Mash pH for a new AG brewer

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Hey all, yesterday I brewed my 2nd AG batch (an Irish Red) after getting the basics down with some extract batches. Bought some pH strips from my LHBS, and yesterday tested my pH from my first runnings. Does this look like a 5.0 to you guys? I understand it should usually be between 5.2-5.4 (?) so I should probably look into buying some type of basic chemical to add eh?

 

[thehaze]

I would shoot for a mah PH between 5 and 5.6, closer to 5. My beers became better when the PH was held under 5.5.

However, I use bottled water and therefore I know its composition. From there, I build the water I want to brew with. I only used CaCl2 and MgSO4 for additions and all beers turned out great. Knowing your water is important, especially if you brew different styles.

 

[Dcpcooks]

Ph strips are not very effective or accurate so I would not put much stock in them.

To go down the rabbit hole that is water adjustments is a bit of a learning curve. You should read the water primer in the brew science section.
The first step is knowing what's in your water to begin with.

The you need to use some form of software to calculate an estimated ph based on your water profile and each mash profile. Brunwater or beersmith will work

Then you can begin the process of treating your water to hit a target range for your mash ph.

A ph meter is needed to get a solid reading. There are cheap ones and good ones. I'd get s good one if funds allow.

Ward labs can test your water. But water can change seasonally for various reasons. Most Brewers find it easier to build water profiles from RO water. You can buy it at the store or get a RO filter.

Water and proper adjustments can make a beer better but many good beers are made by just removing chlorine or chloramine with campden tablets.

It can be a bit of a rabbit hole.

 

[mattdee1]

Those cheap-o pH strips might help you confirm whether or not your pH is in the correct universe, but beyond that they're pretty useless.

Personally, I think the best practice is to start from a known water profile (such as RO water), and make deliberate adjustments to achieve a certain target, based on the calculations of a reliable tool like Bru'n Water.

I am kind of against the approach of starting with unknown water, measuring pH, then scrambling to throw a bunch of crap into the mash tun to fix it. Typically, I just take whatever I get and let it ride--but that has never once been a problem since I started using Bru'n Water because it's never been off by more than .1 pH.

Edit to add: I agree with the above poster that the water subject in brewing can be a "rabbit hole" but IMO it doesn't need to be. If you find it interesting and want to read about chemistry and reactions and all that, read up all you want. But if you just focus on the "what to do" rather than the "why you do it" then you can get a decent working knowledge that is good enough for a homebrewer who just wants to kick their beer quality up a notch.

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Thanks folks! I do have access to my city water profile so I'll check out Bru'n Water and go from there

 

[65C]

Chlorine in water seems to make quite a bit of difference and needs treating, I'm less convinced about other issues

We have 8.0 Ph - I use some lactic to get it down to 5 ish on strike not sparge, it's not made a huge diff (the problems I thought were water were not water) but I still do it anyway as it costs virtually nothing and where I ignore long term advice I usually regret it later - so I just do it

 

[Horseflesh]

My advice is to go whole hog and get a decent pH meter. However, the math and chemistry is well understood and built into tools like Bru'n Water. You could do worse than simply trusting it blindly. I'd aim for pH 5.3-5.5 depending on the type of beer, so if you are off by a bit you are still in the good range overall. (Final pH depends on the L rating of the grain and what's on the bin at your shop may not be exactly correct. Even the maltsters seem to provide a range of values sometimes.)

You'll need a water report though, to give the spreadsheet your starting values. Invest in that, some minerals and an acid, and see how your beer comes out. Maybe a brew buddy can help check pH a couple times to make sure things are working as expected.

It's worth the effort.

 

[65C]

It's worth the effort.

I don't want to be too contrarian - but nothing I've seen tells me it is worth the effort when you're new to brewing

If anything - I spent a lot of time playing with the water when my real problem was ferment temps - once I got that sorted things got massively better, increased primary time - massively better again, head retention adjustments - better again

In the end water wasn't an issue - I still bring the Ph down but the brews I did before I changed the Ph were close to as good

Maybe later when everything is nailed down - think about tuning the water - but, my view, for new brewers it's a distraction unless you're trying to brew Chlorine or something

 

[mattdee1]

We have 8.0 Ph - I use some lactic to get it down to 5 ish on strike not sparge, it's not made a huge diff (the problems I thought were water were not water) but I still do it anyway as it costs virtually nothing and where I ignore long term advice I usually regret it later - so I just do it

If I were you, I'd stop adding things to strike water based on nothing but a pH reading.

If you have trial-and-error info that says doing such-and-such leads to a desirable mash pH with certain combos of grain, then fine.. but the pH of strike water in and of itself is pretty much useless information in helping you decide what to add so that you land at a target mash pH (which is what really matters). Much more important than pH is the alkalinity of the water.

 

[bluemoon737]

^Agree here...if adding acid to anything based only on pH, it would be sparge water and only if fly sparging.

 

[65C]

Thanks guys - I started doing it to eliminate some early problems - which turned out to be something else anyway and (apart from brews with S04) most brews are now really good - so I just keep doing it

I'll trying stopping on one of my known recipes and see what happens

 

[mattdee1]

Thanks guys - I started doing it to eliminate some early problems - which turned out to be something else anyway and (apart from brews with S04) most brews are now really good - so I just keep doing it

I'll trying stopping on one of my known recipes and see what happens

Actually, to be fair, if you're brewing paler colored beers then there is a good to fair chance that your acid additions are actually helping you to land closer to the pH sweet spot, assuming you're not going too crazy with it.

Now, you probably do not want to bother with the acid if brewing a stout, because the dark grains will acidify the mash enough (if not too much) on their own, and you have the opposite problem (you need more alkalinity).

Bottom line is, you may or may not be helping your beer with the acid addition, but one thing is for certain: without further information (alkalinity) you're shooting in the dark.

 

[65C]

Interestingly the last stout I made before playing with the water was probably (marginally) the best I've done so far - the brew after next is a stout so I'll try it on that one

thanks