How much lactic acid with distilled water on a Pilsner?

[itsbarleytime]

Any one brewed all German Pilsner with lactic acid to hit pH of 5.4 , how much lactic acid.

 

[Sparger]

I have. It all depends on your water chemistry profile that you start with. I use this one. http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/ to figure it out what to add. The easy way to get a 5.2 ph however is this product http://www.northernbrewer.com/5-2-mash-ph-stabilizer-1-lb (I haven't tried this product though). You'll find with bright Pilsners, depending on your water, that it's easier to start with purified water and then start building up the chemistry from ground zero.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

The 5.2 stabilizer stuff only works for people who do not have pH meters. It should be removed from the market IMHO.

As to the lactic acid, it depends upon your grist,and the DI mash pH value for each grist component, as well as the amount of each component. This plus your water profile as the poster above stated, plus how much water you will be mashing with.

Give us some values to evaluate and we can come up with the lactic acid required.

 

[Wildcat_Brewing]

brewers friend has a free advanced water chemistry tool, put in your malt bill and under the acidification tab you can have it tell you the exact amount to hit a 5.4 ph. Ive not heard good things about the 5.2 stabilizer, plus 5.2 is not 5.4.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I've not heard good things about the 5.2 stabilizer, plus 5.2 is not 5.4.

Worse than that, it buffers at pH 5.7. 5.2 would be great, but 5.7 is not desirable.

 

[mabrungard]

With distilled water, it won't take much lactic acid to bring the mash pH down to a desirable level. Can't give an exact amount, but it looks like about 0.5 ml per gallon of mashing water would be close.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

For a grist of 10 lbs. of nominally straight Pilsner Malt, mashed in 5 gallons of distilled water, I'm computing a need for 3.5 ml of 88% lactic acid to hit roughly the ballpark of 5.4 pH.

If you add 3.5 grams of CaCl2-2H20 to the mash water (and nothing else) to hit ~50 ppm Ca++ in the mash, cut the lactic acid to 3 ml.

An alternative would be to add 124 grams of acidulated malt to the grist, or 106 grams of same if the CaCl2 dihydrate is added.

Either way you are adding lactic acid.

 

[itsbarleytime]

And does the beer you have made with acid additions contribute a sour flavor in the finished beer?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

And does the beer you have made with acid additions contribute a sour flavor in the finished beer?

I've never detected it. For nominal 5 gallon batches I believe the flavor threshold is typically quoted as residing at around 7-8 ml, but recently Brulosophy added 19 ml to a 5 gallon batch (which they subsequently mashed at pH 4.45) and their panel of convened testers could not statistically distinguish it from the same recipe mashed side by side with it, only without the lactic acid addition.

 

[Drk93TT]

And does the beer you have made with acid additions contribute a sour flavor in the finished beer?

Not in low concentrations. 88% lactic above 1.5ml/gal may contribute to lactic/sour flavor.. 1ml/gal is personally my maximum. Never had any off flavor on my palate under 1ml/gal. Remember that taste perception is different to everyone however !

 

[mabrungard]

As mentioned, around 1.5 ml/gal is where most tasters can detect 88% lactic acid in water. Back in Tallahassee using the tap water, I was using about 1 ml/gal and never perceived a lactic twang in my beers. For someone working with low or no alkalinity water, there shouldn't be any possibility of incurring a lactic twang in the beer flavor.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

And does the beer you have made with acid additions contribute a sour flavor in the finished beer?

Due to German brewing purity law, this (lactic acid, via acidulated malt) has traditionally been the only road they could legally travel down. Do you detect lactic acid flavors in German light ales, lagers, or Pilsners? They are literally defined by their clean profiles.

 

[mashinary]

I highly suggest and recommend using Bru'n water to figure this out.

 

[JohnK93]

Reviving an old thread here to get some clarification. I read in another thread that you should not add lactic acid to your sparge water for a Pilsner, that you should only add it to the mash. I've always followed the numbers in Bru'n water and added the lactic acid to both the mash and sparge water, and salts to the mash water and into the boil kettle.

Planning on brewing a Bohemian Pilsner with distilled water + CaCl2 + lactic acid, and would like to know whether adding lactic acid to the sparge water is recommended for this style.

Thanks,
John

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

You should not acidify your sparge water for the specific case wherein it is distilled or quality RO. If alkalinity is present within the sparge water, it will require appropriate acidification.

 

[JohnK93]

You should not acidify your sparge water for the specific case wherein it is distilled or quality RO. If alkalinity is present within the sparge water, it will require appropriate acidification.

Thanks for the reply, this makes sense. Out of curiosity, what would be the effect of acidifying the sparge water if the sparge water is 100% RO? This is what I did last time I made a Pilsner, just following what Bru'n water showed on the Water Adjustment tab and not knowing that I didn't need to do so.

Thanks,
John

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Thanks for the reply, this makes sense. Out of curiosity, what would be the effect of acidifying the sparge water if the sparge water is 100% RO? This is what I did last time I made a Pilsner, just following what Bru'n water showed on the Water Adjustment tab and not knowing that I didn't need to do so.

Thanks,
John

For that case I would add no more than a maximum of 0.2 mL of 88% Lactic Acid to 5 gallons of sparge water (or alternatively a maximum of 2.2 mL of 10% Phosphoric Acid to 5 gal.). It's not necessary, but it won't throw things off very much either.

 

[JohnK93]

For that case I would add no more than a maximum of 0.2 mL of 88% Lactic Acid to 5 gallons of sparge water (or alternatively a maximum of 2.2 mL of 10% Phosphoric Acid to 5 gal.). It's not necessary, but it won't throw things off very much either.

OK. I added 3.8mL 88% lactic acid to my 5.5g of sparge water. I guess this was unnecessary for the RO water...could this have affected the flavor or final pH? I haven't invested in a pH meter yet to take readings.

Thanks,
John

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

OK. I added 3.8mL 88% lactic acid to my 5.5g of sparge water. I guess this was unnecessary for the RO water...could this have affected the flavor or final pH? I haven't invested in a pH meter yet to take readings.

Thanks,
John

Yeast have an amazing ability to adjust pH to their liking during active fermentation. If you had no issues with fermentation, then all is likely well.