/homebrew/kicking-off-fermentation-of-mead-and-dealing-with-acidity/

I've been swirling it regularly to let off a bit of CO2- no signs of stressed out yeasties, so I've decided I'm not going to worry about it too much.

So what if you add too much calc carb? Add lemon/lime juice if you don't have acid blend?

Keep in mind that any acids you add will contribute flavour, likewise, if you add more calcium carbonate to offset those acids, you may start to get more chalk flavour. You can do it, but be careful.