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Well, I would certainly like to get to the point where I am can practice the artistic side and design and brew beers where I can control the water chemistry/pH to get the flavor/taste/mouth-feel/etc. that I want. Right now there is such a large gap between design and end result that I can't...

Martin. The Ward water analysis was 2/15/2016, pretty recent, and the alkalinity was pretty close to what it was about 4 years ago, so I'm doubting that the "problem" is the water alkalinity. However, to eliminate the water, I will brew my next batch with 100% DI and build the water chemistry...

Porter has been in secondary on the vanilla beans for a week now. pH is 4.12. A little low but still within range. It is slightly tart for my taste. Not sure if the vanilla effects the pH.

Water is lightly mineralized. Ward Labs analysis is pH 7.5, Na 28, K 4, Ca 9, Mg 4, Total Hardness CaCO3 39, SO4 3, Cl 4, CO3 <1, HCO3 119, Total Alkalinity CaCO3 98, very soft water. I treated my water to a final water profile of Ca 59.8, Mg 5.3, Na 28, SO4 52.4, Cl 61.4, HCO3 119.7 (no DI...

Sounds like the Rahr is not a problem. I just tested the pH of my brewing water. See below. I have a whole house filtration system which removes all the bad things and chlorine other than the minerals. The house has also been completely replumbed with pex so nothing coming thru from old...

My water source based on a very recent Ward Labs analysis is pH 7.5, Na 28, K 4, Ca 9, Mg 4, Total Hardness CaCO3 39, SO4 3, Cl 4, CO3 <1, HCO3 119, Total Alkalinity CaCO3 98, very soft water. For this robust porter I made adjustments to reach the Brown Malty profile. Based on the additions...

Thanks Martin. Probably read that at one time. I have to change the color from 2 to 12 to bring the pH from 5.5 to 5.2. (4=5.4, 8=5.3). I am trying to understand what I should do in the future to determine any necessary additions to adjust pH if I use Rahr base malt. Is the 5L suggested...

Martin, my system is a single tier, 2 pump system of 3 15.5 gal keggles. The mash tun has .69 gal below the false bottom which my mash volume includes. For this brew (robust porter) I treated my water to a final water profile of Ca 59.8, Mg 5.3, Na 28, SO4 52.4, Cl 61.4, HCO3 119.7 (no DI...

AJ, I finally brewed a robust porter yesterday with 11.8 lbs pale ale, 1.06 lb crystal 90, 1.06 lb chocolate. Final water profile was Ca 59.8, Mg 5.3, Na 28, SO4 52.4, Cl 61.4, HCO3 119.7. Bru'n water estimated mash pH 5.5. Everything looks ok in Bru'n Water. Grain bill with lovibond ratings...

Most recipes for making vanilla extract that I have seen recommend 6 mos to year to get maximum extraction. See http://www.vanillareview.com/make-vanilla-extract/. As far as for beer I have seen recommendations of soaking anywhere from 2 - 5 beans from a couple of days to a couple of weeks...

Getting ready to brew a Vanilla Porter. Will soak the split & chopped beans in bourbon for 2-3 weeks before racking on top of in secondary. Question is whether to include the caviar (paste) that is scraped from the beans after splitting. I see people doing this both ways. I know you include...

Given my inexperience with the meter and that I only have my first calibration and one set of data on that brew day (other than the recent calibration & stability tests) under my belt, I'll make sure to exercise extreme due diligence on my next brew day which should be sometime this week. Who...

AJ, I finally got to work with my MW102 pH meter yesterday. I calibrated and performed the stability tests that you suggested in your doc. All tests were performed with the 4 solution. Based on the results I don't think anything is wrong with the meter which is pretty much what I expected...

AJ & Martin - thanks so much for your continued education here in the forums and helping me and others understand the complexities of the brewing water chemistry. You have helped me immensely. Based on where the science and understanding is today there sure is a lot of "old" mis-information...

Additional comments on RA. I finally remembered the Palmer video (from a training he did) on RA and Brewing Water. In it he talks about a NHC-Denver experiment where they brewed a Pale Ale twice, one with RA water of -50 and one with RA water of 200. Then they brewed a Sweet Stout twice, one...

Thanks. Pretty much what I was thinking. Just recalled the posts of people using EZ Water (probably older version) that focused on RA for darker beers. Martin, I do find the so4/cl ratio useful but that's easy to calculate.

I am getting ready to brew a Robust Porter using Bru'n Water's Brown Malty profile. When I make my water adjustments my final profile is Ca 59.8, Mg 5.3, Na 28, SO4 52.4, Cl 61.4, HCO3 119.7 (RA 53). Bru'n Water estimates a mash pH of 5.5 which is certainly in range. If I add a bit of...

Thanks AJ. If nothing wrong with the meter, my suspicion is user error. I'd pick me right now over the meter. I'll reread your post again and play around with the meter some more to get more comfortable with using it. I did play around with it the day I calibrated it. Seems pretty easy to...

I just did my first brew of a Munich Helles (5.5 gal) checking pH with a new Milwaukee MW102 pH meter. I calibrated the meter per instructions the day before brewing with no problems. Mash & Sparge water treatment per Bru'n Water predicted 5.4 mash. At 12 min pH=5.44, 30 min 5.58, 40 min...

I just did the 1st of a 2-step starter for a Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager which has a date of 12/21/15 (my calcs consider viability). Smack pack was stored in the fridge at about 37F and the pack had expanded without smacking. I made this 1st starter (1.036) in a 2L Erlenmeyer flask and used a...