Mashing Methods

I've never done an AG batch and I was looking at some info on water treatment in Palmer's book. I got a water report from my water treatment plant with the different levels of Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity, etc. to estimate my mash pH using the "nomograph" shown here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-3.html

It seems like I might be overly complicating things. What are your recommendations on measuring and correcting pH levels during the mash as far as the use of brewing salts and so forth? How exact of a science is this?

captaineriv

Funny, I was researching the exact same thing last night. I found a copy of my water analysis online and they didn't mention any of the most important factors they referenced (calcium, magnesium, alkaline) bleh. Supposedly our lovely city has some of the worst water in California, maybe they are scared to post that information. I know our water is harder than a coffin nail, so I guess that means we have a lot of calcium. A lot of the beginner guides said not to worry too much about ph and just go for it, see what happens. I've drank more than my fair share of crappy beer and I seriously doubt anything I brew is gonna be worse than Pabst or Natural Ice so I'm just gonna give it a go, all my extract brew has come out mighty tasty, so I'm not gonna sweat it.

Actually, that information wasn't published in my online water quality report either. I had to call them to find it out. They said they only published the "regulated compounds," like toxins, I guess. I think I have relatively soft water. So it might not be the best for brewing stout with no adjustment. I'll probably start the mash, check the pH, and if it's grossly below 5.0, add a half teaspoon of calcium carbonate and see what happens.

captaineriv

i don't mess w/ ph and i all-grain. depending on what i brew, i add water salts to the mash and sparge water. IPA's, ESB's, etc. i wouldn't let testing ph get in your way of going all-grain. something you can tinker w/ as you go.

Yeah, with my water situation, I'm sure I could brew anything gold, amber or brown just fine w/no adjustments, but with the softness of my water, I'm just afraid that all the really dark malts that go into a stout will lower my mash pH out of the effective range altogether. As far as a specific pH, I'm not too concerned. It just seems that the general consensus is 5.0-5.5 for the mash for things to even work right. But I'm sure I can add small amounts of salts, as needed, to get there.

captaineriv

For us cheap, lazy people, 5.2 pH buffer is way to go. Pennies a batch, good efficiency regardless of your starting water and no tannins. Doesn't cost much more than those unreadable strips, either! I use it for mash, sparge & steeping.

david_42, tell me more about this "pH buffer" you speak of. Is that some sort of chemical? If so, how would you go about obtaining it?

captaineriv

Nevermind, you must be referring to the "5.2 Mash Stabilizer" here: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=4836

If it works as well as you say, sounds like the thing for me.

captaineriv