Water Profile Clarification

[Arminius757]

Hello everyone!

So I just started my way into the world of BIAB and I really want to take a focus on mash pH. I did my first brew, a hefeweizen, flying more or less by the seat of my pants using distilled water and adding some salts to "match" a Munich water profile using BeerSmith.
Well I dont want to do that anymore.
I have a Kolsch on deck for this weekend, a really simple recipe using just 6lbs of Kolsch malt to make a 3 gallon batch. I am playing with the water profiles using Brun Water and I just need some clarification.
Profile is as follows:
I am using 4.5 gallons of distilled water. Before anyone asks, I do not have a filter for my local tap water and it really doesnt taste too good... I figure distilled is a blank slate for me to add salts as I would like. Anyway, I chose a profile based on what Brun Water suggests:
Note I have an estimated SRM of 6.7 and Brun Water suggests a pH range from 5.2 to 5.3.
As we can see, I am at 5.55, a touch too high for the suggested range. How could I adjust my pH? I looked at adding some lactic acid, and around just 1mm brings it to 5.29, but it drops the Bicarbonate to around -92. Is this a problem? I get rather confused with this whole bicarbonate thing... people say that I shouldnt add it to my water and that softer water is better. But in this case, wouldnt I lose all my buffering abilities and risk the pH dropping like crazy?
Should I be this anal about getting the pH dead nuts?
I have been reading so much saying that pH is key so I would really love to nail it this time around and make it a habit. Is my continued use of distilled water going to hurt me in the future with other styles like stouts?
Am I even going about this whole crazy water thing the right way?

Any help would be tremendous.
Thanks!

 

[enkamania]

Lactic acid could do the trick. Here is a link to a discussion of negative bicarbonate

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=15647.0

 

[douglasbarbin]

Bicarbonate is generally undesirable for the mash. The only case where you might need positive bicarbonate is when you have a lot of roasted malts and your mash pH is too low. The bicarbonate would negate some of the acidity and bring your mash pH back up into the desired range.

On the other hand, if you want to lower your mash pH, you would add an acid. Phosphoric acid is said to have the least flavor contribution, but lactic acid would also work.

Nothing wrong with using distilled water, and it is actually desirable in most cases because you can build the water profile exactly as you want it by adding brewing salts. Distilled water gives you a "blank slate", so to speak. If you are doing a stout and you start with distilled water, you may want to add something like sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise the mash pH slightly. Alternately, you could add the roasted grains near the end of the mash or during the sparge, after conversion has already taken place.

 

[mabrungard]

The negative bicarbonate value is essentially a placeholder since there isn't such a thing as having a negative value for that ion. It means that excess protons are being provided that consume X amount of bicarbonate. Negative bicarb values are OK.

 

[Arminius757]

Awesome! thanks for all the clarification guys! This can get a little confusing sometimes