CadiBrewer
Well-Known Member
I brewed a mild ale yesterday and had a totally unexpected result on my pH. The grain bill was:
8 lb 9 oz Maris Otter
2 lb 10.3 oz Crystal 60
10.6 oz Chocolate malt
10 gallon batch size with expected OG of 1.037. Mashed at 1.4 qts. per lb.
In DI water, Bru'n water predicted a pH of 5.1 with no additions. I did a 1 lb. test mash in 1.4 quarts of DI water and came up with 5.09 pH. I was pretty confident at this point.
So I built up water using the mild ale profile in Bru'n Water and used this:
Reaper's Dark Mild
Starting Profile ppm
Ca 0
Mg 0
Na 0
SO4 0
Cl 0
HCO3 1
Finished Profile ppm
Ca 87
Mg 3
Na 21
SO4 40
Cl 58
HCO3 183
Hardness 227 (ppm as CaCO3)
Alkalinity 151 (ppm as CaCO3)
RA 88
SO4/Cl 0.69
Batch Volume 10.00 Gallons
Total Mash 4.21 Gallons
Mash Dilution 4.21 Gallons
Total Sparge 10.13 Gallons
Sparge Dilution 10.13 Gallons
Mineral Additions Mash (g) Sparge (g)
Gypsum . 0.8 2.0
Epsom Salt 0.4 1.0
Canning Salt 0.8 2.0
Baking Soda 0.0
Calcium Chloride 0.8 2.0
Chalk . 0.0
Pickling Lime 1.8
Mag Chloride 0.0 0.0
Bru'n Water predicted 5.41 pH using these additions. I checked the pH at 5 minutes into my mash and got a reading of 5.09. Because of the wild difference, I didn't panic and figured I had something wrong with my measurement. I recalibrated the meter and checked the mash again at 15 minutes. It was 5.11. I checked the meter against the 4.01 solution and it read 4.02. I'm new to this, but I'm fairly confident in my testing procedure, so I don't think it was a meter problem. At 60 minutes, the mash measured 5.13.
So I figure something must have been wrong with my additions. What could I have done to have an actual reading this far off from what I was hoping for? Did I mis-measure one of my brewing salts?
Probably not coincidentally, I undershot my expected gravity by 4 points (1.033 instead of 1.037), which wouldn't be a big deal if my beer were a high gravity beer, but with this style, 4 points is a lot. I always either overshoot or hit my numbers dead on. I'm guessing that the low pH affected my efficiency.
8 lb 9 oz Maris Otter
2 lb 10.3 oz Crystal 60
10.6 oz Chocolate malt
10 gallon batch size with expected OG of 1.037. Mashed at 1.4 qts. per lb.
In DI water, Bru'n water predicted a pH of 5.1 with no additions. I did a 1 lb. test mash in 1.4 quarts of DI water and came up with 5.09 pH. I was pretty confident at this point.
So I built up water using the mild ale profile in Bru'n Water and used this:
Reaper's Dark Mild
Starting Profile ppm
Ca 0
Mg 0
Na 0
SO4 0
Cl 0
HCO3 1
Finished Profile ppm
Ca 87
Mg 3
Na 21
SO4 40
Cl 58
HCO3 183
Hardness 227 (ppm as CaCO3)
Alkalinity 151 (ppm as CaCO3)
RA 88
SO4/Cl 0.69
Batch Volume 10.00 Gallons
Total Mash 4.21 Gallons
Mash Dilution 4.21 Gallons
Total Sparge 10.13 Gallons
Sparge Dilution 10.13 Gallons
Mineral Additions Mash (g) Sparge (g)
Gypsum . 0.8 2.0
Epsom Salt 0.4 1.0
Canning Salt 0.8 2.0
Baking Soda 0.0
Calcium Chloride 0.8 2.0
Chalk . 0.0
Pickling Lime 1.8
Mag Chloride 0.0 0.0
Bru'n Water predicted 5.41 pH using these additions. I checked the pH at 5 minutes into my mash and got a reading of 5.09. Because of the wild difference, I didn't panic and figured I had something wrong with my measurement. I recalibrated the meter and checked the mash again at 15 minutes. It was 5.11. I checked the meter against the 4.01 solution and it read 4.02. I'm new to this, but I'm fairly confident in my testing procedure, so I don't think it was a meter problem. At 60 minutes, the mash measured 5.13.
So I figure something must have been wrong with my additions. What could I have done to have an actual reading this far off from what I was hoping for? Did I mis-measure one of my brewing salts?
Probably not coincidentally, I undershot my expected gravity by 4 points (1.033 instead of 1.037), which wouldn't be a big deal if my beer were a high gravity beer, but with this style, 4 points is a lot. I always either overshoot or hit my numbers dead on. I'm guessing that the low pH affected my efficiency.