ph of Finished Beer

[SiHoltye]

Hello,

I'm lazy and have a habit of going off half-cocked and sounding silly, I'm doing it again now probably but.....

I half listened to an archived Basic Brewing Radio broadcast where ph was being discussed http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrew ... -11-07.mp3, both ph of the mash and of finished beer. Discussed was also what high/low readings might mean for you and the tastes you might encounter. Then I measured my finished beer to find what I think is a below good range ph reading.

Are my eyes OK? Does that strip look beneath ph3.8 to you too? When I have time I'll listen to the whole broadcast again and pay more attention...promise.

[Aleman]

Yes, and a pH of below 3.8 for finished beer is fine.

[SiHoltye]

Thanks Aleman.

Have just listened to the rest of that broadcast and have a renewed interest in achieving target water specifications, and hence better replicating subtle characteristics in beers from different regions. It will be interesting to see if (like I suspect) I may have a 'house taste' from my water.
Quite excited about it right now, the old stumbling block of 'using bottled water is cheating' has been cleared from my mind. The info on the bottled water will hopefully first let me see what style it would be most suitable to brew with, and further provide a stable basis upon which to make chemical additions...well perhaps a more stable base than my area water report of averages Nov2006-2007 and missing most of the required elements

[SiHoltye]

I have the water now, and if this all works out at 87p/5L it may become the water for my future brewing if like I hope it has the necessary info to let the calculator adjust to best suit light/dark beers.

I'm guessing I may not be the only person who doesn't feel up to confidently using this calculator which was very kindly made by forum user and legend Graham Wheeler(Many Thanks)

I've entered the figures from the label into the Enter Your Water Composition: row, filling all except the Carbonate box. Is the BiCarbonate figure on the label what should go in the Carbonate box?
Is there any other pertinent info for the calculator on the label I'm overlooking...dry residue/pH...etc?

[Aleman]

I ignore the carbonate figure, preferring to enter my alkalinity as measured by Daab's test kit in the box above. The water calculator sorts everything else out for me. Carbonate is not the same as bicarbonate . . . in fact using this water I would use the Bicarbonate figure as the alkalinity (as Bicarbonate). . . . then don't forget to select none for the alkalinity reduction method. The calculator will sort out the remaining stuff once (as you've entered the other bits) you select your desired water . . . or in my case desired sulphate to chloride ratio.

[SiHoltye]

When you say...in fact using this water I would use the Bicarbonate figure as the alkalinity (as Bicarbonate)...is that CO3? Sorry this really isn't my thing

Sorry, just looked it up...it's HCO3!

[SiHoltye]

I've assumed volume to be treated is all liquor, not just mash.

Thanks so much Aleman.

Just to finish off. I'm mashing tomorrow and my LHBS is pretty naff. I have ordered Gypsum and Calcium Chloride flakes online which won't reach me in time for tomorrow though. Along with common table salt that's all I'd need from this calculator isn't it? Is there anything 'high street' I could grab in the meantime for the gypsum or calcium chloride....and finally any info on how to add these minerals would be greatly appreciated.

Perhaps you could come over and brew it for me too

[Aleman]

I've assumed volume to be treated is all liquor, not just mash.

Yes, I normally put 2/3 in the mash . . . directly into the grist before adding it to the liquor, and 1/3 into the boiler before I run off as my water has so little Calcium . . . just like that bottled water. I don't treat the sparge liquor, as I don't want the calcium trapped int he mash bed.

I'm mashing tomorrow and my LHBS is pretty naff. I have ordered Gypsum and Calcium Chloride flakes online which won't reach me in time for tomorrow though. Along with common table salt that's all I'd need from this calculator isn't it? Is there anything 'high street' I could grab in the meantime for the gypsum or calcium chloride....and finally any info on how to add these minerals would be greatly appreciated.

Looks as though you are buggered then IIRC you are in Copthorne which is a pretty hard water area, so you could try using 10% of your tap water as well . . . but that doesn't help with the chloride and sulphate additions

Perhaps you could come over and brew it for me too

Love too, but I have the SQL Server upgrade to prepare for for this weekend

[SiHoltye]

Thanks for your help Aleman. I love this hobby and gadgets like this water treatment calc make things more interesting still, I just don't have the head for the science behind it right now. Perhaps later.

[SiHoltye]

I've got the info on my tap water now. What should govern when I add what? All in the MT, or hold back something to add to the boiler to increase Calcium in finished wort (Aleman - if so what and won't that affect these calcs regards ph in the MT).

[Aleman]

I've got the info on my tap water now. What should govern when I add what? All in the MT, or hold back something to add to the boiler to increase Calcium in finished wort (Aleman - if so what and won't that affect these calcs regards ph in the MT).

It will help maintain the pH equilibrium in the mash, where the alkalinity will control where the pH ends up.

What I do, is to treat the mash liquor separately to the Sparge liquor (But this is just me) I adjust the ratio of Gypsum/calcium chloride to suit the beer style I'm brewing and add those salts to the grist. (Hoppy beers Sulphate of 150-200 Chloride 0-50ppm, Malty beers Sulphate of 0-50ppm, chloride 150-200ppm)

For the sparge I treat (Using the same ratio as for the mash) to hit a calcium level of 100mg/l in the sparge liquor . . . however this gets added to the copper not to the sparge liquor. I'm working on the theory that as my calcium is so low anything I add to the mash will be trapped in there, so that I need to increase it again in the boiler to ensure that I have enough for the remaining brewing processes.

[SiHoltye]

Thanks for taking the time to post more info Aleman. I think I'll choose not to alter the ratio on this brew but will return to it when making a beer to accentuate hoppiness or maltiness.
On this first occasion I will add a third of the additions to the grist (having pestle and motar'ed the CaCl flakes), and then add the remainder to the run off before boiling. I'm keen to see If I notice a difference in the final product.

[SiHoltye]

Brewed tonight...batch sparging, efficiency from actual volume used to be 75%, 85% tonight checked the mash ph and it was markedly different in colour on the ph strip from the usual low ph, about 5.0ish tonight(I don't tend to have an eye for coulours) but what will it taste like??? Am pleased the inidcations seem to be in the right direction.