Brew water ph

[Topcook49]

Good Afternoon
I’m planning to add acid malt to my next all grain brew to attempt to lower my water ph. It’s 7.8 from the tap. Has anyone used it with or without success? Any other advice or tips on the subject would be great.
Many thanks. Andy

 

[Session]

Interesting question! What’s the mash pH?

 

[Galena]

Good Afternoon
I’m planning to add acid malt to my next all grain brew to attempt to lower my water ph. It’s 7.8 from the tap. Has anyone used it with or without success? Any other advice or tips on the subject would be great.
Many thanks. Andy

My tap water has a pH of around 8 and I have not yet had to add acid to get the mash ph within parameters, have you put your recipe in brewing software to calculate if and how much you will need to add?

 

[Drunkula]

It's not the pH that's the big figure to look at for your water, it's the alkalinity, which equates to how much it resists pH changes. Someone in a hard water area could have the same pH as someone in a soft water area but the amount of acid to change the pH is a lot more.

If you've got any water report figures that'll help. @strange-steve has made a special thread to terrify people all about this kind of thing.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ore-advanced-water-treatment-in-post-1.64822/

 

[Budgie]

I often use acid malt in lighter beers (dark bees tend not to need it) and always hit close enough to target mash pH. I punch my figures into EZ water calculator and it has a section for acid malt additions. You can adjust the amount till the pH is where you want it. As @Drunkula said, it’s mash pH you’re worried about, not water pH. The trick is to use it in small quantities, I find usually somewhere around 100g in a 4.5-5kg grist works.

 

[Topcook49]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I haven’t done a mash ph test yet. Next brew I will. Do you cool the mash sample before the ph test or doesn’t it matter?
Thanks Andy

 

[Drunkula]

Do you cool the mash sample before the ph test

Yes. I put the glass I use to do it in either in a bowl of cold water or into the freezer. I can't remember how many points difference it makes. I'll try it with with some and citric acid in a sec and update this.

 

[strange-steve]

Yep cool the sample, it's not very good for the pH meter to put it in a hot sample.