Say if I add 1.5 ml of 88% Lactic acid to my strike water. Then, pre boil I end up adding about 7 ml more of 88% Lactic acid, how much of that lactic acid flavor will carry over to the final product after it mixes with the mash and is boiled for 60 mins? I know the acid will survive the boil, but will the flavor of it boil off? This is for a 5.5 gallon batch.
The reason I ask is because I just brewed a NEIPA and added that amount of acid mentioned above to my mash and pre boil to get the ph close to where I wanted. I was shooting for a pre boil ph of about 4.8, but ended up at 4.9. Being that I had already added 8.5 ml of lactic acid, I thought I was right at the taste threshold for my batch size and did not want to add anymore.
The sample post fermentation was delicious, crisp, refreshing, with great pillowy mouthfeel, and extremely smooth bitterness that was balanced nicely with the sweetness. I did not detect any acidic flavor at all from the lactic acid. The final ph after fermentation landed me right at 4.24.
Now the reason for my question is, I just soft crashed the beer and am about to do a hefty dry hop split into two additions. Using Scott Janish's calculator, I'm predicted to be around 4.5 - 4.6 ph after my dry hop. I really liked how the beer tastes at 4.2 - 4.3 and I feel it could get a bit flabby and slight harshness with that higher ph post dry hop. I'm thinking about adding some more lactic acid (this is all I have on hand right now) to bring the ph back down to the 4.2 - 4.3 range if it does jump that high post dry hop and goes a bit flabby/harsh.
Would adding more lactic at this stage put me over the threshold to where I might start to taste it, given the amount I added during the mash/boil, or would the boil kind of diminish a lot of the flavor to where I can add more at this stage without impacting flavor?
The reason I ask is because I just brewed a NEIPA and added that amount of acid mentioned above to my mash and pre boil to get the ph close to where I wanted. I was shooting for a pre boil ph of about 4.8, but ended up at 4.9. Being that I had already added 8.5 ml of lactic acid, I thought I was right at the taste threshold for my batch size and did not want to add anymore.
The sample post fermentation was delicious, crisp, refreshing, with great pillowy mouthfeel, and extremely smooth bitterness that was balanced nicely with the sweetness. I did not detect any acidic flavor at all from the lactic acid. The final ph after fermentation landed me right at 4.24.
Now the reason for my question is, I just soft crashed the beer and am about to do a hefty dry hop split into two additions. Using Scott Janish's calculator, I'm predicted to be around 4.5 - 4.6 ph after my dry hop. I really liked how the beer tastes at 4.2 - 4.3 and I feel it could get a bit flabby and slight harshness with that higher ph post dry hop. I'm thinking about adding some more lactic acid (this is all I have on hand right now) to bring the ph back down to the 4.2 - 4.3 range if it does jump that high post dry hop and goes a bit flabby/harsh.
Would adding more lactic at this stage put me over the threshold to where I might start to taste it, given the amount I added during the mash/boil, or would the boil kind of diminish a lot of the flavor to where I can add more at this stage without impacting flavor?
Last edited: