Post fermentation PH and water softness?

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beervoid

Hophead & Pellet Rubber
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So I've had one of my beers come out with a pretty low PH post fermentation.
I adjust my beer down with phosphoric acid so that it goes into the fermenter with a PH of around 5.0
Typical range I usually end up in would be around 4.3 PH but this particular batch fermented with Gy054 went down to 3.85PH.

The only thing different is that I backed down on my brewing salts.. I put less then half I used to put before..

I'm curious to know if this PH of 3.85 is not out of the range?
Also interested to know if soft water might have had something to do with it?
Could it be my phosphoric acid additions where too big and even though I meassured 5.0 going into the fermenter because of my soft water it might have dropped more then expected?

I've just read as well that fermentation speed is important as well, the faster the fermentation the lower the PH.
This particular batch hit FG in 2 days.

Cheers
 
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Some yeast, no matter what post boil pH you had, they will take the pH down to a pre-determined level ( I call it this way for the sake of the discussion ). I noticed this with Nottingham - dry yeast. I know some say it's a bit tart tasting, I don't taste it, but if it is, it's not WB-06 tart or S-04, which produces a bit of lactic acid during fermentation.

Post fermentation pH can be influenced by dry hopping, if I remember correctly. It actually raises the pH, which is undesirable.

Does the beer taste tart/sour at 3.85 pH? I assume beers are more stable the lower the pH, so I am guessing anything under 4.5 is desirable, although with the NE craze, some will argue that a higher pH is better ( 4.4-4.6 ).
 
Some yeast, no matter what post boil pH you had, they will take the pH down to a pre-determined level ( I call it this way for the sake of the discussion ). I noticed this with Nottingham - dry yeast. I know some say it's a bit tart tasting, I don't taste it, but if it is, it's not WB-06 tart or S-04, which produces a bit of lactic acid during fermentation.

Post fermentation pH can be influenced by dry hopping, if I remember correctly. It actually raises the pH, which is undesirable.

Does the beer taste tart/sour at 3.85 pH? I assume beers are more stable the lower the pH, so I am guessing anything under 4.5 is desirable, although with the NE craze, some will argue that a higher pH is better ( 4.4-4.6 ).
I adjust my PH downward to account for the large dry hop (10oz) additions I put in.

I just dry hopped it and hoping for the best. Will be curious to see where this one ends up.
My process, malt bill and acid additions have mostly been the same. Only the yeast changed and I used less sulfate and chloride.

It has a very slight sourness to it at 3.85ph, I'm suspecting this batch will probably end up with a Final PH of 4.1 to 4.2.
I will report back.

In the meantime is there anyone that can confirm that with less brewing salts in the water phosphoric acid will have a greater impact lowering the PH?
Or perhaps that Conan has the tendency to finish lower?
 
That’s a huge drop... something else seems to be at play.. what was your target Ca?
 
If your FG is markedly below target, wild yeast (or perhaps even bacteria) contamination may be at play here. I initially suspect lactobacillus, and consequently lactic acid. As already mentioned, S-O4 is rumored to be occasionally (at least) plagued with this generally undesirable phenomenon.
 
If your FG is markedly below target, wild yeast (or perhaps even bacteria) contamination may be at play here. I initially suspect lactobacillus, and consequently lactic acid. As already mentioned, S-O4 is rumored to be occasionally (at least) plagued with this generally undesirable phenomenon.
I hope not and isn't lactobacillus supposed to be inhibited by hops? There was more then enough "theoretical" IBU's in there to take care of that.

I'm using GY054 Vermon "Conan" yeast.
On that note, I overbuild my starters very carefully and taste them before I pitch... It had nothing wrong with it... I'm on generation 4.
 
Some additional info. I ended up with a post mash PH of 5.52 (higher then my usual 5.4) for this batch and I've added 6ml of 85% phosphoric acid at the beginning of the boil to end up with a PH of 4.94 into the fermentation vessel.
 
I hope not and isn't lactobacillus supposed to be inhibited by hops? There was more then enough "theoretical" IBU's in there to take care of that.

I'm using GY054 Vermon "Conan" yeast.
On that note, I overbuild my starters very carefully and taste them before I pitch... It had nothing wrong with it... I'm on generation 4.
Most lacto strains are hop sensitive. Some are resistant (like Cascade’s strain), which I’m pretty sure is in the yeast bay’s lacto blend. These resistant strains are pretty hard to come by by accident tho, I believe.
 
Just crashed and transferred this beer after giving it 3oz of mosaic and 4oz of mosaic cryo dry hop treatment.
The PH came in at 4.44
So far so good.
 
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