Rough Gh and KH using aquarium kit

[jfr1111]

I bought an aquarium testing kit to test for GH and KH. I know these things aren't the most accurate thing in the world, but I have been having problems with lighters beers (dullish taste, lack of crisp finish, etc.). I have done the test twice and came up with the same results, which, when plugged into Kai's GH/KH simple spreadsheet give me:

Calcium: 39mg/l
Magnesium: 10mg/l
Alcalinity: 120 ppm CaCO3
RA: 86 ppm CaCO3

I tried the EZ water spreadsheet coupled with a couple of my brews and was suprised to see how high the room temp mash pH predictions were, even for my bitters which use a good portion of crystal and black malt for colour. Now, I don't have any way to test accurately for mash pH (ie. meter) except for test strips. Would planning for acid malt additions in advance using the spreadsheet and testing room temp mash pH with the strips be enough to ballpark it ?

 

[afr0byte]

I bought an aquarium testing kit to test for GH and KH. I know these things aren't the most accurate thing in the world, but I have been having problems with lighters beers (dullish taste, lack of crisp finish, etc.). I have done the test twice and came up with the same results, which, when plugged into Kai's GH/KH simple spreadsheet give me:

Calcium: 39mg/l
Magnesium: 10mg/l
Alcalinity: 120 ppm CaCO3
RA: 86 ppm CaCO3

I tried the EZ water spreadsheet coupled with a couple of my brews and was suprised to see how high the room temp mash pH predictions were, even for my bitters which use a good portion of crystal and black malt for colour. Now, I don't have any way to test accurately for mash pH (ie. meter) except for test strips. Would planning for acid malt additions in advance using the spreadsheet and testing room temp mash pH with the strips be enough to ballpark it ?

I've found the spreadsheet to be pretty accurate. I'd use it and forget the strips. You'll also probably want to dilute your water some with RO instead of doing all the ph adjustment with acid.

 

[ajdelange]

What you are tasting is symptomatic of high mash pH. You are carrying a fair amount of alkalinity and will definitely need acid in order to get mash pH into the proper range. This can be done in the blind by diluting with RO water until alkalinity is less than, say 50, and then adding 2 - 3% sauermalz (or lactic or phosphoric acid or....). It is definitely best to confirm mash pH with a decent pH meter (readable to 0.01, accurate to 0.05 or better). Get mash pH (at room temperature) down to 5.3 - 5.5 and you will find "all the flavors are brighter" (not my words but I can't think of a better way to describe the effect).

 

[jfr1111]

Thanks. Would I need to cut both mash and sparge water with RO ?

 

[ajdelange]

It is usually simplest to treat mash and sparge water the same but it is especially important to see to it that the alkalinity of sparge water is low so that sparging does not pull the grain bed above pH 6. This minimized phenol extraction from the husks.

 

[jfr1111]

What about calcium chloride in moderation ? My Calcium level is pretty low and it would help reduce the RA without having to use something like 75% RO water for summer bitters.

Sorry to be asking so many questions

 

[ajdelange]

Yes, some calcium chloride is usually a good idea though I must say that I'm beginning to think that the calcium gets all the credit (through mash pH lowering) while the contribution of chloride (through sweetening, rounding and filling the beer) is often not stated.

As for asking questions: it is my understanding that that is what this forum is for!

 

[AiredAle]

Back to your GH/KH test kit - I have compared the kit result to my Ward Lab water analysis and was surprised how accurate the kit was. Within about 5% as I recall.

Bumping up the calcium with CaCl2 is a good idea. A half a gram of CaCl2 per gallon of water will add about 35 ppm of Ca and 65 ppm of Cl, assuming you are using the dihydrate salt, which is the one you are likely to get at your homebrew shop.

Don't overdo the amounts you add of salts, start small and add more if you like the way things are going. We're making beer not mineral water...

 

[jfr1111]

I don't plan on overdoing salts because I have no idea of the Chloride/Sulfates I have in there, so the less salt, the better imho: I don't have any huge problems with my bitters, it's the paler, pils/2-row based beers that aren't up to snuff and I don't brew them as often. From reading Aj's post, it seems low evertyhing is better on those beer so I might just build from scratch with those beers and use the primer.

I will probably only dilute and use sauermaltz on my next batch of bitter, as to not introduce too many variables at once. Maybe I'll just use sauermaltz and taste. I pretty much always brew this beer the same recipe wise, so any change will be easily perceptible. Then I might start messing around with salts.

I'm also pricing out pH meters... might make for a goof Christmas gift, altough it'll be nerdy as hell to get excited about a pH meter in front of the extended family