Adjusting sparge water ph

[NewkyBrown]

I have read a lot of info about adjusting mash ph and I seem to be close (albeit using ph strips). My tap water ph is between 7-8. I don't adjust the sparge water yet but I'm guessing it is just as important. I am wondering what methods you use to adjust mash and sparge water ph.
Thanks.

 

[titansvol]

are you batch or fly sparging?

 

[NewkyBrown]

Batch

 

[brewkinger]

I have read a lot of info about adjusting mash ph and I seem to be close (albeit using ph strips). My tap water ph is between 7-8. I don't adjust the sparge water yet but I'm guessing it is just as important. I am wondering what methods you use to adjust mash and sparge water ph.
Thanks.

Check out Bru'n Water.
It's a spreadsheet that will answer your questions and help immensely.

Added bonus is the designer is a member here and he and some others over in the brew science forum are very knowledgeable.

 

[acidrain]

Tap water PH doesn't really mean anything. If you want to really get a grip on water treatment, get a water report from either your water dept (they are usually incomplete), or better yet, send a sample to Ward labs.
Once you know your numbers, enter them into an online brewing water calculator like Brewer's Friend.
Then enter your grist and volumes and it will tell you exactly what your PH will be, and if you need to add salts or acids.

 

[helibrewer]

Tap water pH is important when you are using it to sparge. Sparge water should be adjusted to a pH of about 6. The grains continue to provide buffering capability, especially when batch sparging so you don't have to acidify down to the mash pH.

The minerals in your tap water are what is significant, especially with respect to your mash so knowing those is key.

 

[mabrungard]

pH of sparging water is not really the parameter we need to be targeting. Reducing alkalinity to a very low level is actually our goal for sparging water, but its not as easy to measure as pH is. pH is sort of a stand-in for us to measure when acidifying water and neutralizing its excess alkalinity.

As many of you know, water pH drops very slowly in water that has alkalinity. But at some point, most of the alkalinity is neutralized and the pH drops like a rock. In a related way, using pH as the targeted variable can get you in trouble too.

If your tap water has high alkalinity, it can turn out that you actually need to target a much lower pH in order to knock out most of the alkalinity. So for water like RO or other low alkalinity water, targeting a pH of 6 could be fine. But for a water with high alkalinity, you may need to push that pH target down to the 5.4 or 5.5 range to neutralize enough alkalinity to avoid sparging pH and tannin extraction problems.

 

[The_Bishop]

The tap/sparge water PH is completely irrelevant. What *is* important is it's buffering capability, it's alkalinity.

Edit: Got beat to it by the expert!

 

[NewkyBrown]

Thanks for the lengthy replies... I think I understand a bit better now.
I may send off a water sample to get some more detailed information.
Once you start looking at water for brewing it a seems to be a tricky one to understand as some of it is complete guess work.

 

[ajdelange]

It is actually the pH of the treated sparge water that is important. If enough acid has been added to the water to reduce its pH to below the maximum desired level (6 is the usual number thrown out for sparging) there is no way that it can ever pull the runoff to a pH higher than 6.

The amount of acid required to do this is reflective of the amount of alkali (which can be calculated from the alkalinity in the usual sense of the term and the sample pH) in the water. Waters with a lot of bicarbonate will require more acid to get to pH 6 (or 5.5 or whatever you like) than waters of less bicarbonate content. So adjust sparge water by adding acid while monitoring pH. Don't worry about undershoot. If you undershoot just add more water (throw some of the over acidified water away first). With a little experience you should be able to hit it pretty quickly (unless your water supply is variable and even then you should be able to learn the technique).

 

[UKCatsFan]

nm