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The pickling lime was decidedly less salty in taste. It actually made quite a nice difference. While not ideal it certainly was much more drinkable EDIT: seems less soluble than banking soda however

Hmm I really like the idea of using Bru'N Water to get me in the ballpark then do a really small test batch to refine. I thought I was making it easy by using DI/RO water but I seem to be struggling still. My meter being a bit unreliable hasn't helped much. I guess it's time to get a better...

That sounds familiar from my last chemistry class 15 years ago... getting old I guess. When you do your tests for a new grist to figure out what adjustments need to be made for pH, how do you do it? Just a super small batch or do you do a different procedure?

Hi all, I have been dealing with a rather unpredictable (unstable?) pH meter lately as I work to refine my water adjustments. In my last batch I think I've added too much lactic acid as there's a slight, but noticeable, sourness on the tongue. In a fit of desperation I added a very small...

An interesting side note. As I have been working to get my mash pH in the right area, and taking boil pH (15 mins into boil) as well as hot break, I've notices the closer I get to a proper mash pH the closer to under 5.3 boil pH and a very noticeable difference in hot break. My mot recent...

Thank you again, it makes sense. I'll add boil pH and break observations to my brew notes and see if I can see a trend in output.

That makes sense, thanks for the info. So, following the primer, what kind of adjustments should be made at the kettle if I'm above 5.2? I don't see how adding CaCl2 is going to affect that. Or are they recommending the CaCl2 not to reduce the pH, but instead to simply help with the break...

Hello, In the May-June 2012 issue of BYO they have a comment in the Tripel recipe as such: This is the first time I have heard a recommendation like this, and I do not think I've ever saw a distinction in the hot break as above. Can someone help me understand what causes the...

Just at close this out, the latest kolsch has been conditioning for a week or so and it already is the best kolsch I've made. I'm convinced (not that I really doubted you all ;) ) and ready to invest in a good pH meter. Any suggesting as to which?

I think I'm just going to break down and buy a bunch of acid malt. I brew this kolsch at least monthly so having the LHBS run out sucks. I think I'll brew this again with the same water and grist but with 2% acid malt and see what the pH does. I'll add the acid malt after the mash pH...

Makes sense. Assuming I get a better meter (or prove this is reliable) and end up with 5.6, am I correct to assume this is close enough or should I add some acid?

Grr went back and recalibrated and tested 3 times. Each time the calibration seemed off a few tenths. Now it's at 5.6.

So after about 20 mins, pH of mash is 5.3. I took this at 65F, same temp that I used the calibration fluids on. So I'm not going to add any lactic acid. Thoughts?

Brewing this again right now will mark down the notes for this grist: 11# pils 1# Vienna 1# wheat 5.5 gal RO strike water Added 1/2 tsp CaCl2

Well the second batch used 2.3 ml of lactic acid and is 3 weeks old. Pulled a sample and it too has a distinct sourness to it. Less pronounced than the previous one, but still very present. Any chance this is just green beer syndrome? I have never had this issue when using acidulated malt...

Hmm, definitely could be a low level infection. I've never had one to compare. I think I'll try the same ratios again and hopefully find an answer. Thanks for the response.

Another necro thread update. I'm thinking of giving my Kolsch another run but wanted to comment on the previous additions to the RO water. That was 1/2 tsp of CaCl2 and 3.2ml of lactic acid. I had a noticeable amount of sourness in the result. So much that I really didn't care for the brew and...

Just to update this necrothread, I read the primer and decided to go with RO water and a ph meter. Mostly the decision was two fold: 1) to eliminate a possible hose related nastiness 2) better control / less variables in the water and ph Recently did another Kolsch and used 1/2 tsp of CaCl2...

Duly noted, thanks for the tip. Looks like I've got a lot more research to do. Thanks.

Hmm good point. As for the pH in the mash I was hoping to adjust that using 5.2 buffer.