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That's what I wanted him to check. Maybe cheap hydrometers can have a manufacturing flaw where the diameter of the tube is not to spec. Kai

check your hydrometer with a 20 Plato/Balling/Brix solution. You can make it by mixing 40g table sugar with 160g water. Then dilute that solution by taking 100g of it and mixing it with 100g water (go by weight). the result is a 10 Plato/Bailling,Brix solution. You can keep going with this and...

Dustin mentioned to me that he would add my model for growth on a stir plate. I guess it will get quite some scrutiny now. I almost always propagate yeast from slants or work with fresh yeast cultures. That's how all my experiments were run. I don't see all that much variation between strains...

The difference in RA between the two waters is only about 50 ppm. that amounts to a pH shift of only 0.05 with a mash thickness of 1.33 qt/lb. This is well within the accuracy that one can predict from mash pH prediction. The first water profile you listed is really low mineral. Does LA have...

I have noticed the wiggling too. Kai

I first thought they were bacteria as well but at that concentration the beer should show signs of infection. I think they are crystals. Possibly calcium oxalate monohydrate. This is what I see on occasions:

This is actually pretty easy since all the other major ions are given. I used the Brewer’s Friend Calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/). Simply enter all the ions and leave bicarbonate/alkalinity empty. Hit “update...

I know there were BJCP judges, but let me follow up and I think i would also be fair to call out the panelists that were certified. Kai

A.J, note that for the experiment I neutralized the acidity of the lactic acid. If you want to make a sour beer with acidulated malt you actually want the acidity and you are adding more acidulated malt than you need to get the mash pH to 5.3-5.5. Kai

If you want to play with the chemistry of slaked lime treatment use this calculator: http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=CNJVQX2 It was not released yet when I first posted in this thread. The section were to control the precipitation is “Boiling...

I don' think that the sourness comes from the CO2. You can always decarbonate a sample and compare the taste. Kai

That depends on the mash thickness. For a 4 l/kg mash (about 2 qt/lb) we are talking about ~2 ml/gal to the mash water. But if that much acid is needed in the mash, sparge water acidification may be needed as well. If I work back from the 400 mg/l number, assume that lactic acid is...

Last weekend I did a yeast handling presentation to Brew Free Or Die club members and I took the opportunity to conduct a lactate taste threshold experiment with 8 club members. While it had little to do with the topic of the technical session it is a subject where I wanted to do some...

you can fill in the rest based on the old report. From the looks of it it won't make much of a difference since your ion levels are relatively low and you'll likely be adding salts anyway. Does the old Ward Labs report list SO4 as Sulfur (S) or as SO4? If I enter you values they balance better...

That kit appears to be measuring only calcium hardness and not the combined hardness of calcium and magnesium. This might be ok given that in most waters magnesium is fairly low (compared to Ca) and its effect on mash pH is also lower. To use this test you would enter Ca as "ppm as CaCO3"...

0.05 ml lactic took 100 ml from 4.73 to 4.11. That's 0.81 ml per liter and 1.0 pH drop. if you have 17 l in the keg and want to drop the pH to 4.3 you need about 0.81 * 17 * (4.73 - 4.3) = 5.9 ml that feels like a lot. How well did you measure the 0.05 ml? 88% lactic is very viscous and...

Yes this is an easy enough calculation to do and others have also requested that. I'll put this on the top of my list. Kai

I have noticed that older cultures grow don't perform as well as fresh cultures and think that a starter does make a difference even if you don't end up growing much yeast. It may actually be such that a cell with full reserves is better than 2 cells that are running on empty and have to consume...

We released version 1.4 last night which has a few notable usability enhancements: - when you sign up for BF (Trial member or paid member) you can see all your saved water treatment records under My Brewing -> My Water Calcs. There you can edit the record to add a name and description - when...

yes, w/o stir plate you'll need more wort. Kai