more_betterness
Member
I'm going to respectively disagree with both of you (in a nice way of course!)
I was actually targeting a final beer ph of 4.4-4.5
Martin B is a big advocate of keeping the mash ph at 5.4 to brighten hop character. A Kettle PH of 5.3-5.4 tends lend to a better hop utilization and character but the higher end 5.4 or 5.5 in the kettle can contribute to harsher bitterness.
John Kimmich says that he mashes heady topper around 5.4.
Hill Farmstead's Edward is measured with a final beer ph of 4.4.
This link shows highly rated IPAs and their final beer PH.
With 4.4 being the lowest and 4.8 being the highest.
And finally Junkyards post in this thread regarding gordon strong's research and experimentations:
http://discussions.probrewer.com/archive/index.php/t-37666.html
On that list of commercial finished pH levels Edward would be tied for lowest with Deschutes no?
Have yet to actually measure my finished beer pH but have really settled in on a mash pH of 5.3 which leaves me ~5.25 post boil usually.