IowaHomeBrewer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2015
- Messages
- 58
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I recently bought John Palmer's book "Water, a Comprehensive Guide for Brewers".
Great book, but it got really technical and I was lost at parts.
I then went over to the Bru'n Water website. I read the Water Knowledge page. A lot of the information there seems almost like it came from the book (or vice versa, or they had the same sources for their research). But the website was much more condensed and easier to understand. It actually made a lot of what I read in the book a bit clearer to me.
Anyways, I was finally able to get someone on the phone from my city's Water Work's department and had them provide me with information on some of the minerals that weren't listed in the most recent consumer report on water quality.
I have been getting really low conversion efficiency lately, even after paying really close attention to water volumes and grain crush. I did the math, and if I don't treat the water at all the pH of my IPA mash is sitting at 5.9, which is a bit high.
The bicarbonate in my water supply is really high which is keeping the pH high. I found that I need to add 3.2 ml of Lactic Acid to my mash to get the pH down where I need it.
That comes out to about .4 ml/L.
Is that going to impact flavor? I've used lactic acid in hefeweizens before and a little bit goes a long way. Anyone have experience with lactic acid?
Great book, but it got really technical and I was lost at parts.
I then went over to the Bru'n Water website. I read the Water Knowledge page. A lot of the information there seems almost like it came from the book (or vice versa, or they had the same sources for their research). But the website was much more condensed and easier to understand. It actually made a lot of what I read in the book a bit clearer to me.
Anyways, I was finally able to get someone on the phone from my city's Water Work's department and had them provide me with information on some of the minerals that weren't listed in the most recent consumer report on water quality.
I have been getting really low conversion efficiency lately, even after paying really close attention to water volumes and grain crush. I did the math, and if I don't treat the water at all the pH of my IPA mash is sitting at 5.9, which is a bit high.
The bicarbonate in my water supply is really high which is keeping the pH high. I found that I need to add 3.2 ml of Lactic Acid to my mash to get the pH down where I need it.
That comes out to about .4 ml/L.
Is that going to impact flavor? I've used lactic acid in hefeweizens before and a little bit goes a long way. Anyone have experience with lactic acid?