I have high carbonate water and have been treating my water with lime to precipitate out a bunch of it. I let it sit overnight and then transfer it to my mash tun and HLT. Then I use phosphoric acid to bring the pH down to ~ 6. I'm getting low on the phosphoric acid and am getting ready to buy some more and was wondering about using citric acid instead. I haven't compared prices, but assume it is cheaper (but less stable - compared to phosphoric acid).
I did a little looking through the litereature and it looks like yeast (well at least Candida) have a mechanism to take up citric acid, so I assume it would be metabolized by the yeast and therefore flavor neutral (well, at least it won't taste like citric acid).
Does anyone have any thoughts on why I might use one or the other?
Here is my typical procedure. Most of my beers are on the pale side so I figure there is enough buffering capacity in the grain to handle my now de-carbonated water at ~ pH 6. When I do brew something dark I leave the pH a little higher. I realize people always say it isn't the pH of the water, that is important, it is the pH of the mash that matters. I personally think that it is the buffering capacity that matters - as in as long as it is low there is a good chance you pH will be in the proper range. I don't like to go through the hassle of chilling hot mash and using my pH meter to check the pH of the actual mash. I do have some reasonably accurate pH test strips I use to make sure I'm in the right ball park.
I always contemplate titrating with the lime and watching for a pH jump to tell me when to stop. However, I usually remember late at night that I need to set my water so I just toss in the amount the experience has shown me works well (~ 1 tsp). I assume, that this would simply allow me to use less acid to get the pH back down
I did a little looking through the litereature and it looks like yeast (well at least Candida) have a mechanism to take up citric acid, so I assume it would be metabolized by the yeast and therefore flavor neutral (well, at least it won't taste like citric acid).
Does anyone have any thoughts on why I might use one or the other?
Here is my typical procedure. Most of my beers are on the pale side so I figure there is enough buffering capacity in the grain to handle my now de-carbonated water at ~ pH 6. When I do brew something dark I leave the pH a little higher. I realize people always say it isn't the pH of the water, that is important, it is the pH of the mash that matters. I personally think that it is the buffering capacity that matters - as in as long as it is low there is a good chance you pH will be in the proper range. I don't like to go through the hassle of chilling hot mash and using my pH meter to check the pH of the actual mash. I do have some reasonably accurate pH test strips I use to make sure I'm in the right ball park.
I always contemplate titrating with the lime and watching for a pH jump to tell me when to stop. However, I usually remember late at night that I need to set my water so I just toss in the amount the experience has shown me works well (~ 1 tsp). I assume, that this would simply allow me to use less acid to get the pH back down