correcting ph

ok well trying to understand the ph balance in AG brewing. I understand that the ph must be set at a certain level. However when you boil the wort the ph will prob go higher. Must you re adjust ph again, and what about the sparging water. Also what would be a good product to use.

PH during the mash is the most important pH. It should be between 5.2-5.7, measured at room temperature. As you boil, the pH should drop. During fermentation the pH will drop more still. You don't really need to worry about the post-boil or the post-ferment pH.

Your sparge water should be under 6.0. I usually add a tiny bit of acid to get the sparge pH in that range.

I use phosphoric acid to lower mash pH. Most of the time you will probably need to lower you mash pH. If I need to raise it (which is hardly ever) I use slaked lime.

Thanks. Do those test stripes work?

Gustavo said:

Thanks. Do those test stripes work?

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No, not really.

What would be the best thing to check the ph

A pH meter is best. The precision test strips from EMD are a lot better than nothing. You won't be able to target a specific pH, but you'll know if it's way out-of-whack. A pH meter is better, but a very cheap pH meter will be as bad as the strips.

For an evaluation of the strips, check this out:
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.ph...st_strips_for_pH_measurements_in_home_brewing

What about that 5.2 stabilizer from starsan? any good?

just curious would the water from the fill stations be any better or just vary like tap water

Gustavo said:

What about that 5.2 stabilizer from starsan? any good?

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When I have used that 5.2 product it seems to work fine on sparge water, but it hardly affects the mash pH at all. I use acidulated malt in the mash for pH adjustment. Works great.

5.2 is junk. It's a sodium phosphate buffer. It's impossible for a phosphate buffer to work correctly in the 5.2-5.7 range. What it does do is add about 100ppm of Na+ when used at the recommended dosage rates, so you will have a salty beer with an out-of-whack pH.

Here's is more thorough discussion on 5.2 if you're interested:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=1125.0