A mash pH of 4 is very low. The enzymes might well have found it difficult to work at their most efficient. You might find this link interesting. Kev888 posted it on this forum 18 months or so ago.
Have you ever had a full water analysis done? It would be worth it if you haven't.
Guy
Very slow ineffective ferment
-
guypettigrew
- Even further under the Table
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- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:10 pm
- Location: Christchurch, Dorset
Re: Very slow ineffective ferment
Except I have used this yeast to very good effect in my very first full grain mash. A Wadworth 6X clone, no sugar. My other brews and my wines which include boiled tap water all ferment to dryness very effectively.
I use the simple scheme in Dave Line's book for water treatment of soft waters. I boil all brewing waters for at least 15min the day before use.
In saying my water is acid it is about ph6.5 since the reservoir (Blackwater) which Dundee uses for its water is surrounded by peat bearing hills. I keep tropical fish and struggle to get the pH of my soft acid blackwater tanks below pH6.
These things are relative, not absolute.
I use the simple scheme in Dave Line's book for water treatment of soft waters. I boil all brewing waters for at least 15min the day before use.
In saying my water is acid it is about ph6.5 since the reservoir (Blackwater) which Dundee uses for its water is surrounded by peat bearing hills. I keep tropical fish and struggle to get the pH of my soft acid blackwater tanks below pH6.
These things are relative, not absolute.