Strike water scaling

[LoadedMonk]

Say I want to make a recipe that has 5 gallons of mash water and 2mL of 88% lactic acid in my boil kettle before mashing in. If I have 1 gallon of dead space in my boil kettle I would have to make 6 gallons of adjusted water. Would lactic acid addition scale linearly to 2.4mL?

 

[VikeMan]

No, it wouldn't (assuming this is BIAB, i.e. you are mashing in this kettle).

But the way this is worded, it sounds like the recipe itself calls for 2 ml lactic acid, which unless the recipe knows the brewer's base water, is not a recipe for success.

 

[day_trippr]

I could be wrong, but I believe the OP prepares his 5 gallons of strike water in his boil kettle, which has a gallon of irretrievable dead space.
If that's the case, and that acid amount was prescribed for 5 gallons, the OP needs to prepare 6 gallons of strike liquor, in which case the acid should be scaled...

Cheers!

 

[VikeMan]

I could be wrong, but I believe the OP prepares his 5 gallons of strike water in his boil kettle, which has a gallon of irretrievable dead space.
If that's the case, and that acid amount was prescribed for 5 gallons, the OP needs to prepare 6 gallons of strike liquor, in which case the acid should be scaled...

Yes, if he's only mashing with 5 of the 6 gallons, I agree it scales proprtionally.

 

[LoadedMonk]

I could be wrong, but I believe the OP prepares his 5 gallons of strike water in his boil kettle, which has a gallon of irretrievable dead space.
If that's the case, and that acid amount was prescribed for 5 gallons, the OP needs to prepare 6 gallons of strike liquor, in which case the acid should be scaled...

Cheers!

Yes that's correct. My boil kettle sight glass only starts at 2 gallons so I like to increase the volume so I can more precisely pump the right amount. But that requires me to scale my water additions.

I've been having problems estimating pH in the mash so I wondered if my scaling might be an issue. I use Bru'n Water and it never seems to get me to 5.2 on a pale beer. I always have to use way more lactic acid than what Bru'n water estimates. I use RO that's 2ppm and tested on 2 separate calibrated pH sensors with brand new individual packaged calibration solution, tested at room temp. I've been trying to figure out what I've been doing wrong, hence this thread.

I've started using the chart on braukaiser that recommends 0.125-2.1 mL/lb of grain and using that makes it easier to dial in. But Bru'n Water is consistently under that range. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or Bru'n Water just underestimates 88% lactic acid.

 

[trapae]

Wondering if you ever figured out how to deal with the dead space on Bru’n water? I am running into the same problem.

 

[IslandLizard]

Dead space in the mash vessel is really bad for your mash efficiency, even more so if it doesn't recirculate, hogging resources. In your case that would be 1/6 (~17%) less than it could/should be. Can you find a way to drain it (e.g., diptube, tilting, brute force), so the wort won't be left behind and is lost?