Acidifying Sparge Water

[Cestrian]

I have never considered doing this before until recent astringency problems, but generally do people acidify their sparge water?
Is it required to keep the pH down at the end of a fly sparge and does it improve efficiency or the flavour of the beer?

 

[Drunkula]

It's very much a thing. You can download Bru n Water and fill in your figures to get a idea of where to start and back it up with a pH meter. Google "acidify sparge water" and there's plenty out there.

 

[MmmBeer]

I always add CRS or lactic acid to my sparge water, although it depends on your water, hard water needs more treatment than soft.

See Beginners Guide to Water Treatment

 

[Cestrian]

I have low alkalinity water (20 mg/L) and low calcium 20ppm so I just throw 3 or 4g of calcium carbonate in the mash to get the calcium over 100ppm and happy days. I mainly make pale ales, so never bothered with the sparge. Should I be doing this even with low alkalinity tap water? If so what is a good pH set point to aim for? I have got a bottle of CRS and a pH meter so could do this without too much fuss.

 

[strange-steve]

I have low alkalinity water (20 mg/L) and low calcium 20ppm so I just throw 3 or 4g of calcium carbonate in the mash to get the calcium over 100ppm and happy days. I mainly make pale ales, so never bothered with the sparge. Should I be doing this even with low alkalinity tap water? If so what is a good pH set point to aim for? I have got a bottle of CRS and a pH meter so could do this without too much fuss.

If your water is only 20ppm alkalinity then acidifying the sparge water probably isn't necessary, but if you want to do it then add just a touch of CRS to bring the pH down to about 6 or slightly below.

On a related note, you'd probably be better off not using calcium carbonate as a calcium source because it doesn't just add calcium it also increases the alkalinity, which you don't want to do if you're brewing pale ales. You'd be better off using calcium sulphate (gypsum) and calcium chloride.

 

[Cestrian]

You're right Steve I meant calcium chloride. I will try dropping the sparge pH see if it makes any improvement.

 

[Gerryjo]

Be wary of your water report as well considering mine was supposed to be 7.2 and actually was 6.88.
Only thought of checking my tap water with my new meter after making water calcs and adding to my grain bill which should have 5.35 but was actually at 5.18.i know the numbers don't add up and the unit is pre-calibrated but checked again to be sure.
I think I may just increase my aciduated malt from 100g to 200g as it seems to work well.

 

[Cestrian]

I haven't checked my water report for years. As you say Gerryjo it can change quite a bit. I use salifert kits and a pH meter. Never had to use acidulated malt either. Everything is just a lot easier if you have low alkalinity.

I am going to do an Altbier at the weekend, so I was going to adjust my alkalinity up to 75ppm with baking soda. Is it still worth adjusting the pH of the sparge water down to 6?

 

[Gerryjo]

I mostly use 100g of aciduated malt and found that it makes quite a difference to the beer I'm brewing which is usually APA or lager lately but have no bother with stouts.