Testing PH

[kyoun1e]

I'd like to rule out my tap water as a source of off flavors for my first batch (and future batches). I'm doing extracts now and I'd bet I'll do a couple more before I continue all grain.

Understanding the above, will simple strips do the trick?

For example:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S730YWG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I could also get a cheap meter:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YBUH4RC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Thanks much.

 

[deks77]

I got the cheap meter cause ive always hated strips from the pool lol. I know i have hard water so ive been mixing distilled and adding acid malt. If you go with the meter get one that comes with calibration solution.

Can you describe this off flavor?

 

[kyoun1e]

Can you describe this off flavor?

It's important to note that I cracked a bottle after only one week so that could have a lot to do with the flavor.

As for the off flavor itself, I can't say that my taste buds are experienced enough yet to really pinpoint anything. All I know is that without a doubt, it didn't taste right.

Regardless, I just want to checkmark the box that says, yup my water is ok, before I get any deeper into this hobby.

 

[jzamora3]

Use the meter, I have that exact one and it works like a charm.

 

[kyoun1e]

Use the meter, I have that exact one and it works like a charm.

Done.

 

[h22lude]

Couple things...

1) If you are doing extract right now, you don't need a pH meter. The water means a lot less when brewing extract. As long as the water tastes good, it works. Only thing you may want to do is remove chlorine. pH doesn't affect extract at all.

2) If you do want to go AG, water is important and mash pH is good to measure however I don't recommend going cheap on the meter. A lot of good info on HBT about why going cheap is not a good route. I'm not an expert so I can't explain it all but usually the cheap ones aren't very accurate and don't have a good resolution. $80+ is usually where the better ones start.

I'm willing to bet it wasn't your water. Did you aerate enough? Did you pitch enough yeast? What was the beer fermenting at (not room temp, beer temp). Those three things affected your beer more than your water

 

[Jtk78]

In addition to what h22lude said (although I did just buy a "cheap" meter, but I'm doung all grain), when did you add your extract. When I was, or still do an occasional, extract batch, I find adding at least half of the extract later in the boil (last 15 minutes) resulted in better beer. Also, as you said, a week is a bit early to really tell.

If you really want to rule out your water, research Ward Labs and send a sample to them.

 

[kyoun1e]

Couple things...

1) If you are doing extract right now, you don't need a pH meter. The water means a lot less when brewing extract. As long as the water tastes good, it works. Only thing you may want to do is remove chlorine. pH doesn't affect extract at all.

2) If you do want to go AG, water is important and mash pH is good to measure however I don't recommend going cheap on the meter. A lot of good info on HBT about why going cheap is not a good route. I'm not an expert so I can't explain it all but usually the cheap ones aren't very accurate and don't have a good resolution. $80+ is usually where the better ones start.

I'm willing to bet it wasn't your water. Did you aerate enough? Did you pitch enough yeast? What was the beer fermenting at (not room temp, beer temp). Those three things affected your beer more than your water

Well...that's good to know.

As for other factors that could contribute:

1) Aerate: I thought so. I poured the wort first into a sanitized bucket and then into the funnel to the carboy. Then swished it around a bit.

2) Yeast: Pitched one dry package of Safele as instructed in the kit. Also hit expected final gravity.

3) Fermentation Temp: The room I had the carboy in was consistently 60-65 degrees. I also had it in a swamp cooler with cool water. Didn't have a reading on the carboy but that room was cool due to central AC and dark basement location.

Other issues that may have contributed:

* Blow off top: Handled fairly quickly though.
* Wort clogged in funnel. Had to transfer wort out of funnel and back into bucket. Also, tried to unclog strainer in the funnel with a spoon. Thought I sanitized everything but there was panic there.
* Sanstar put in airlock and NOT a solution of starsan and water (oops).

And as mentioned previously, who knows...maybe I needed more bottle conditioning. I have a sample waiting in my fridge for Friday consumption. It will be three weeks at that point.

All that said, it will be good to know what the water is like here if I do want to go all grain. Check the box off...good or bad...and if bad, that will be a topic I'll need to explore.

Thanks!

 

[kyoun1e]

In addition to what h22lude said (although I did just buy a "cheap" meter, but I'm doung all grain), when did you add your extract. When I was, or still do an occasional, extract batch, I find adding at least half of the extract later in the boil (last 15 minutes) resulted in better beer. Also, as you said, a week is a bit early to really tell.

If you really want to rule out your water, research Ward Labs and send a sample to them.

Ha...good question.

I asked this question specifically prior to batch 1 and it was recommended to add some extract at the beginning and then some at flame out. That's what I did.

