5.2 Stabiliser

(That's water to the rest of us!) Beer is about 95% water, so if you want to discuss water treatment, filtering etc this is the place to do it!
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Lagrene

5.2 Stabiliser

Post by Lagrene » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:08 pm

Hello,

I recently made a brew using this, but I also used CRS and gypsum as well (I think that was a mistake).

Can anyone tell me what effect this will have on the beer?

Thanks

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Aleman
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Post by Aleman » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:44 pm

I'd agree with Daab,

The CRS should help reduce the alkalinity of your water (the power it has to resist changes in pH), the pH 5.2 will try and keep the pH at 5.2, and the calcium in the Gypsum will react with the phosphates released in the mash (and by the 5.2) to try and reduce the pH (By leaving lonely H+ ions around :D). The sulphate will remain in the wort to aid in increasing the perceived bitterness of the final beer.


Daab said it better :lol:

Lagrene

Post by Lagrene » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:57 pm

The beer tastes a bit acidic to me - I've just tested the Ph using a paper strip and it's about 3.8. What should the Ph be - it's a Summer Lightning clone?

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Aleman
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Post by Aleman » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:17 pm

I know that the pH drops during the boil and fermentation, but cannot recall with certainty what it falls to, although 3.8 does ring a bell.

How long has the beer beer maturing etc, it could be something that will fade with time?

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Thu Nov 29, 2007 8:28 pm

Noonan says the Ph drops to ~4 during fermentation with an ale yeast and 4.5 with a lager yeast (pp. 174), so 3.8 doesn't sound wildly off.

Immature beer does tend to have a bit of a 'tang' about it so I wouldn't worry.

Lagrene

Post by Lagrene » Thu Nov 29, 2007 8:49 pm

Ok - thanks for the replies. Beer is only 2 weeks old, so early days yet.

Next time - should I just use the 5.2 stabiliser, not the CRS and/or gypsum?

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:06 pm

I use 5.2 on its own and my water is very soft. If i'm adding any other salts I do it during the boil to accentuate flavours rather than alter ph.

RabMaxwell

Post by RabMaxwell » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:05 pm

mysterio wrote:I use 5.2 on its own and my water is very soft. If i'm adding any other salts I do it during the boil to accentuate flavours rather than alter ph.
Hello Mysterio i have read about you using ph 5.2 before i believe we have the same very soft water supply from Loch Braden as i was told some years back on a visit to the strathaven brewery that was there source also. I tried ph 5.2 once before in the mash along with gypsom think i will try it in the boil insread. What's your procedure & addition amounts do you get a crisp bitterness in english bitters ?

Vossy1

Post by Vossy1 » Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:33 pm

Hi Rab, I also have very soft water (1.75 Clarkes) and I add my PH5.2 directly to the mash. My bitters turn out nice and crisp, I'd go so far as to say the hops are quite sharp, though not harsh.

RabMaxwell

Post by RabMaxwell » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:18 pm

Vossy1 wrote:Hi Rab, I also have very soft water (1.75 Clarkes) and I add my PH5.2 directly to the mash. My bitters turn out nice and crisp, I'd go so far as to say the hops are quite sharp, though not harsh.
Didn't know you had soft water do you add any minerals to your boil what does (1.75 Clarks) mean

Vossy1

Post by Vossy1 » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:13 pm

Degrees Clark (°Clark) was commonly quoted in the UK many years ago but is little used today. 1° Clark is equivalent to 14.3ppm or mg/l. It corresponds to one grain of calcium carbonate in one Imperial gallon of water or 14.3 parts of calcium carbonate in 1,000,000 parts of water.

Still used by united utilities but they also quote 10mg Ca/ltr which is very soft water.

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:10 am

RabMaxwell wrote:
mysterio wrote:I use 5.2 on its own and my water is very soft. If i'm adding any other salts I do it during the boil to accentuate flavours rather than alter ph.
Hello Mysterio i have read about you using ph 5.2 before i believe we have the same very soft water supply from Loch Braden as i was told some years back on a visit to the strathaven brewery that was there source also. I tried ph 5.2 once before in the mash along with gypsom think i will try it in the boil insread. What's your procedure & addition amounts do you get a crisp bitterness in english bitters ?
Hi Rab, I use the 5.2 in the mash, roughly a tablespoon per 5 kilos of grist. Every time i've measured it with strips it has been within .1 of 5.2 so it does the job.

I'm still messing around with water chemistry for flavour. I've been using a program called BreWater (available for free here: http://home.elp.rr.com/brewbeer/) It's useful for determining what salt additions you need to get close to Burton or whatever. I've been adding 7 grams of Burton water crystals (from Brupaks) for 10 gallon batches which seems to be working well as a flavour enhancer for British style ales.

RabMaxwell

Post by RabMaxwell » Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:22 am

Cheers Mysterio i will have a look at Brewwater i already have my salts ready to go in waiting to reach strike temp. I tried Murpy's values for bitter last beer now trying Ca /120 Mg /10 Na /40 So4 /300 Cl /50 HCO3 /25.
I am giving the Almanac version of Black Sheep Special Bitter 0G 1046 after reading all the talk last week about it. I have called mine Ba Ba Black Sheepy Ale though going to omit my usual hopback addition & Dry hop this one & see how it goes. Cheers

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