Acidify sparge water when batch sparging?

[trapae]

I’m finally jumping into water chemistry after 12 years of Brewing and playing with Bru’n water after getting my tap water report.
On the Sparge acidification tab , It’s telling me to acidify my Sparge water but I’ve read online when batch sparging, some people don’t. Says 26ml of 10% phosphoric acid which should be below taste threshold ( 71ppm phosphate ). My water pH is 8.3 and my starting water alkalinity is 137. I’m just wondering what you all do? Acidify or not for batch sparging? Thanks.

 

[mabrungard]

“Some people” might have very low alkalinity tap water and they don’t need to neutralize their sparging water. Your water does not meet that condition and you’ll definitely benefit from acidification. Alkalinity can leach tannins and silicate out of the grist and they aren’t pleasant tasting.

 

[trapae]

From the source. Thanks

 

[Conehead]

I add my brewing salts to the boil, not the sparge water. However, Bru'n Water says to add .2 ml of lactic acid to my sparge water and that is what I do. This for a 5.5 gallon batch.

 

[logdrum]

Firmly in the acidify sparge water camp. I made a chart of alkalinity vs pH at various titrations and plug the corresponding alkalinity value into Bru'n Water. IOW if I'm making a lager, I'll target pH 5.4 because I know that'll get me around 15-20 ppm. I use 85% phosphoric acid & prefer to rely on the pH measurement rather than a set volume of acid. My starting water is about 115 ppm and pH 7.6.

 

[couchsending]

Ditch the 10% phos. Use lactic or buy some 85% phos.

pH rising at the end of sparge and extracting tannins due to high alkalinity of the sparge water might be the most common fault in craft beer, commercial or home. Once you understand what that astringency feels/tastes like it’s amazing how many beers you’ll pick it up in.

 

[trapae]

What’s wrong with 10% phosphoric acid

 

[couchsending]

You have to add a ton of it and for what it is it’s expensive especially if you’re buying it through the standard Homebrew channels.

You can buy the same amount of 85% phos online for the same price and it’ll last 50x longer.

Same with 88% lactic.

 

[trapae]

You have to add a ton of it and for what it is it’s expensive especially if you’re buying it through the standard Homebrew channels.

You can buy the same amount of 85% phos online for the same price and it’ll last 50x longer.

Same with 88% lactic.

Ok thanks

 

[hout17]

You have to add a ton of it and for what it is it’s expensive especially if you’re buying it through the standard Homebrew channels.

You can buy the same amount of 85% phos online for the same price and it’ll last 50x longer.

Same with 88% lactic.

Also make sure with that concentration that you are handling it safely and make sure you measurements are more precise as you don't have as much room for error as you would with 10%. Those are the reasons I use 10% but to each their own.

Edit: Now you could buy the higher concentration and then dilute it down to 10% saving some money.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Also make sure with that concentration that you are handling it safely and make sure you measurements are more precise as you don't have as much room for error as you would with 10%. Those are the reasons I use 10% but to each their own.

Edit: Now you could buy the higher concentration and then dilute it down to 10% saving some money.

I think diluting some 85% down will be in my future plans. $6 for an 8 oz bottle that lasted for over a year seemed fine and I like it for the same reasons 1) fairly safe and 2) I don't have to measure down to the tenth of a mg. I find myself making more stuff like Saisons lately and with the light colored grain and lower amount of grain, I find I am needing 40+ ml often to get into my mash into the correct range. Plus a buddy picked up around a gallon of 85% off Amazon, so I just need to hit him up to get some.