Let's talk about treating water

[ClemTiger0408]

This Beersmith blog entry today left me kind of frustrated. Brad writes about how adjusting for pH is different when using BIAB but never really explains why it is any different.

I use Bru'n Water for my water adjustments. I ignore the Sparge Acidification tab and use the Water Adjustment and Mash Acidification tabs. On the former, I put my full mash volume and keep Sparge at 0. At this point everything is calculated for me.

I feel like the Beersmith article was trying to convince the reader that it was somehow more complicated to treat for pH using BIAB. Unless I'm just totally missing something, it isn't. Except instead of using like 3-4 gallons of water to mash, I use closer to 8. So in general, all my water adjustments are doubled.

 

[robfar]

It looks like he is assuming that the reader has alkaline water and doesn't do much water treatment. The treatment level will be higher with high water to grain ratios, like BIAB. You are already dealing with it. A pH meter would be a good addition.

 

[wobdee]

That's pretty much what I do with my Brewers Friend water calculator for my BIAB batches. My PH has been pretty much dead on with my meter.

 

[tagz]

Yeah pretty weak article. You are doing it the right way so far as I can tell.

 

[cooper]

What has helped me out the most is to treat all of my water (with lactic acid) prior to adding grains down to a PH of 5.5 just to make sure. (picked up that little tip from a podcast I heard with Gordon Strong). I also make sure to take another reading about 15 minutes into the mash so I can make any final adjustments.