Mash ph help

[trapae]

Anyone want to pitch in some advice on this one? I'm still a relatively new brewer and have done 10 batches now the last four of which have been all grain. I'm just starting to think about water chemistry. I usually use arrowhead Springwater because I can get it easily and I like the way it tastes. I've been reading " The complete joy of homebrewing" and Papazian states that a good compromise between diastatic and proteolytic enzymes in the mash is a ph of 5.2, but a ph of about 5.2 is naturally achieved when neutral water is mixed with grains. The mineral content of the water I have been using is below, and i'm wondering if i should start messing with the ph (gypsum) and other minerals during the mash or just leave it as is? I have had pretty good success without any off flavors but just want to get better. My average efficiency – batch sparge – over the last four brews has been about 75%. I have been mostly brewing pale ales, ipas, some stouts too. Thanks.

 

[brewmeister13]

You may want to try posting this in the brew science forum to get some more expert help. I am pretty new to it too, but my understanding is that it will depend on your grain bill. The difference between a pale grist and stout is huge. I'd check out Bru'n water too for more help/info. One thing I notice is that there is a fairly large swing in both calcium and Bicarbonate in the report. The difference between Bicarbonate being 16 and 240 is huge in terms of your PH.

 

[RM-MN]

Do you have a pH meter and know when to use it? If not and your beers come out tasting like you want them I wouldn't mess with the water.

 

[mjohnson]

I think the ranges they give are too wide to give much advice. If you're buying water anyway, buy some reverse osmosis (RO) water instead and read the Water Chemistry Primer in the brewing science forum. Its a sticky thread at the top. If you can stand it, try to brew some recipes that you've done already so you can test the results. Good luck!

 

[mabrungard]

The way it sounds, your tap water does not taste very good? That is unfortunate since it costs you in time and money to replace it for brewing. Looking into what your tap water quality is, may enable you to correct the tap water for brewing use. Some simple treatment may be all that is needed. But you won't know until you find out what your tap water has in it. Call the water company to see if they can provide the secondary water quality parameters we brewers are interested in or have a sample tested yourself.

The Arrowhead water may be a good alternative. But as others have pointed out, the variation in the quality noted in that report makes it difficult to plan your treatment requirements prior to brewing. I expect that the water you get at a certain store is probably from a single 'spring' source, but you never know for sure. I know that they do use multiple sources. With a single source, then you might have a better chance in obtaining a consistent quality and calibrating your brewing practices to that water.

One relatively easy way to monitor water quality is to have a total dissolved solids (TDS) meter. That way, you can quickly assess if the water's TDS is similar to the water you have been using. You won't be able to assess what the levels of the various ions are individually. But it will help point out gross changes in the water. By the way, RO water users should always have access to a TDS meter so that they can monitor the quality and performance of their machine or a commercial machine and assure that the water is reasonably 'pure'. Remember that RO water is never truly pure, just close to it.

Another somewhat quick assessment that is most important to brewing is the water alkalinity. That can be checked with a test kit. Aquarium test kits can be quite inexpensive.

With those 'tools', a brewer can manage the most important aspects of a variable water supply. Moving to a RO water source may be a good option for removing the variability concerns with a water supply. Do consider that.

 

[brewkinger]

I have to agree with the lack of information on this report.

I have been doing some extensive reading (just reading at this point) with regards to water profile and chemistry and this report just gives me a twitch.

To sum it up... worthless.

If you enjoy using this type of water, I would suggest getting the Ward Labs sample kit and sending off a sample to let them analyze it.
You will get specific quantitative analysis that will give you a solid starting point with exact numbers of the important things such as sodium, hardness, bicarb and carb levels, etc...

Or find a more specific analysis of that water profile somewhere.

 

[trapae]

Thanks everyone, good food for thought.

T