5.2 Mash Stabilizer. Has anyone used this product before? I have been brewing for about a year now doing all-grain brewing and have produced some excellent beers. I have yet to do any water treatments and want to step up my game. I belive that doing some pH tests on my mash would be the next step in producing a better beer. What do you think?
5.2 Mash Stabilizer
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OH NO...ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT 5.2!!!! If you use it, the brewing Nazi's in here are gonna put you in their sites and shoot you down! RUN! RUN!
Okay...jokes over. I use it, really...I do. I use it with every single batch I make. I have NOT sent my water sample in for testing, I do not use R.O. water, and I do NOT try to add different minerals to change my water profile.
WHY? I have a family...and families cost money. Brewing is my hobby, while my family is my passion. Personally, I think I have my chit straight...even if others don't.
I have tried to not use it, and my efficiency numbers dropped off a little bit. So, it (the 5.2)must be doing something. Could I taste any difference? No. Just saw the difference in the numbers is all.
Okay...jokes over. I use it, really...I do. I use it with every single batch I make. I have NOT sent my water sample in for testing, I do not use R.O. water, and I do NOT try to add different minerals to change my water profile.
WHY? I have a family...and families cost money. Brewing is my hobby, while my family is my passion. Personally, I think I have my chit straight...even if others don't.
I have tried to not use it, and my efficiency numbers dropped off a little bit. So, it (the 5.2)must be doing something. Could I taste any difference? No. Just saw the difference in the numbers is all.
I have been tempted to try this stuff. I did the water sample thing and based my chemical additions off that. I only bought lactic acid, gypsum, and calcium chloride. The chemicals are dirt cheap and the water sample wasn't that bad either so I can't say that this is an overly expensive process to treat your water either way, certainly not one that would break the bank.
My only reason for not using it is that I don't understand it. I have an engineering background and was forced against my will to take a lot of chemistry. Knowing that the malt bill plays a HUGE role in pH I don't understand how one chemical could both raise/lower pH. I'm not saying it doesn't work because it must do something if so many people are using it, i'm just saying i'm too dumb to understand it.
So having said all that.... give it a try and see if you like it. You might also want to get your hands on a very general water report from your county, and use those numbers in some software like brewersfriend and see what the calculated pH is before chemical additions. You may find out you don't need to add anything!!!
Good luck to you. I hope the 5.2 bashing you will probably get doesn't scare you off because i'm curious to see how it works for you.
My only reason for not using it is that I don't understand it. I have an engineering background and was forced against my will to take a lot of chemistry. Knowing that the malt bill plays a HUGE role in pH I don't understand how one chemical could both raise/lower pH. I'm not saying it doesn't work because it must do something if so many people are using it, i'm just saying i'm too dumb to understand it.
So having said all that.... give it a try and see if you like it. You might also want to get your hands on a very general water report from your county, and use those numbers in some software like brewersfriend and see what the calculated pH is before chemical additions. You may find out you don't need to add anything!!!
Good luck to you. I hope the 5.2 bashing you will probably get doesn't scare you off because i'm curious to see how it works for you.
sachsebrewer
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I bought it but after reading several articles, decided to not use it. I do correct my water by using lactic acid, Epsom salts, and calcium something??? I would go this route.
5.2 is a phosphate pH buffer. that means its a mixture of two similar chemicals, such as NaH2PO4 and Na2HPO4. Because H+ ions can go back and forth between the two species, it acts to stabilize the overall pH at a certain point. The HPO4-2 ion can act as an acid in alkaline conditions by providing an additional H+ ion into solution, or the same chemical can act as a base in acidic conditions by accepting H+ ions from the solution into it to make H2PO4-. That's what a buffer is, it approaches a pH equilibrium from both directions.
I use it to lock in pH in most of my brews in addition to other water salt additions.
I use it to lock in pH in most of my brews in addition to other water salt additions.
I've used it twice. 1st attempt was on a wheat beer and it locked the PH at 5.3. Thought, hey great it actually works. Next recipe was an IPA. Couldn't get any lower than 5.8. Made a paniced adjustment with Gypsum and finally reached the desired 5.2. Luckily it was an IPA and the higher sulphate levels enhanced the hop bitterness.
Threw out the 5.2, got a Wards Lab water report, Bru'n water, Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Phosphoric Acid and have never had an issue since.
It works if you believe it works and don't have a PH meter. If you want the best beer possible get a water report and PH meter and forget the "snake oil". Not bashing you at all, just giving my experience.
Threw out the 5.2, got a Wards Lab water report, Bru'n water, Gypsum, Calcium Chloride and Phosphoric Acid and have never had an issue since.
It works if you believe it works and don't have a PH meter. If you want the best beer possible get a water report and PH meter and forget the "snake oil". Not bashing you at all, just giving my experience.
