I'll be trying my first BIAB partial-mash in a the coming weeks. The grain bill for the recipe (a clone of Lake Placid's Honey Rye) looks like this:
2.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 23.01 % (late addition in boil)
2.63 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 30.26 %
1.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 17.26 %
0.75 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.63 %
1.56 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 17.95 % (late addition in boil)
As you can see, especially since this is a mini-mash, the amount of rye in the grain bill is large. I have read this article which states that rye will increase the pH of the mash, and warrants control. The article seems to get a lot of reference, but I haven't been able to find ballpark numbers on how much the pH gets raised per pound of grain. The water chemistry primer sticky suggests using sauermalz (acid malt) as a traditional way to keep mash pH down. Probably in the interest of keeping the primer simple (rightly so), it doesn't make any mention of how much to use if counteracting rye's effects. My use of the search tool has come up fruitless in finding any threads addressing the topic of rye and pH in detail. Bru'n Water doesn't appear to have the option for rye in its calculations, (though maybe another tool does?). FWIW, this is the water that I'll be starting with. Still being new to this hobby and having little ability to measure pH, I would like to have an anticipatory best-guess for what steps I should take.
Does anyone happen to have a handle on by how much rye will increase the pH of the mash? and whether or not sauermalz is recommended?
If I can't find answers, I'll just RDWHAHB. But I figured I'd ask.
2.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 23.01 % (late addition in boil)
2.63 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 30.26 %
1.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 17.26 %
0.75 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8.63 %
1.56 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 17.95 % (late addition in boil)
As you can see, especially since this is a mini-mash, the amount of rye in the grain bill is large. I have read this article which states that rye will increase the pH of the mash, and warrants control. The article seems to get a lot of reference, but I haven't been able to find ballpark numbers on how much the pH gets raised per pound of grain. The water chemistry primer sticky suggests using sauermalz (acid malt) as a traditional way to keep mash pH down. Probably in the interest of keeping the primer simple (rightly so), it doesn't make any mention of how much to use if counteracting rye's effects. My use of the search tool has come up fruitless in finding any threads addressing the topic of rye and pH in detail. Bru'n Water doesn't appear to have the option for rye in its calculations, (though maybe another tool does?). FWIW, this is the water that I'll be starting with. Still being new to this hobby and having little ability to measure pH, I would like to have an anticipatory best-guess for what steps I should take.
Does anyone happen to have a handle on by how much rye will increase the pH of the mash? and whether or not sauermalz is recommended?
If I can't find answers, I'll just RDWHAHB. But I figured I'd ask.
