just joined so forgive me if I’m posting on the wrong thread. I’ll figure out how it works.
my tap water comes out at 28 ppm. That’s all I know, I adjust to 6.5 (try to) I use campden tablets and lemon juice for ph. my beer is inconsistent at times and it’s the only problem I can think of
No need to apologize! Not a water chemistry expert but I can give some simple advice while we're waiting on someone smarter to show up
You mention 28ppm but don't say what it means. Can you let us know what you meant by that number and where you're getting it from? If you have that info it will help.
You also say you adjust your mash to 6.5 and that it comes out of the tap at 7. Are you measuring the ph level of your mash water before adding grains and then adjusting that water? I say this because adding grain to your mash water will almost surely drop the pH from 7 to well below 6.5. Darker grain bills like a stout will drop the pH further than lighter grain bills like a helles or IPA. For example, a simple light helles grain bill drops my mash water from over 8pH to just over 6pH. What you want is for the mash
after grains are added to be around 5.3 or so. So I add acid to the mash to drop it to that range.
If you correct to 6.5 before adding the grains then you might be close to the right range but, again, different malt bills will affect the mash differently. That could be the source of some variation for you. If you're always adding the same amount of lemon juice but your malt bill changes then your pH will be different each time. Looks like
@DBhomebrew and
@mac_1103 are onto the same question here. I think you would have better luck adjusting with either lactic or phosphoric. It will be more consistent and easier to hit your target pH.
I looked up your water report and you have chlorine in your water. The campden tablets you are using should neutralize that, so be sure to keep using those. I can't find much info on the entire water profile, though. If you have that available then sharing would be helpful. Even with the report you should keep in mind that the water coming out of your tap can vary over time. Sometimes the pH might be different, sometimes the chlorine levels spike, etc. That could be impacting you some.
Overall, I would work to get the mash pH in the right range and be sure the chlorine is neutralized. That will help with consistency. You pH doesn't have to be exact but having it in the correct range is helpful. To figure out the pH you need to keep your grain bill in mind, though. It would also be helpful to have additional info about your water. Maybe you can email your water utilities company and ask if they can provide you a detailed water report. The contents of your water can impact the buffering capacity of your mash, which means you might need to add more or less acid to the water to get the pH you want. Knowing your water report and tracking your grain bills will help with that.
Adjusting your water profile will take some learning of new info, but once you understand the basics it's not hard to get it close. And close enough is good enough unless you really want to dive into water profiles in depth (pun very much intended). Look into the Bru'n Water spreadsheet or another tool to help you out. They can be a little intimidating at first but they are very helpful to learn. Here's the link to the site for Bru'n Water.
https://www.brunwater.com/
Balancing the other minerals in your water such as calcium, chloride, sulfate, etc can be the next step if you're interested. If you get a water report then post back and we can give some further advice.