Weezy
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That's about it. Do it right or do nothing. Either balance and manage pH by mineral and/or acid additions and pH monitoring during brewing, or don't. If you do, you don't need 5.2 stabilizer to stabilize anything. If you don't, 5.2 isn't going to help anyway because it is not intended to bring your wort to 5.2, it just tries to keep it there.
I will not spend the 12$ on somthing I NOW know I dont need.
I realized that i dont need it very recently when i visited the Weyerbackers brewery in Easton PA this past saturday.
Friday after work i went the my LHBS to get my ingredients for the weekend, now i have alway thought that I was needing water adjustment due to not all that great efficency, so whilst at the store i asked the owner if it was possibly get a single dose of 5.2, to try on brewday, very nice man said sure, let us know what you think.
So that Saturday morning me and my mate took a trip (all of 2 miles) to the brewery, the tour was great and the guild asked how many home brewere there where and where we where from, all the usual questions, then he stated that the water they use to brew with ws 100% Easton tap water, no additives at all, they check there water freqently and in his words "Perfect for brewing", ofcourse this is subject to specific styles.
I did use the 5.2 anyway, absolutly no change in results at all.
I would get as much info on your tap water as possible, if thats what your using, before spending the money. But each to there own.
I realized that i dont need it very recently when i visited the Weyerbackers brewery in Easton PA this past saturday.
Friday after work i went the my LHBS to get my ingredients for the weekend, now i have alway thought that I was needing water adjustment due to not all that great efficency, so whilst at the store i asked the owner if it was possibly get a single dose of 5.2, to try on brewday, very nice man said sure, let us know what you think.
So that Saturday morning me and my mate took a trip (all of 2 miles) to the brewery, the tour was great and the guild asked how many home brewere there where and where we where from, all the usual questions, then he stated that the water they use to brew with ws 100% Easton tap water, no additives at all, they check there water freqently and in his words "Perfect for brewing", ofcourse this is subject to specific styles.
I did use the 5.2 anyway, absolutly no change in results at all.
I would get as much info on your tap water as possible, if thats what your using, before spending the money. But each to there own.
sachsebrewer
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I agree, pitch the 5.2 stuff, I tried it and it doesn't work...
Download the EZ water calculator 3.0.2 spreadsheet, find out the profile of your water being used. Then enter your grain info and it will tell you what you need.
Typically I require: 2.5ml lactic acid, 3g Calcium Chloride, and 2.5g Epsom Salt for my water in the North Dallas area. You can typically pick up all these chemicals at the Homebrew store.
Download the EZ water calculator 3.0.2 spreadsheet, find out the profile of your water being used. Then enter your grain info and it will tell you what you need.
Typically I require: 2.5ml lactic acid, 3g Calcium Chloride, and 2.5g Epsom Salt for my water in the North Dallas area. You can typically pick up all these chemicals at the Homebrew store.
Part of the problem is that is has been misrepresented by a lot of LHBS owners - and perhaps by Five Star themselves, I'm not sure - as a way of getting the pH of your mash to precisely 5.2 automagically. It won't do this, and isn't intended to do so. In fact, it isn't intended for the mash water at all, but for the sparge water, something hardly anyone seems to understand about it.
As stated before, it is a buffer - it is meant to help hold the pH at 5.2 after the water has reached that pH. It won't lower or raise the pH, just stabilize it. As such, it doesn't really accomplish anything except during sparging, because that's when the pH tends to drift.
The real thing is, if you are doing your water chemistry right to begin with, it shouldn't be necessary to stabilize the pH - and if you are getting to the right pH in the first place, then you've done all you need with the water chemistry. The pH of the grain bed only drifts if the sparge water isn't at the desired pH, and then really only if it is significantly above it, say 6.0 or higher. Star 5.2 may help avoid drifting during a long sparge, but that's really it. For the price, the salts and other chemicals to adjust the water correctly are cheaper than the pH buffer is, and more controllable.
As stated before, it is a buffer - it is meant to help hold the pH at 5.2 after the water has reached that pH. It won't lower or raise the pH, just stabilize it. As such, it doesn't really accomplish anything except during sparging, because that's when the pH tends to drift.
The real thing is, if you are doing your water chemistry right to begin with, it shouldn't be necessary to stabilize the pH - and if you are getting to the right pH in the first place, then you've done all you need with the water chemistry. The pH of the grain bed only drifts if the sparge water isn't at the desired pH, and then really only if it is significantly above it, say 6.0 or higher. Star 5.2 may help avoid drifting during a long sparge, but that's really it. For the price, the salts and other chemicals to adjust the water correctly are cheaper than the pH buffer is, and more controllable.
