Is Acidulated Malt % based on total grist or only base malts????

[CorporateHippie]

^^^ Just like it says ^^^
when using a water chemistry calculator and adding in a percentage of Acidulated Malts, is this based on total grist or only base malts? What about using oats, rye, or splet???

I have a pale ale coming up next week that will use
11 lbs of 2-row
1 lbs of carapils
1.5 lbs of golden naked oats

So if I want 2% Acidulated malt to bring my PH to exactly 5.4... do I use 2% of 11 lbs, or 13.5 lbs???

 

[Yooper]

The percentages are for all grains. So, it might be 8% crystal malt, 91% base malt, and 1% acidulated malt as an example.

 

[CorporateHippie]

The percentages are for all grains. So, it might be 8% crystal malt, 91% base malt, and 1% acidulated malt as an example.

Thanx Yooper, I was hoping you would chime in and give me a clear answer.

 

[ajdelange]

So if I want 2% Acidulated malt to bring my PH to exactly 5.4... do I use 2% of 11 lbs, or 13.5 lbs???

Actually it is 2% of 13.5/0.98 as 13.5 lbs is 98% of the grist. But as this is a rule of thumb just taking 2% of 13.5 would be close enough. Also, because it is a rule of thumb, you cannot count on it bringing your pH or exactly 5.4 especially given the inaccuracies inherent in trying to estimate mash pH.

 

[CorporateHippie]

Well, yeah I understand that there are inaccuracies. I have my water report, diluted it with RO, and have made salt additions. I have now hit my targeted water profile for my next brew. The water calculater tells me though that after all of this, "adding 2% acidulated malt" brings my PH down to 5.4 which is EXACTLY why I wanted for this recipe. So I am very excited to have found the right "water recipe" after spending the last two weeks pouring over books, literature, blogs, forums, ect. Water is definitely a tough cookie.