Acid (sauer) Malt

[Tobor_8thMan]

Most published recipes are for 5 gallons.

I brew with a final volume of 10 gallons.

Simple to scale the recipes.

If the 5 gallon recipe calls for, for example, 8 ounces of sauer malt, do I scale to 1 pound of sauer malt in my setup? (ignoring brewhouse efficiencies).

I did something similar when I brewed a Pils and the Pils seems very acidic to me.

Any thoughts/input/suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[VikeMan]

Unless a recipe also specifies a particular water profile, it really shouldn't specify any particular amount of acid malt. The only purpose of acid malt is to reduce mash pH, and the amount needed to hit any particular target depends (in part) on the alkalinity and hardness (Ca/Mg) of the water.

If it were me, I'd ignore the amount specified by the recipe and use one of the mash pH calculators to determine the amount. Or better yet, use lactic acid instead (per a calculator). Its acidity is less variable than acid malt's acidity.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Nearly all of the German/Bavarian recipes call for sauer malt.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Some recipes may call for acidulated malt (sauermalz) to impart a twang (flavor) such as to replicate the flavor profile of Guinness which has some spoiled beer added to it. What are you brewing, what is the recipe?

Typically, acid malt is used to lower PH during the mash as Vikeman pointed out. The rule of thumb for for Weyerman acidulated malt is that it will lower PH by .1 for every 1% of the recipe. I use it all the time as it is very easy to incorporate into a recipe and brew day. As the acidity may vary by maltster batch and between maltsters it is not perfect, but it seems to work well for many. German brewers who follow Reinheitsgebot, cannot use lactic acid to lower mash ph so they use acidulated malt which does the same thing. 4% is the recommended usage taste threshold.

If you water profile matches the recipes then doubling the quantity may be appropriate. That said, acid malt is powerful stuff so I would not trust anyone's recipe. Instead, I would us a brewing water tool to evaluate the ph without the acid malt then adjust as directed by the tool.

 

[Kickass]

The point is that it’s used mostly to adjust water profiles (purity law stuff and probably tradition, maybe for flavor or gestalt) and should be used based on your specific water profile. This is no different than blindly adding, say 15ml’s of lactic acid to a mash. For this reason, it’s hard for someone without knowledge of your water to help answer your question.

If you post your water profile and grain bill, the water nerds (affectionately said) would probably answer your question and drop knowledge bombs.