PH stabilizer 5/2

[greenhaze]

Has anyone used thus product. My water has a high PH and I am brewing a hefe today.
Would this product help to lower my PH , or should I just add calcium chloride ?
Slainte

 

[Wynne-R]

Short answer, ditch the 5.2, it doesn’t do much. The calcium chloride will do a little bit, not nearly enough. If you use more than a few grams, you get a minerally taste.

What you need is a small amount of acid. I use about 5mL of 88% lactic acid with moderate alkalinity water, about 100 ppm. It depends on the water and the grain bill. Your tapwater pH doesn’t have much to do with it.

Or you could use RO or distilled water. See the primer. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

Also this is my favorite calculator: http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/#

 

[Denny]

Has anyone used thus product. My water has a high PH and I am brewing a hefe today.
Would this product help to lower my PH , or should I just add calcium chloride ?
Slainte

Your water pH doesn't matter. The mash pH does. The grain will naturally drop the pH. If it doesn't drop it enough, you can use CaCl2, CaSO4, or lactic or phosphoric acid to drop it further. I would advise against using 5.2. I did n't work for me and left a strange taste to the beer. That's also the opinion of the majority of those who have used it, based on what I've seen.

 

[amandabab]

could you lower the mash ph with some starsan?

 

[Yooper]

could you lower the mash ph with some starsan?

Phosphoric acid would work great (and I use it) but star-san has more than just 100% phosphoric acid in it and I wouldn't want to use that.

 

[b-boy]

Acid malt is also an option. I usually add an ounce or 2 to my mashes to help lower the pH. I use the
EZ-Water spreadsheet tool to figure out how much acid malt, as well as what other H2O additions to make.

 

[Vigo_Carpathian]

On top of any acid addition, you need a buffer or the pH will be unstable with even a small addition of acid. Adding 5/2 after a small acid addition would be ideal.

 

[Denny]

On top of any acid addition, you need a buffer or the pH will be unstable with even a small addition of acid. Adding 5/2 after a small acid addition would be ideal.

Except that you'd still get the off flavors it produces.

 

[SilverZero]

So we need to formulate a flavor-neutral buffer that gets along with the ions commonly found in the mash. Maybe I'll sic some of my chemistry students on this one (or do it myself).

Some potential options: http://microscopy.berkeley.edu/Resources/instruction/buffers.html

 

[MagicSmoker]

I tried 5.2 in one batch and while it did, indeed, stabilize the mash pH at 5.2, it did not fix my astringency problem. It was only after changing to RO water and building it back up with CaCl2, CaSO4 and MgSO4 that the astringency went away. I also bought some 88% lactic acid and added it to both the mash and sparge water, but today I just added a tiny bit (0.25mL) to 2gal. of sparge water, as my mash pH is coming in perfect with just the RO water and salts (5.4).

It is my understanding that the malt has plenty of buffering capacity as long as the strike water isn't too far off pH of 7; it is the sparge water that is where the real problems crop up.

Hope this helps.

 

[Yooper]

So we need to formulate a flavor-neutral buffer that gets along with the ions commonly found in the mash. Maybe I'll sic some of my chemistry students on this one (or do it myself).

Some potential options: http://microscopy.berkeley.edu/Resources/instruction/buffers.html

Normally, unless you're using straight 100% RO water, there is plenty of alkalinity to off set the drop in pH by the grains addition. And even then, unless you're using lots of roasted/dark malts, you still normally need to acid to get to the correct pH, not alkalinity. Rarely would anyone need to add a base to the mash to get to an optimum pH level (generally 5.3-5.6 at room temperature).

Most often the cause of flavor issues due to pH problems in the mash is a too-high pH, and very rarely a too-low pH would happen.

 

[Wynne-R]

What she said. It’s pretty hard to get the pH too low. In my experience I would put the optimal range at 5.0-5.5. Much better too low than too high.

Too high on the mash is muddied and muted mash flavors. Too high on the sparge is tannic, astringent phenols. Way too low is extra crisp and maybe a tiny bit of heartburn like fresh-squeezed lemonade.

I like lemonade way better than mud or tannins.