DME, Ph starter question

[Komodo]

My tap water is 9.1 Ph.

I know a mash changes/lowers the Ph, but what about adding 11oz DME to .75g for a 1.040 starter? Does the DME lower the Ph and if so could I estimate that without a direct measurement? (no meter)

Just curious if a small citric acid addition to lower it for better yeast health would be warranted, if the DME didn't lower it.

Lots of info out there, but i never saw anything specific to this.

 

[billl]

The ph of your water doesn't tell you much/anything about the ph of your beer/wort. In general though, the DME will pull down the ph low enough that the yeast won't have any yeast health issues. If you want to concentrate on your water chemistry, you can certainly spend the time to optimize everything, but just adding a random amount of citric acid is unlikely to do that.

 

[Gavin C]

No. Not needed asuming your water is safe to drink.

How did you get the meaurement of pH 9.1. Seems very out of the ordinary. pH strips are notoriously inaccurate so hopefully that was not it.

DME will bring the pH down into the 5.something range for your starter.

No mineral additions or pH adjustments are typical for a starter. If your water is not suitable for drinking don't use it to make something that will go in the beer.

 

[TheMadKing]

+1, I'll just add that the yeast will lower the pH to suit their needs beyond anything the DME will do for the most part.

The main reason to worry about pH is for starch conversion during an all grain mash. It shouldn't be an issue in your starter at all if your water is safe to drink as folks have said.

 

[Komodo]

Thanks all. I figured this was the case but wasn't sure.

Ph measure came from the water company.

Also, I didn't mean I'd add a random small amount of citric. I treat my brewing water, and was thinking similar on small scale.

Thanks all!