Testing water and mash PH

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Hello,

I am fairly new to brewing (7 all grain batches) and I am now starting to learn about testing your mash ph and also your water quality to improve the quality of your beer.

1) mash ph- I understand you can get ph strips or a ph meter to measure you mash ph. When would you measure it? Before or after the protein rest? when would you put the additions in? I have read that you can use lactic acid to drive down the ph, but what can you use to drive up the ph if needed? I have also read that a target ph is anywhere from 5.2-5.5. Does this ph range differ for different beer styles or is this all across the board for yeast health and making the fermentation process better?

2) water quality- If you measure your ph and make the necessary adjustments to your mash, is it necessary to mess with your water quality? I use spring water from the gallon jugs that I buy at publix because it is definitely better quality than tap water (and tastes better). Should I be doing an assessment to see what minerals are in this spring water and if I should be adding anything?

Thank you!

 

[day_trippr]

You really want to take a good read of this site:
https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

It'll answer questions you didn't even know to ask...

Cheers!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Thank you! I will take a look at this, and start using it!

 

[ToledoBeer]

Citric acid works nice too for driving down PH and I think it works better in lighter colored beers than lactic. I usually use baking soda to up the PH. A little goes a long way.

 

[helibrewer]

Your best bet for pH measurements is a good quality meter, it is hard to get accurate readings from test strips in the narrow range that we work in.

Lactic or Phosphoric acid both work for lowing pH as does acidulated malt (lactic). Darker grain tends to lower pH so those types of beers might require an upward adjustment. I brew pale beers (lagers, tripels, pale ales) using adjusted RO water so my adjustments are always in the direction of lowering mash pH.