So I was in a hurry trying finish my beer and I forgot to add the gypsum, calcium chloride, and phosphoric acid to the sparge water. I did however add to the mash. I am boiling now is there anything I can do? Or should I just wait and see how it turns out?
forgot to treat sparge water
- Thread starter BWN
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Since those additions are for flavor, you can add them to the boil kettle.
even the phosphoric acid?
stpug
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Generally speaking, when batch sparging:
-Additions to mash (salts, acids)
-Additions to sparge (maybe acid or maybe nothing)
-Additions to boil kettle (salts)
Generally speaking, when fly sparging:
-Additions to mash (salts, acids)
-Additions to sparge (acids)
-Additions to boil kettle (salts)
"Sparge" salt additions are generally better served directly in the BK. Sparge acid additions are mostly only needed in fly sparging since you run a much higher risk of pH raising than you do when batch sparging, thus the reason why you may want to simply forgo any acid additions to the sparge when batch sparging.
-Additions to mash (salts, acids)
-Additions to sparge (maybe acid or maybe nothing)
-Additions to boil kettle (salts)
Generally speaking, when fly sparging:
-Additions to mash (salts, acids)
-Additions to sparge (acids)
-Additions to boil kettle (salts)
"Sparge" salt additions are generally better served directly in the BK. Sparge acid additions are mostly only needed in fly sparging since you run a much higher risk of pH raising than you do when batch sparging, thus the reason why you may want to simply forgo any acid additions to the sparge when batch sparging.
Since that is either to drop the pH of the mash, or the pH of the sparge water, no. You wouldn't add acid to the boil kettle.
You typically acidify your sparge water? If you do, and you didn't this time, there could be some pH issues (ie tannin extraction or flavor impact) by not doing so if you need to.
I use bru'n water and usually just go by the recommendations on the spreadsheet. I ended up just adding the calcium chloride and gypsum to the boil. Just have to wait and see what happens. Thanks everyone for the responses.
People do add acid to the kettle in order to lower kettle pH. I would consider this an advanced technique and would not advise doing it unless you have
1) An desired pH in mind
2) A pH meter to check that you have hit the pH you want.
1) An desired pH in mind
2) A pH meter to check that you have hit the pH you want.
The minerals are fine for adding in the kettle. Missing the acid addition for the sparging water could be a big problem if the tap water has high alkalinity. Then tannin extraction might be a problem.
If the tap water has low alkalinity, then don't worry too much about the acid addition unless this beer is intended to be a tarter, crisper style.
If the tap water has low alkalinity, then don't worry too much about the acid addition unless this beer is intended to be a tarter, crisper style.
wefdog said:
The question is whether you could be making better beer and that does depend both on the mineral content of the available water and the styles of beer being brewed. Also, salt addition isn't the whole of water treatment. Ion removal is often as or more important and an addition of acid in some form improves most beers.
BigRapidsBrewingCompany
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Repost from another thread:
"The pH of 5.2-ish and temp of 149-152F is extremely important during mashing because it is the optimal pH of the enzymatic process of breaking starches down into sugars by Beta-Amylase and Alpha-Amylase. If the pH is too low the protein (enzyme) can be denatured (essentially killed) and is not functional. It is good practice to add a pH stabilizer to the mash so the enzyme can function properly. pH's that are outside of the 5-5.4 range can reduce the rate of the enzymatic process and cause you to have to mash for a longer time. pH isn't as important during the boil because there are no enzymes that are alive anymore. Once you sparge with you 170F water, the enzymes are all killed to stop the process of breaking the starches down. The pH then becomes important again during fermentation. The yeast requires a specific pH to ferment the sugars properly but if you have it stabilized during the mash, you usually won't have any problems during fermentation.
-Spencer"
"The pH of 5.2-ish and temp of 149-152F is extremely important during mashing because it is the optimal pH of the enzymatic process of breaking starches down into sugars by Beta-Amylase and Alpha-Amylase. If the pH is too low the protein (enzyme) can be denatured (essentially killed) and is not functional. It is good practice to add a pH stabilizer to the mash so the enzyme can function properly. pH's that are outside of the 5-5.4 range can reduce the rate of the enzymatic process and cause you to have to mash for a longer time. pH isn't as important during the boil because there are no enzymes that are alive anymore. Once you sparge with you 170F water, the enzymes are all killed to stop the process of breaking the starches down. The pH then becomes important again during fermentation. The yeast requires a specific pH to ferment the sugars properly but if you have it stabilized during the mash, you usually won't have any problems during fermentation.
-Spencer"
pH is important in the kettle as it influences coagulation of protein and hops utilization.
pH is important to fermentation success to the extent that the yeast themselves control it. Thus while you should not overly stress the control loop you don't have to worry too much about fermenter pH. You should check it though as a good drop is an early and sure sign of a healthy fermentation.
pH is important to fermentation success to the extent that the yeast themselves control it. Thus while you should not overly stress the control loop you don't have to worry too much about fermenter pH. You should check it though as a good drop is an early and sure sign of a healthy fermentation.
