I'm going to be brewing a witbier tomorrow. The ph of our water is pretty high (8), and Brun Water is telling me my mash ph will be higher than desired (5.9). I'm pretty new to AG, though I have a few batches of darker beers under my belt. I've been adding a little lactic acid to the sparge, according the the recommendations of the software, but the mash ph has been okay until now. I don't live near a LHBS, so I can't get my hands on anything unusual, like acid malt. What's my best course of action with this brew? Use bottled water? Use RO water and "build it up"? I've got everything but epsom salts here at the house, but that's easy enough to get. I'm hesitant to add too much lactic acid, since I understand it will begin to impart flavors to the beer at some point.
Water too alkaline for Belgian wit?
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jwalker1140
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I'm still learning about water chemistry so take my suggestion with a grain of salt. I use the EZ water calculator spreadsheet (which I personally think is the most user friendly spreadsheet out there) and when I plug in my wit recipe I also show a mash ph of 5.9 at room temp. Adding 3 ml of lactic acid to the mash (not the sparge) brings my estimated mash ph down to 5.52. The most I've ever added is 2 ml per 5-gal batch, but I've heard many people say you can add as much as 2 ml per gallon before you can taste it in your beer. I also usually want to bring my sulfates down so I often dilute with some distilled water and then add some calcium chloride to the mash, which would also allow me to back off on the lactic acid a tad. Good luck.
If what you have now is lactic acid on hand, use some of that in your mash. It won't take much to lower it to the proper range...in my lighter beers I add 1 ml of lactic acid to get it to 5.3. And my ph is 7.7.
Add it in on the brunwater spreadsheet to see how much you need.
As said above, the taste threshold is supposed to be 2 ml per gallon, ymmv, but I've not tasted it in the less than a ml per gallon I've used.
Add it in on the brunwater spreadsheet to see how much you need.
As said above, the taste threshold is supposed to be 2 ml per gallon, ymmv, but I've not tasted it in the less than a ml per gallon I've used.
My water is really high in bicarbonate and is a real PITA for lighter beers. Just cut it with RO water or Distilled - that will get you on your way. Depending on what I am brewing I cut my water anywhere from 0-20% for stouts and porters all the way up to 100% for pilsners. That is one thing that you can do that is really simple and may help with your numbers.
