I'm trying to dial in my mashing/lautering, having just got back into brewing. Despite what I think was a good crush and good technique, only about a quart left in the tun, my extract efficiency is low (65% or less)
One of the suspects is the water. We have well water, filtered through 3000 ft. of granite peaks before it reaches my aquifer. It's the best tasting water you ever had, super soft and so acidic (5.9), we had to add an acid neutralizer. I haven't yet found the original water test, but I believe it would come out to be closest to Pilsen water, pre-neutralizer. The neutralizer adds Calcium Carbonate only, AFAIK. Brings hardness up to about 120 or so, and pH up to maybe 7.0. But the other minerals that Palmer talks about are probably almost like distilled water.
Both of the two batches I've done on this system were very light colored grains, mostly two-row with, for example, a little Vienna and/or 10L crystal. The lightest one I just finished last night seemed not as clear after the boil, but that may have been due to using Irish Moss instead of Whirlfloc.
Could my water be affecting mash pH and thus efficiency? I'd originally thought the lowish pH [edit - water profile] would be advantageous for light brews, but the hardness is up there and I got higher efficiencies (I think) with darker partial mashes. I'm thinking I might buy some pH 5.2 stabilizer and see if that helps. Thoughts?
One of the suspects is the water. We have well water, filtered through 3000 ft. of granite peaks before it reaches my aquifer. It's the best tasting water you ever had, super soft and so acidic (5.9), we had to add an acid neutralizer. I haven't yet found the original water test, but I believe it would come out to be closest to Pilsen water, pre-neutralizer. The neutralizer adds Calcium Carbonate only, AFAIK. Brings hardness up to about 120 or so, and pH up to maybe 7.0. But the other minerals that Palmer talks about are probably almost like distilled water.
Both of the two batches I've done on this system were very light colored grains, mostly two-row with, for example, a little Vienna and/or 10L crystal. The lightest one I just finished last night seemed not as clear after the boil, but that may have been due to using Irish Moss instead of Whirlfloc.
Could my water be affecting mash pH and thus efficiency? I'd originally thought the lowish pH [edit - water profile] would be advantageous for light brews, but the hardness is up there and I got higher efficiencies (I think) with darker partial mashes. I'm thinking I might buy some pH 5.2 stabilizer and see if that helps. Thoughts?