Mash pH Readings

[Rob2010SS]

I'm having a hard time with the pH readings of your mash. Everything is saying that your pH reading needs to be at room temp. How are you supposed to get a pH reading during your mash if you need to let it cool to room temp? This means by the time you get a reading, it's too late to make any adjustments if need be because your mash is probably done.... Am I missing something here?

 

[SanPancho]

get a decent size shot glass that is large enough for your ph meter to fit into and stick it in the freezer. when its time to measure, pull it out and fill it with wort. room temp in no time. thats one shot glass for every pH reading you want, they wont get cold enough in time for reuse.

 

[Biscuits]

You're not going to be making on the fly changes to your mash anyway. It's just one of those things that you can't fix in the midst of a brew day...but if you get measurements, you can adjust it next time until you hit your target.

 

[day_trippr]

I do kinda the same thing: I stick a 2 ounce Sam Adams taster glass in a bowl of ice and water on brew days and use it through the session for pH and gravity checks.
My pH meter needs only ~ a half-tablespoon of liquid to cover the bulb and junction and that little bit of wort takes about a minute to chill down in the glass.

Totally agree about not chasing pH. Bru'n Water always gets pretty close anyway, so my checks are recorded in the recipe log and any discrepancies from plan are used on the next batch...

Cheers!

 

[Rob2010SS]

Ok, well while we're on the topic, perhaps you guys can help me. (Not going to lie, had this question posted in another thread but i'm need to be ready to go tomorrow afternoon, so hoping you guys can answer...)

Using Bru'n Water spreadsheet, I have determined that my mash pH is around 5.38 for this grain bill. I'm doing a kettle sour so I want to pre-acidify. In order to pre-acidify to 4.0-4.4, I need to add a bare minimum of 2.0mL/gallon. However, the 4.0-4.4 pH is where I want my resulting 6.75 gallons of wort to be at, not the mash itself, and from what I can tell, that 2.0mL/gallon is only taking into account the mash.

I have entered my mash and sparge volumes on the spreadsheet and entered my gypsum and CaCl additions in g/gallon. Based on that, can I assume that the pH of my resulting 6.75 gallons of wort in the boil kettle (after sparge) will still be right around 5.38 and I can still use the 2.0mL/gallon lactic acid addition to pre-acidify my wort?

 

[SanPancho]

run all the grains and all the water together, no sparge. take the amount of acid needed and subtract what it tells you to add when you do a normal mash then sparge. thats what you'll need to add to pre acidify. shoot for the middle of the range and you should be good.