compensating for yeast pH drop -- does it really work?

[ebbelwoi]

I've seen quite a few posts that mention mashing with a higher pH to offset yeasts that tend to produce lower final pHs. At first, it made sense, but the more I think about it, the more I... think about it. Do yeast lower a pH by a certain amount (in which case mash pH compensation should work), or do they lower it to the point that they prefer (in which case it wouldn't work)? It seems more "natural" that yeast would have a preferred pH environment, and would adjust the pH of that environment until they're happy with it.

I think it was @Miraculix that mentioned something similar in either a yeast thread or a recipe thread, but I can't find it at the moment, sorry. Maybe a kveik thread?

I'm thinking of not only kveik yeasts, but also a few weizen yeasts, like WLP300 and Mauri Weiss.

 

[Miraculix]

I've seen quite a few posts that mention mashing with a higher pH to offset yeasts that tend to produce lower final pHs. At first, it made sense, but the more I think about it, the more I... think about it. Do yeast lower a pH by a certain amount (in which case mash pH compensation should work), or do they lower it to the point that they prefer (in which case it wouldn't work)? It seems more "natural" that yeast would have a preferred pH environment, and would adjust the pH of that environment until they're happy with it.

I think it was @Miraculix that mentioned something similar in either a yeast thread or a recipe thread, but I can't find it at the moment, sorry. Maybe a kveik thread?

I'm thinking of not only kveik yeasts, but also a few weizen yeasts, like WLP300 and Mauri Weiss.

Yes, that was my train of thoughts as well. I cannot contribute much else to this topic, I'm also looking for an answer to this question.

From my current point of view, best would be to give the yeast an environment that it does not produce that much acid in. I know that, for example, lactic acid production of s04 is temperature dependant, so it might be a good idea to keep this yeast in a temperature range that is outside of that lactic acid producing temperature window.

My guess is, it's the same for other yeasts.

I'm not buying this buffering for a yeast pH drop thing. Maybe the yeast would even overcompensate and we end up with an even more acidic brew? Who knows...