DanMalleck
Active Member
I have recently begun brewing after a bit of a hiaitus (new house seemed to have bad brewing juju). I have also been updating my brewing tech with a ph meter and am paying more attention to the mash character. But I have a problem.
I did a traditional English Pale Ale a few weeks back, first with my new meter. Mash ph was 5.6 so I thought I’d reduce it a bit (previous batch had high ph and terrible efficiency so I wanted to get it to about 5.2). I was doing a 3 gal batch and in my tun I had about 7 lb of grain and 10 quarts of water.
Beersmith mash tool told me to add 2.6ml of lactic acid. I added 2.5 (1/4 tsp) and it dropped the ph to 4.7!!! I then adjusted with chalk until I got it to about 5.2. What a mess.
I bottled yesterday and it smelled wonderful, and I was sooo excited to have the brewing curse lifted. I collected a pint from the carboy as I began filling the bottling bucket, and decanted in the fridge. Took a hefty swig and it was… terrible. It had off flavours I’d never tasted, and I was at a loss. It’s hard to describe, but it was an acrid finish that ruined the whole experience. (I know this was pulled from the carboy but still I’ve never tasted something so bad).
I had no idea what happened but then remembered the lactic acid. Could 2.5ml in 3 Gal have caused a radical acrid flavour? (Forgive the mixing of imperial and metric please!)
There are two other things that could have happened. First, I was reusing washed yeast. I was meticulous in sanitation and sterilization, but you never know. Still it didn’t taste like a yeast issue. The only other thing I could think of is some kind of radical infection, but so far I have not had any other indications of an infection—the fermentation finished within parameters and really it didn’t taste like an infection.
Any suggestions? (Also what’s with that mash ph tool being so off?)
I did a traditional English Pale Ale a few weeks back, first with my new meter. Mash ph was 5.6 so I thought I’d reduce it a bit (previous batch had high ph and terrible efficiency so I wanted to get it to about 5.2). I was doing a 3 gal batch and in my tun I had about 7 lb of grain and 10 quarts of water.
Beersmith mash tool told me to add 2.6ml of lactic acid. I added 2.5 (1/4 tsp) and it dropped the ph to 4.7!!! I then adjusted with chalk until I got it to about 5.2. What a mess.
I bottled yesterday and it smelled wonderful, and I was sooo excited to have the brewing curse lifted. I collected a pint from the carboy as I began filling the bottling bucket, and decanted in the fridge. Took a hefty swig and it was… terrible. It had off flavours I’d never tasted, and I was at a loss. It’s hard to describe, but it was an acrid finish that ruined the whole experience. (I know this was pulled from the carboy but still I’ve never tasted something so bad).
I had no idea what happened but then remembered the lactic acid. Could 2.5ml in 3 Gal have caused a radical acrid flavour? (Forgive the mixing of imperial and metric please!)
There are two other things that could have happened. First, I was reusing washed yeast. I was meticulous in sanitation and sterilization, but you never know. Still it didn’t taste like a yeast issue. The only other thing I could think of is some kind of radical infection, but so far I have not had any other indications of an infection—the fermentation finished within parameters and really it didn’t taste like an infection.
Any suggestions? (Also what’s with that mash ph tool being so off?)