mash pH for belgian quad?? brewing today!

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I'm brewing a belgian quad today, only pilsner malt, pale ale malt and D-180, which will be added AFTER krausen has dropped.

Thus my mash is only pilsner and pale ale malt, so should I target a mash pH of 5.3-5.4? I doubt I should go into the 5.5 range suggested for darker beers, as the color will come from the sugar much later.

Thanks guys!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Yes, the ballpark of 5.3 to 5.4 pH is where you want to be. You will likely need some level of acidification, which will be dependent upon a combination your grist bill and strike water chemistry/volume.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Yes, the ballpark of 5.3 to 5.4 pH is where you want to be. You will likely need some level of acidification, which will be dependent upon a combination your grist bill and strike water chemistry/volume.

ok thanks, i figured this and am familiar with adjustments, but it just occurred to me when looking at brewing water that I didn't know if i should target a the ph range for a light or dark beer for this one.

Thanks again!

 

[troglodytes]

I brewed CSI's version of the Westy 12 with the same recipe. I used only Bel Pilsner and Pale Malt, the color all came from a boil down reduction of first runnings and D-180 (added post boil). I struggled with the same question as you are right now, and I landed in the 5.5 pH of the darker beer range as my goal because ultimately I want the beer to have a richer mouthfeel in the end, so despite the fact that I was mashing only base grains I wasn't going for a dry drinkable IPA.

I did minimal mash additions, just enough to get the mash to 90 ppm Cl and 70 ppm So4, then added enough acid malt to to hit a pH of about 5.5 (actually just under). For me this only took 4 oz on a 15# grain bill.

My quad is only 7 months old right now, but I just had a bottle last week and the mouthfeel and flavor is spot on to what I wanted. Still a little heavy on the alcohol, but its shaping up to be an outstanding example of the style. This is only one person's experience, but it certainly worked for me.

 

[ajdelange]

I would think that 5.5 or even a bit over (but not more than 5.5) should be OK. That's based on gut feel more than anything else.

 

[mabrungard]

A Quad isn't that roasty, so I don't see a real need or desire to push the pH too high. You might get away with 5.5, but I would target the 5.3 to 5.4 range.