Mash water acidification

[slurms]

I've read online that people usually need to acidify their mash, especially for lighter beers. However, every time I punch in my salt additions into Bru'n Water, my mash pH is either pretty close to where it should be or actually is a bit too low. In order to get to the right pH, I actually need to add alkalinity to it, using baking soda. I use the Pale Ale profile for most things.

I do a full volume mash, no sparge BIAB, using distilled water (everything is set to zero in Bru'n Water). My process is to tweak additions of gypsum, CaCl, and Epsom to get the right ppms of each ion. For my standard APA/IPA, it's usually around 12g gypsum, 2.5 CaCl, and 5 Epsom. At that point, my pH is usually hovering around 5.2 or so. Then I need to add a bit of baking soda to raise the pH as well as for sodium.

I guess my question here is, why do others normally need to acidify their mash to get to the right pH? Does it make sense that the pH of distilled water after these doses of salts is around where it should be? Also, would canning salt be a better choice for sodium instead of baking soda if the pH is in the right ball park?

 

[BigEd]

Acidification of mash water is not universal. The treatment of your water is going to depend on two basic things; what the base water has or does not have in it to begin with and the style of beer you are brewing. In addition to reading random and often misleading statements on line, do yourself and your beer a favor and read a comprehensive text on brewing water. John Palmer's "How to Brew" book has good, basic information and the condensed early version is free online. There is also a ton of information here on HBT in the Brew Science section.

 

[FunkedOut]

I find the same when doing full volume mash.
I only need to add acid when mashing thicker.
All the extra ions from the would-be sparge water drive the pH down.

 

[day_trippr]

The difference here is using entirely distilled water to start.
Most folks have residual alkalinity to deal with to some degree, distilled water has zero RA...

Cheers!

 

[mabrungard]

The Pale Ale profile includes a bunch of calcium and magnesium that drive mash pH down. It’s not a surprise that you have to add some alkalinity to the water if starting with RO or distilled water. That would change if using a less mineralized profile.

 

[slurms]

I kinda figured it was because of the 100% distilled water. Good to confirm! I ordered a water chemistry book to read up on it, mainly out of curiosity. I tend to just trust Bru'n water, hasn't seemed to fail me yet (except the circular references, which I just caught!)

 

[VikeMan]

I find the same when doing full volume mash.
I only need to add acid when mashing thicker.
All the extra ions from the would-be sparge water drive the pH down.

He's using distilled water. With distilled water, you'd really have to increase the volume by a lot to move the pH needle. OTOH, if he's building it to the same profile either way, then yes, it would matter.

ETA: re-reading the OP, I think that's probably the case.

 

[BarryBrews]

Only the resultant mash pH matters with single water additions. Make your needed calcium level additions and then based on your last comparable mash add the appropriate lactic acid or sodium carbonate addition. Measure the mash pH at about 20 minutes to check your additions for future mashes. Repetition will let you dial it in.

 

[dmtaylor]

Ditch the epsom. It tastes terrible and is making your problem worse.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

Depending on the properties of your mash water profile, you do not always need to rely on acid or base additions.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Ditch the epsom. It tastes terrible and is making your problem worse.

I used to add Epsom to hoppy beers due to fears of pushing my Calcium up too much over 100. Also, in "Water" Colin Kaminski recommends around 30 ppm of Magnesium for darker beers, so I used to add some Epsom to those as well. I have mostly stopped adding Epsom, though I use tap water that has a little Magnesium.

Though...on the latest BeerSmith Podcast with John Palmer, John was saying that some new research suggests that having a 1:1 Calcium:Magnesium ratio might be a good thing. The discussion was a little confusing as I think he was saying you start with around 100 ppm of Magnesium added from the grains. But it went against what I have read in the past...that around 10 ppm is good...more than 20-30 ppm Magnesium can start to add a sour character.

Definitely, Epsom Salt added to water at the concentration recommended for constipation is pretty disgusting (though that is probably 100x above what gets added to beer).