pH: Acidulated malt vs phosphoric acid

I have acidulated malt, lactic acid, and phosphoric acid, which is best to make mash pH adjustments? I mean, which is most natural, neutral for the taste of beer?

So far I use acidulated malt, but AFAIK it contains lactic acid, I wonder if phosphoric acid may give better results.

No one answered your post and so I was wondering the same thing? I use Five Star 5.2 and make light German lagers and think I will purchase some phosphoric acid and give it a try. I will use test strips to see where the mash is at and see if I need it. If I am already in the right PH range I think it may be counter-productive. I use yeast nutrients with lagers to make sure they hit their final gravity at the low temperatures. I think my water here is fairly good in all respects for brewing beer so I have not had any problems as the beer tastes great if aged long enough.

WBC said:

No one answered your post and so I was wondering the same thing? I use Five Star 5.2 and make light German lagers

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I've heard rumours that 5.2 leaves some mineral flavours.
So far I use phosphoric acid for sparge water acidification ~1 ml/gallon, beer seems to be OK.

Piotr said:

I've heard rumours that 5.2 leaves some mineral flavours. ...

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I've used it for a couple of years now. It doesn't affect the flavor at all, IMO.

I have pretty hard water and use 1ml lactic acid per gallon to acidify my sparge water. I don't think it in itself adds any taste to my beer. Prior to using the acid my beers had some astringency bite.

T-Hops said:

I have pretty hard water and use 1ml lactic acid per gallon to acidify my sparge water. I don't think it in itself adds any taste to my beer. Prior to using the acid my beers had some astringency bite.

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I'm having the problem of an astringency bite. I used lactic acid on my last batch and hope it gets rid of it. I also have high alkalinity and residual alkalinity. I'm going to dilute my water with distilled water on my next batch. Hopefully acid and distilled water will help my problem!

Acid malt is more convenient for the mash. pA for the strike water. I have used lactic for flavor but it was quite subtle

If your water source has much alkalinity, it may be necessary to employ phosphoric acid to avoid adverse taste effects. But, using lactic acid is good if the alkalinity is around 100 ppm or less.

Acid malt can be OK for mashing, but you still need to reduce the alkalinity of your sparging water. Therefore, acid malt is an incomplete alternative. Get yourself a liquid acid and address both problems.