Low mash pH help

[orlando]

I've just donated - working it all out should keep me quiet for w while

I doubt it.




Didn't work with us.

[mark4newman]

Hi

My pH meter has ATC but I did let the sample cool anyway and it got down to about 26c eventually, the reading had come up a bit from mash temp but by less than 0.1

ATC only corrects for the errors in the meter reading due to temp. If you didn't have an ATC you would have a chart that you would need to manually adjust the readings. and these are the readings the ATC gives.

[bob3000]

I have also been trying to get a handle on my mash ph. I have been doing it with trial and error. I have a standard amount of salts I add for pale and amber beers and then I add about 3/4 of the acid I think I need, then check PH and adjust until i have the desired ph, then make a note to get me closer next time.

[bob3000]

Also, I think it is a good idea to keep things simple only use one factor to adjust ph(ie AMS). If you start juggling too many variables it gets very complicated.

[orlando]

I have also been trying to get a handle on my mash ph. I have been doing it with trial and error. I have a standard amount of salts I add for pale and amber beers and then I add about 3/4 of the acid I think I need, then check PH and adjust until i have the desired ph, then make a note to get me closer next time.

Try this and download the spread sheet.

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge

[bob3000]

I have also been trying to get a handle on my mash ph. I have been doing it with trial and error. I have a standard amount of salts I add for pale and amber beers and then I add about 3/4 of the acid I think I need, then check PH and adjust until i have the desired ph, then make a note to get me closer next time.

Try this and download the spread sheet.

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge

Yes I already have. And done several others. What I'm saying is if you have a ph meter you don't have to rely on guess work, you can use software to get you near and double check with ph meter.

[orlando]

I have also been trying to get a handle on my mash ph. I have been doing it with trial and error. I have a standard amount of salts I add for pale and amber beers and then I add about 3/4 of the acid I think I need, then check PH and adjust until i have the desired ph, then make a note to get me closer next time.

Try this and download the spread sheet.

https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/water-knowledge

Yes I already have. And done several others. What I'm saying is if you have a ph meter you don't have to rely on guess work, you can use software to get you near and double check with ph meter.

Well Brun' water takes out the "guesswork" and the pH meter just confirms it. As long as you have an accurate starting water profile and you know what finished water profile you want, the only thing left to do is put your malt bill into it then adjust the acids to reduce alkalinity then the salts to achieve it. No guesswork required.

[bob3000]

Well Brun' water takes out the "guesswork" and the pH meter just confirms it. As long as you have an accurate starting water profile and you know what finished water profile you want, the only thing left to do is put your malt bill into it then adjust the acids to reduce alkalinity then the salts to achieve it. No guesswork required.

I suppose everyone has their own way of doing it. The OP is 95% of the way there. It seemed to me the simplest solution was just to hold back some of the acid and adjust according to the ph meter.

There are a lot of variables to play with in bru'water and there is no one correct solution to adjusting your water. The simplest way of going about it is to make sure you have enough calcium in there and then use acid to adjust ph. personally I don't mess about trying to replicate water from other cities.

Once you have done it a few times you get to know your water and can work out roughly how much acid you need. No need to use the spreadsheet for every brew.

[JonA]

Well I got my supporters version of Bru 'n Water and having fed in all the data from my last brew which had the low pH, the spreadsheet came out with pH5.1 which was pretty much exactly what I measured - so I'm rather impressed with that.

One thing I didn't realise was how much even the small amount of amber malt dragged down the pH but the spreadsheet allows you to "switch off" the roast and/or crystal malts to get an instant comparison.