5.2 Buffer

[flexbrew]

I was thinking of purchasing the 5.2 buffer I saw at my home brew shop. I have just started getting into water adjustments and had a few questions. What does 5.2 add to the mash? If I need say 250ppm of calcium and I know my towns water is 40ppm should I add 210ppm in addition to the 5.2 buffer.

I listened to the entire waterganza with John Palmer and Jamil a couple of times and I get more confused about water the more I listen.

 

[jetmac]

I too was (and still am) confused after listening to all that water ganza. Get Gordon Strong's new book. He really simplify's water adjustment. It has worked well for me.

I'll look it up and quote it later after I get home from work.

 

[TheDom]

Save your money, a number of people who know water have said it is bunk based on their testing. Check out the brewing science section, and read the brewing water chemistry primer there. It makes things pretty simple.

 

[wildwest450]

Save your money, a number of people who know water have said it is bunk based on their testing. Check out the brewing science section, and read the brewing water chemistry primer there. It makes things pretty simple.

This, don't waste the money. Also, less is more with water adjustments, it's not necessary to try to exactly duplicate a specific water profile.

_

 

[jfowler1]

5.2 is really easy to use. Just follow these steps.

First you buy a can of it from the local HBS. Then you use it for a little while, following the directions as given. After that, you cut back on the dose because all of the buffering salts you are putting into the mash are adding a slightly strange mineral taste to your beer. Next, you ask yourself why you are adjusting your mash water when you never looked at a water report in the first place. Finally, you put the unused 5.2 in the trash can.

It couldn't be easier!

Joe

 

[Yooper]

5.2 is really easy to use. Just follow these steps.

First you buy a can of it from the local HBS. Then you use it for a little while, following the directions as given. After that, you cut back on the dose because all of the buffering salts you are putting into the mash are adding a slightly strange mineral taste to your beer. Next, you ask yourself why you are adjusting your mash water when you never looked at a water report in the first place. Finally, you put the unused 5.2 in the trash can.

It couldn't be easier!

Joe

That's sort of how I did it! I gave away a full jar during the "pay it forward" swap, but I have some still left in a different jar.

After "talking" a lot with ajdelange here on the forum, I'm going to try to use it in my sparge water at some point. It may work to buffer my sparge water. I'll see and post back if/when I do this.

Overall, it just doesn't work for anyone I know. It can also leave a taste behind, at least it did in my case. I have alkaline water, with a high bicarb level. My beers had a funny taste so I started using 5.2 (this was quite a few years ago). The funny taste changed to a different funny taste, so it didn't fix my problem.

What fixed my problem was getting a water report ($16) from Ward's Labs and reading a bit about water chemistry. My fix now is simply 30% RO and a couple of grams of calcium chloride (occasionally a gram or two of gypsum) for most IPAs, APAs, etc. A stout is the only beer I make with my straight tap water, while a lighter beer may be more RO. It sounds far more complicated than I'm making it sound- the water chemistry primer helped me tremendously!

 

[TheDom]

That's sort of how I did it! I gave away a full jar during the "pay it forward" swap, but I have some still left in a different jar.

That's better than I did, nobody would take mine!

 

[jetmac]

My fix now is simply 30% RO and a couple of grams of calcium chloride (occasionally a gram or two of gypsum) for most IPAs, APAs, etc. A stout is the only beer I make with my straight tap water, while a lighter beer may be more RO. It sounds far more complicated than I'm making it sound- the water chemistry primer helped me tremendously!

This is almost exactly how I adjust my water. I hadn't thought of adjusting the % of RO water to the style of beer. (that's a good idea) I've been using 50% RO water (cuts my sodium in half) then adding (I think) gypsum and calcium bicarbonate in amounts particular to the style. My pH has been right where I want it. Very happy using this procudure. I will have to look at adjusting the % of RO water

But I do filter out the chlorine and I try to add a minimum gypsum and calcium bicarbonate as per Gordon Strong.

I do have a small container of 5.2 that I never opened.

 

[jfowler1]

I do have a small container of 5.2 that I never opened.

I hope you know what to do with it!

Your other comment about chlorine was also right on. My brewing water passes through a high quality carbon filter, and I do dissolve a 1/4 tablet of campden for every 5 gallons of water that goes into the kettle. The campden I am still a little on the fence about, but I heard reports that my local water company makes a seasonal switch to chloramine, which meant nothing to everyone else in town, but scared me enough to use some campden for insurance. I have come to understand that a carbon filter will not remove chloramine.

I've referenced this quote in other threads, but I think it really bears repeating. I believe it comes from the Little Sumpin' Sumpin' episode of CYBI (could have been Brown Shugga - it's been a while). The brewer was asked about water adjustments. I'll paraphrase.

"We all have access to the same grain, hops, and yeast. The only variable from brewery to brewery is the brewer and the water. Embrace your water, because it is one of the few things that will distinguish your beer."

I think that rings so true, on both a historical and philosophical level. Every style we know was born from the regions water - not the other way around. Personally, I love the idea of my water yielding a great brown or pale ale, but maybe a mediocre (bad) Bo Pils. Brian Hunt from Moonlight talks about that idea a lot. Think about how great beers would be overall if everyone really zero'd in on styles that matched their raw materials (water being a raw material).

I am fascinated by our ability to shape water chemistry, but IMO, filter for chlorine, and then let it ride.

Joe

 

[nutty_gnome]

This is very interesting to me. I have been using the 5.2 for a while now. In the 'toungue in cheek' directions given above, I am at the point where I have reduced the amount used and am kinda wondering if it is needed because I havent done a water test after all.

I use a tablespoon per 5.5 gallon and of that, roughly 60% goes into the mash and the rest goes into the sparge water (I fly sparge).

I think it may help with tannin extraction in the sparge (because I go all the way down to 1.010 when I run off to the kettle) but I know FOR SURE that 5.2 coats my sparge pot with white mineral deposits. Oddly enough, I found that after starting to use it, the beerstone at the bottom of the kettle is remarkably reduced in quanitty. So I don't know what its doing, but its doing something. I haven't found any tastes associated with it, but I also don't go overboard with it.

I use a whole camden tablet for the roughly 11 gallons of water I'll heat up on a brewday to get rid of chloramines.

i suppose I really need a water report and I'll do that when I get to the bottom of the 5.2 jar later this year.

 

[pjj2ba]

After "talking" a lot with ajdelange here on the forum, I'm going to try to use it in my sparge water at some point. It may work to buffer my sparge water. I'll see and post back if/when I do this.

I use it to help adjust the pH of my sparge water -ONLY. When I use it up (which will take a while) I probably won't buy it again. I too have high carbonates and I treat my water with pickling lime to precipitate a bunch of the carbonates out. Before mashing in, I use phosphoric acid to adjust my mash water pH to 5.8 - 6.2 (depending on the grain bill). I adjust the water in my LT to 6.0, using a mix of 5.2 and phosphoric acid. Buffer 5.2 is phosphate salts, so it helps to get the pH down, and then I used the phosphoric acid to get my sparge water to exactly where I want the pH to be

 

[mmercede]

I would recommend just getting some sort of acid (lactic, citric, ect.) and some ph strips. Just slowly add acid untill the ph is where you want it. Simple as that.