Cream Ale & High Mash pH

[ThatGeekGuy]

Decided to make a Cream of Three Crops BIAB today, was in a hurry and didn't check my pre-mash water pH. After mashing in and mashing about 30 minutes, I remembered and saw I had a mash pH of 6.2. I just let it ride with a 90 minute mash, and it looks like I hit good OG and efficiency numbers. Anything to be concerned about? And anything I could have done at the thirty minute mark that might have made a difference?

 

[Denny]

Possible tannins and a kinda flabby beer from the high pH. Nothing certain, but possibilities.

 

[Yooper]

Decided to make a Cream of Three Crops BIAB today, was in a hurry and didn't check my pre-mash water pH. After mashing in and mashing about 30 minutes, I remembered and saw I had a mash pH of 6.2. I just let it ride with a 90 minute mash, and it looks like I hit good OG and efficiency numbers. Anything to be concerned about? And anything I could have done at the thirty minute mark that might have made a difference?

It might be a bit harsh and astringent, but not much you can do to change the mash pH after about the first 10 minutes anyway. I'd just make notes on that recipe so when you do it the next time you can make the water adjustments in advance.

My tap water has that effect on lighter colored beers, so I make my cream alesl kolsch, and light lagers with RO water (and a tiny bit of calcium chloride) and always get a good mash pH right from the start. I do much better with tap water on darker beers like a stout, due to the alkalinity in my water.

 

[ThatGeekGuy]

Yoop,
Thanks for the inputs. My tap water is about 7.8, I cut it with RO about fifty-fifty but should have checked it before mashing in. I'll remember next time for lighter beers to pay better attention to get the tap/RO balanced up front.

Denny,
Thanks as well. I've never heard the term 'flabby' to describe a beer, only the brewer ....

 

[Yooper]

Yoop,
Thanks for the inputs. My tap water is about 7.8, I cut it with RO about fifty-fifty but should have checked it before mashing in. I'll remember next time for lighter beers to pay better attention to get the tap/RO balanced up front.

Denny,
Thanks as well. I've never heard the term 'flabby' to describe a beer, only the brewer ....

The water pH doesn't matter, so it won't help to check that. What does matter is the buffering capacity of the water. Often, when you use a lot of darker grains, the pH does drop lower than not using darker grains. The way to predict probable mash pH isn't from the pH of the water, but I'd suggest using a water spreadsheet to help guestimate the pH before mashing it.

I know that AJ deLange suggests a test mash first in a new recipe to see what the pH will do if you're unsure, and that's definitely a possiblity as well.

I find that using bru'nwater first really helps me predict my pH pretty closely and I've had to make only minor adjustments (but mostly none at all) as a result.

 

[ThatGeekGuy]

Yoop,
The way I understood it was on lighter beers your malts have very limited buffering capacity, so getting your pre- mash water close to 5.2 was a good starting point. I know that darker malts have greater buffering capacity, that will be my next challenge as there is a RIS planned in the next few months.

I've got the paid version of B'run Water, just in too big a hurry to run the numbers this morning. Shame on me, we'll see how it goes.