Czech Pale Lager from BYO

[Mer-man]

Has anyone made the Pale Czech Lager recipe from Petr Bachan in BYO?

It sounds delicious and I will make it soon.

https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3244-czech-pale-lager-style-profile

I entered it into Bru'N Water to see where it fell, and the pH fell pretty low without the CaCl additions he specifies.
Then when I added the CaCl, it fell way low, like 5.0.

It calls for 12L of RO for mash with 5g CaCl and enough RO sparge (with 3g CaCl) to hit 25L total wort volume, so that's more than another 13L for sparge.

Anyway, the low predicted pH struck me as odd.

Anyone made it, and better yet, checked their mash pH?

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Sounds tasty keep us updated if you try it.

 

[McKnuckle]

I plugged this in to Brewer's Friend. Remember that the mash is supposed to be conducted with 14 qts (3.5 gallons) of water. If you add NO salts at all, it estimates the mash pH at 5.35. Adding the stated 5g CaCl brings that pH to 5.2.

I wholeheartedly agree that both values are too low. The recipe author at least intends it, though, so it can't be blamed on a mistake: "...the acid malt is to help hit a proper mash pH (5.2 to 5.3, measured at room temperature)."

I'd reduce the acid malt to 3 oz, and add 2 g CaCl to the mash and NONE to the sparge. The pH comes out to 5.43 that way, with 41 ppm Ca in the mash and about 36 ppm Cl in the pre-boil wort volume.

[Sorry, I edited this a few times to finalize my advice ]

 

[Mer-man]

Yes. Here's what I had, in screenshots.

Showing grainbill input, and then water adjustments, first with CaCl and second with none.

If you switch from my RO to distilled, the pH does go lower.

In conclusion, it seems fine without the CaCl.

 

[Mer-man]

So I am not going to follow the above composition; instead I will go as soft as possible but with decent calcium (so a high chloride) in order to hit a 5.2 pH.
I was thwarted by the weather this last week but will post once I brew it.

 

[VladOfTrub]

Mash pH is established according to enzymatic action during a particular rest. Mash pH below 4.6 staggers enzymatic action. When the optimum temperature for an enzyme is used, pH should be optimum, as well. A malt data sheet indicates pH of the grain being used. The pH test is performed by using distilled water. Dough in at 95F using RO and allow mash pH to stabilize. Add sour malt for pH adjustments. Before removing the first decoction mash pH is adjusted to 5.5 pH. During maltose rest pH is lowered to 5.2-5.0.

 

[Mer-man]

Well I brewed a variant of this recipe. I have tettnanger and saphir hops so I used those. Hit exactly my predicted fg, which was nice. Here's what it looked like. Bottled it and will drink in 1-2 weeks. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464464894.564475.jpg

 

[Mer-man]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465491777.636306.jpg
MacBook airs make great coasters

 

[brew703]

Would a single decoction mash temp of 150 work for this?