When and how should mash pH be measured?

[orlando]

Thanks for all the tips. Brewing today and so far the readings have been; 15 minutes into the mash, pH 5.3; end of mash, before beginning the sparge, pH 5.2; final runnings at the end of the sparge, pH 5.6.

I'll take another reading of the finished wort--I'd wondered if that would be worthwhile. I'll also go and check the pH of the beers I've got on tap. The thought of checking the beer pH hadn't even crossed my mind!

Guy

Be sure decarbonate or allow to go flat first. So far the brew day seems to be following a perfect trajectory.

[john luc]

Thanks for all the tips. Brewing today and so far the readings have been; 15 minutes into the mash, pH 5.3; end of mash, before beginning the sparge, pH 5.2; final runnings at the end of the sparge, pH 5.6.

I'll take another reading of the finished wort--I'd wondered if that would be worthwhile. I'll also go and check the pH of the beers I've got on tap. The thought of checking the beer pH hadn't even crossed my mind!

Guy

Ha haa you'll be reading baby stools and giving the wife a funny look next,when a man finds a new toy he really likes to play with it

[Kev888]

Excellent, thanks - thats more or less as I recalled. So when comparing with others (or preferred PH ranges), slight differences in mash-in rate or sample time aren't going to cause big discrepancies. Though yes, still worth being consistent within one's own process.

As I said, do your normal mash in, shut down the hatches and wait 10-15 minutes. I take this time to calibrate the meter, then get the sample and cool to circa 20c, Aleman puts a shot glass in the freezer puts the sample in that and it is almost instantly ready to be read. Leave dunked in for 5 minutes to allow the reading to settle. My next reading is the last runnings, just want to know the pH is below 6. Final brew day reading is of the finished wort, again looking for a further lowering of the pH hoping to get 5-5.2. Final pH in the finished beer should be under 4.4, better still under 4 but the yeast choice plays a significant part here. A pH meter gives you an insight to how your process is doing and can be a guide as to what change in your practices/choices might be required. If you get the mash pH right and reduce alkalinity in your sparge to the correct levels most of this should look after itself. Just nice to know.

Thats certainly good for consistency between comparable brews, I have a similar regime for the mash stage. Though it doesn't help as much wrt my question/point, where different brewers have less comparable circumstances. Thankfully as PH changes only slowly, several minutes here or there don't really matter very much.

As you say, the PH should follow on naturally from the boil stage onwards. Personally I don't normally worry about checking that, unless theres some reason to suspect a problem, though I must admit this is more through laziness than because its a bad idea!

[orlando]

Thats certainly good for consistency between comparable brews, I have a similar regime for the mash stage. Though it doesn't help as much wrt my question/point, where different brewers have less comparable circumstances. Thankfully as PH changes only slowly, several minutes here or there don't really matter very much.

The mash is the mash, and as you say, "several minutes here or there don't really matter very much". Taking the reading too early, say under 5 minutes could give cause for concern as it could easily read higher than the pH range we are after, but between 10 minutes and the end of the mash itself will tell you if you are on target. The final wort pH is actually quite an interesting number as it will give you clues about how up to that point your process/technique has performed.

[Kev888]

Yes, I agree with that, good stuff. Small batches can be very fast to mash in, whilst large ones can take an extra 10-15mins of stirring. But add a 10mins wait to both and the former will avoid being too early, and the latter should not have changed too much either.

[john luc]

I keep a bottle of Lactic acid on standby to help if I need to lower the mash PH but as m numbers come in on the button I don't use it. Just had a look at the bottle and it says best before 2014

[Kev888]

Its probably just as well, I have on a very few occasions tried adjusting the mash PH after mashing in and found it to be a real pain, 'much' easier to get the water right beforehand. Satisfying when it all comes together, too.

[Hanglow]

Saw this on another forum, it's quite interesting about final beer ph . something to consider if you have ph meter at least

http://www.mbaa.com/districts/Northwest ... rewing.pdf

[guypettigrew]

Final numbers from today's brewday, in case anyone's interested!

The hopped wort had a pH of 5.1 as it went into the fermenter. The three beers on tap at the moment showed 4.2, 4.2 and 4.3 pH. But this was at about 11C. Not sure what this would be at 20C.

So, thanks again for the advice. Seems like my pH values are all good.

Guy

[orlando]

Saw this on another forum, it's quite interesting about final beer ph . something to consider if you have ph meter at least

http://www.mbaa.com/districts/Northwest ... rewing.pdf

An interesting line in that article, which I confess passed me by when I first read it, is that the pH of fermented wort rises if there is autolysis. A subject I know Kev has commented on a lot, be interested to know if he knew that. Both of us have been sceptical of autolysis at the HB scale unless beer has been left on yeast a long time. Another interesting use of your new pH meter.

[Kev888]

I didn't know/recall that autolysis changed pH noticeably, thats very interesting; Charles Bamforth is usually reliable, too.

Yes, I do feel that people sometimes worry prematurely about autolysis flavours in normal home-brew conditions. But there are occasionally those who (for whatever reason) try to go too far the other way or have heat-pads or low belts warming the settled yeast, so if there is a reliable relationship with pH it could be a handy monitoring tool.

[orlando]

if there is a reliable relationship with pH it could be a handy monitoring tool.

Exactly and although extremely rare it is another example of how important a pH meter can be.

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Think i may get a Ph meter soon. Sounds interesting all this tinkering.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kev888]

Saw this on another forum, it's quite interesting about final beer ph . something to consider if you have ph meter at least

http://www.mbaa.com/districts/Northwest ... rewing.pdf

An interesting line in that article, which I confess passed me by when I first read it, is that the pH of fermented wort rises if there is autolysis. A subject I know Kev has commented on a lot, be interested to know if he knew that. Both of us have been sceptical of autolysis at the HB scale unless beer has been left on yeast a long time. Another interesting use of your new pH meter.

Just in passing, I happened across reference to this on the Braukaiser website too (last paragraph in the 'Nutrient uptake by yeast' section). No references given, though.

[JabbA]

I'm looking to get a better handle on my process, I used the silly little paper strips to measure my mash pH for my first few brews and was in the right zone and haven't bothered since. Once you've measured the wort at room temp how do you correct the pH if it's out?

I'm also getting more into sours and, although I've not tried one, I'm planning on brewing a Berliner Weisse; getting an idea of the pH from the lactobacillus is important I gather.

Cheers,
Jamie