Post Your Final Beer pH

[kcbeersnob]

In June I had an opportunity to discuss brewing APAs and IPA's with Steve Dressler (which was pretty freaking awesome, by the way). He confirmed that the secret is push your kettle pH down if your yeast is a low acid producer like 1056/WLP001. To my surprise, he said they actually mash low...like 5.0-5.1. They use acidulated malt.

Personally I've been happy with a finished pH of 4.4-4.5, but he recommended going even lower for these styles. I have not experimented much since then, because I've been brewing mostly other styles lately.

 

[kcbeersnob]

US-05
post-boil: 5.27
finished: 4.40

This was a 100% Rahr 2-row DIPA with 12 oz of hops in the kettle. I was very happy with the flavor profile. Definitely cleaner and less muddled than IPA's that finished above 4.6.

 

[cdburg]

I'm not getting the pH as low as I'd like with my IPAs. Next time, I think I'm going to aim for something more like 5.35 pH in the mash and 5.2 pH post boil to try to get to 4.4 or 4.5 pH in the finished beer. I'll likely need to add acid to the kettle to get there.

Split batch IPA:

1056

• Mash: 5.41 pH
• Post-boil: 5.33 pH
• Finished pH: 4.88 pH

001

• Mash: 5.41 pH
• Post-boil: 5.33 pH
• Finished: 4.84 pH

 

[cdburg]

I tested a couple of hoppy commercial beers to find out where their final pH readings fall to see if there is a trend with the ones I like the most. I thought some people might find these interesting, even if it wasn't the true point of the original post.

• Sierra Celebration: 4.42 pH
• Alpine Beer Company Nelson (Green Flash version): 4.69 pH

Both were taken with the beer at roughly 60F. I expected the Celebration result. I was surprised that the Nelson was as high as I measured it. Though the beers are very different, I'd definitely say the Celebration was much more crisp than the Nelson. I enjoyed the Nelson, but it seemed more muddled than I remember (I thought that before I tested the pH).

 

[slsBrewing]

Definitely agreeing with the comments about 1056 and 001 being low acid producers. I'm finding that to be the case with the clean american yeast. I will eventually try a mash pH close to 5.0 to see what happens.

APA 1272 yeast: 5.37 post boil, 4.66 final (before dry hopping)

 

[jmole]

WLP002
Special Bitter (Extract); Post Boil 5.25, Final 4.03
OG 1.043 FG 1.005 (15% Dextrose added)

I had used an English yeast before, but that was before I was tracking pH. This clearly has a higher pH drop vs. Chico strains. First taste out of the fermenter was great and I didn't get any ester profile, fermented at 64F.

Instead of trying to push the kettle down a huge amount, I am going to start looking at strains that are better at kicking out more acid, but can stay on the clean side with cooler fermentation temps. On deck for this weekend is an AG split batch of WLP007 and another round of WLP002 to get better measurements.

Regards,
Justin

 

[tallguybrewer]

Another WLP002 ESB:

Mash pH 5.25
Post boil pH 5.13
Post fermentation pH 4.38

Marris Otter w/6% crystal 60.

Water profile (started with RO water): Ca (78); Mg (11); Na (11); Cl (60); SO4 (176)

 

[cdburg]

Another 1056 IPA/Double IPA with a really big dry hop... I've never measured pH before and after the dry hop. I thought the pH would rise, but I didn't expect it to go up almost 0.2.

• Mash pH: 5.45
• Post boil (with acid added): 5.04
• Post fermentation pH: 4.69
• After 8oz dry hop (in 5 gallons) pH: 4.86

 

[JasonG]

Great thread! I have been focusing on water chemistry and mash pH over the last several batches, now that I have a good pH meter, and have found that it has really helped my beer.

However, I have not been measuring pre/post boil pH or final beer pH, but this thread has inspired me to start. I really had not thought much about this, but I can see how it might be the key as to why some beers turn out great, and some just alright.

What are your thoughts or impressions about the effect of final beer pH on flavors? I hear that lower pH tends to produce a "brighter" flavor. Are there certain types of beers in which you target a lower or higher pH (ie hoppy beers)?

Looking forward to being able to contribute some data to this effort in the future.

JG

 

[jmole]

I had a similar experience with the dry hop bumping the ph

WLP002 OG 1.051 FG 1.011 Att 87%
Post Boil pH: 5.25
Post Ferment pH: 4.2
Post Dry Hop pH: 4.5

I got a .3 rise in pH, and this was a small dry hop, 1 oz Simcoe and 1.5 oz Mosaic on a 5g batch. I bet the rise in pH would be related to the oil content of the varietal.

Regards,
Justin

 

[leesmith]

This is a study I found on the effects of dry hopping on ph:

http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2014/2014schmickm.pdf

 

[Steelers77]

This is a study I found on the effects of dry hopping on ph:

http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2014/2014schmickm.pdf

Matt use to come into my shop and we would discuss this topic quite a bit. He worked at a local brewery and told me they would acidify post fermentation quite a bite to create a crisper beer. I started doing it with my dry hopped beers and the flavor is noticeably different.

 

[leesmith]

Matt use to come into my shop and we would discuss this topic quite a bit. He worked at a local brewery and told me they would acidify post fermentation quite a bite to create a crisper beer. I started doing it with my dry hopped beers and the flavor is noticeably different.

Oh cool...there's not a lot of info on post fermentation adjustments. I've been dosing individual glasses of beer lately with lactic acid and noticing a difference (if not an improvement). I've even hit my IPA's with a small amount of sour beer at times and liked the results.

Do you have any rule of thumb as to how much acid to add for a finished beer to get to your desired ph?

 

[eluterio]

Like this thread very fascinated that From 2014 to current wy 1056 and 1272 have been consistent. I just finished kegging a DIPA and kept tabs on my PH from Mash to final product. Although I don't have the numbers in front of me I can say that My Final PH was 4.89 after dry hopping. I do recall my End of boil to be a tad higher than I expected in the 5.6 range. My curiosity now has me wanting to see the lager results.

During the winter months I brew lagers and use 2124, 2278, and 2308. Ill add my results in 10 months.

 

[cooper]

Wanted to bump this thread. I've been very good about getting my mash pH readings where I want but just started thinking about post boil pH and final pH readings. Going to be checking this in the future brews and posting the results.

I've got a Pale Ale in the fermenter now that had a mash pH of 5.7 and acidified (phosphoric) down to 5.09 post boil. Using Nottingham yeast so i'll report back what the final pH is after fermentation is complete and then after dry hop. Thinking I'll try to acidify it down to 4.5 if it's quite a bit higher.

 

[kingmatt]

Not sure if this thread is still a thing but I just took a reading of my Oberon Clone with Bell's House yeast from Imperial (A62) at kegging and it came out at 4.41.