 

[h22lude]

Dry yeast doesn't need nearly as much O2 should aeration should be ok. Sprinkling dry yeast in wort is ok. A lot of people like to rehydrate the yeast but you should still have enough yeast even if some do die from shock. Sugar kills cells. Dry yeast walls can't block the sugar out right away so if you sprinkle directly onto the wort, some cells do die...but there is usually enough in a packet to be ok. Fermentation temp seems ok. 65 ambient temp might be a little too high but if you had it in a swamp cooler, fermentation temp shouldn't have been too high. Maybe 70 which isn't terrible for US05.

The blow off shouldn't cause a problem. Clogged funnel is ok if everything was sanitized. Not sure about straight Starsan in the airlock.

How long was it fermenting for?

 

[doug293cz]

A pH meter won't tell you if your water is any good for brewing. pH of the starting water is almost meaningless. What you care about is the mash pH (after about 15 min or so), and that is most affected by the alkalinity of the water. Alkalinity is usually mostly determined by how much bicarbonate you have in your water, although there are other anions that can contribute to alkalinity. Two samples of water could both have a pH of 8.0, and one could be very low alkalinity (like my water), or very high alkalinity, which is why water pH is useless by itself.

You really need to find out what minerals and ions you have in your water. Calcium, chloride (not chlorine), bicarbonate, and sulfate are the most important. You also need to know if you have any particularly bad ions, like iron, in your water. Even seamingly low level of iron can make your beer crap. The best advice in the previous posts is to get a water analysis from your supplier, or order the Ward Labs brewing water analysis. Once you have an analysis, the folks here at HBT can help you understand what it means.

Brew on

 

[kyoun1e]

How long was it fermenting for?

2.5 weeks.

Recipe kit called for 2 weeks.

Also, expected final gravity was nailed so I'm thinking this wasn't a problem either.

Really hoping that a couple extra weeks of bottle conditioning did the trick. If not, maybe something from my bottling process went south? My process:

1) Have bottles (that were new bottles) soak in Oxyclean overnight.
2) Rinse out 2 bottles at a time with hot water when ready to bottle.
3) Give the 2 bottles a few squirts of starsan from the vinator and dunk the necks into Starsan solution.
4) Fill bottles.
5) Cap

Wonder if there was risk in not rinsing out the oxyclean enough?

 

[TungstenBeer]

A pH meter won't tell you if your water is any good for brewing. pH of the starting water is almost meaningless. What you care about is the mash pH (after about 15 min or so), and that is most affected by the alkalinity of the water. Alkalinity is usually mostly determined by how much bicarbonate you have in your water, although there are other anions that can contribute to alkalinity. Two samples of water could both have a pH of 8.0, and one could be very low alkalinity (like my water), or very high alkalinity, which is why water pH is useless by itself.

You really need to find out what minerals and ions you have in your water. Calcium, chloride (not chlorine), bicarbonate, and sulfate are the most important. You also need to know if you have any particularly bad ions, like iron, in your water. Even seamingly low level of iron can make your beer crap. The best advice in the previous posts is to get a water analysis from your supplier, or order the Ward Labs brewing water analysis. Once you have an analysis, the folks here at HBT can help you understand what it means.

Brew on

I agree with doug.

OP: I've been following your first couple brews almost every step of the way and while I think water is a good place to start, pH isn't going to matter for you, as mentioned. You live in the Boston area right? I think you need to start with the water quality report (or whatever your water company has). If they don't have all of the information you need (see doug's post above) then you can call or email them and they should be able to provide you that information.

As we've talked about, I don't think any of those things (blow off, undiluted star san in the airlock, clogged funnel) would have done a thing to your batch.

The other question I would ask is about extract. Where did you get your extract from? How do you know it was fresh? If you got it from MoreBeer or some place with a super high extract turnover then you can probably rule that out. If it was from a can at a LHBS like my first batch, then it might have sat there a while and could be contributing the well known "extract twang" flavor.

 

[kyoun1e]

The other question I would ask is about extract. Where did you get your extract from? How do you know it was fresh? If you got it from MoreBeer or some place with a super high extract turnover then you can probably rule that out. If it was from a can at a LHBS like my first batch, then it might have sat there a while and could be contributing the well known "extract twang" flavor.

The extract was from a kit. BSG Handcraft. A white IPA recipe kit. I see a ton of these kits on my LHBS.

 

[mabrungard]

With water chemistry programs that do a decent job of predicting where mash pH will end up, having an accurate water report for your water source can be nearly as valuable as a good pH meter. If your water source quality varies, you can still evaluate your water's most important parameters (calcium and alkalinity) via relatively inexpensive aquarium test kits. If funds are tight, a water test or the test kits can be great resources in enabling you to get your wort pH much closer to the desired range.

You can get a better understanding of this by reading the Water Knowledge page of the Bru'n Water website.

 

[deks77]

I was thinking chlorine/chloramine issues .. that why i asked about the off flavor.. Dont feel bad I could never do extract without the funk, but can nail an all grain. dont give up keep trying, everyone is different with different method just keep tryingtill you find one that works.