orlando wrote:Another brewday another chance to use the mash pH calculator. This time an Amber style beer with an EBC of 13.2 so one of the more difficult styles with my tap water. I was astonished by how accurate it was predicting the mash pH.
This shows the summary of water treatment with the pH prediction.
This shows the meter reading taken at just under 23c.
If it keeps this up I will be very pleased indeed, next stop of course is, has the beer improved? So far there are encouraging signs of fermentation's being a little more vigorous and a little quicker but this is too early and not enough examples to say it is due to the changes. I was disappointed to see that my sparge water was 6.2 rather than the 5.5 targeted but later realised I got my water volumes wrong and actually under acidified as a result. I checked the run off and to my surprise this only went up to 5.6 so hopefully won't have suffered from any excessive tannin extraction.
I said I would update after this brew had peaked and can report that this is by far the best light coloured beer I've brewed, something I have really struggled with. The feedback from others (including my local CBA group) has been the most positive I've received. I put this down to largely, if not wholly, to using the calculator and getting the water treatment right.
So yes Boingy, it is making a difference, a big one.
). I have brewed at least 10 times with the calculator now and I've seen enough of it to ensure I will not be brewing without it from now on. Brewing without it saw me using way too much of liquour salts and CRS, in fact the one brew that, immodestly, I thought was truly outstanding was a Porter I brewed with nothing more than table salt added to the brewing liquour.