Misorganized Stout Recipe Grains Question

[jaysquared2]

So ordered grains from a shop that were based on a clone recipe. Grian bill Should be:

11# Pilsner Malt
2# Vienna Malt
1# Chocolate Malt
1/2# Roasted Barley
4oz Black Patent Malt
4oz Caramel 60

But, since I know mashing a high percent of roasted malts can drop the mash pH far too low, I ordered them to be separate from the Pilsner/Vienna, but unfortunately only the Pilsner malt was in a separate bag. Therefore the Vienna is along with all the specialty malts. I do have some extra Vienna lying around I could add to the mash. Should I do so or just stick with mashing just the Pilsner and steep the rest/throw in last 15 mins of mash? I know steeping yields less extraction so I worry about missing gravity numbers too much, but also don’t want to risk throwing off the grain bill %’s too much.

 

[friarsmith]

You should be able to mash all of those together. Depending on other mineral adjustments, consider adding some chalk/lime/baking soda to the mash to offset the pH impact of the roasted grains.

Have you tried entering that recipe into software like BeerSmith or Brewers Friend with a neutral water profile to determine the expected mash pH before any water adjustments?

 

[jaysquared2]

You should be able to mash all of those together. Depending on other mineral adjustments, consider adding some chalk/lime/baking soda to the mash to offset the pH impact of the roasted grains.

Have you tried entering that recipe into software like BeerSmith or Brewers Friend with a neutral water profile to determine the expected mash pH before any water adjustments?

The problem is I don’t have a neutral pH water. The distilled water I buy on their water report states a pH of 5.5. So that changes things a lot I would think.

 

[thehaze]

I wouldn't use distilled water exclusively for brewing. You should mix that with tap water or bottled water.