Too much phosphoric acid???

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JCasey1992

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I am working on my Belgian Wit recipe and am currently working on the water calculations. Per the Bru'n water recommendations, I am trying to get my mash pH into the 5.2-5.3 range but to do so, it looks like I need around 100 ml of phosphoric acid. More specifically, my calculations suggest that 100 ml will get me to 5.26. Does this sound reasonable? To me, this seems like a lot of acid but I am relatively new to water chemistry.

I have attached my recipe in case that helps you answer my question. Additionally, I am using 100% RO water and my phosphoric acid is 10% strength. Thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers!
Casey

upload_2018-11-29_22-5-24.png
 
100mL is reasonable for a grist with a high percentage of unmalted grains. Personally, I aim for 5.4 or a bit higher for a wit though. Why the 5.2 to 5.3 target?
 
100mL is reasonable for a grist with a high percentage of unmalted grains. Personally, I aim for 5.4 or a bit higher for a wit though. Why the 5.2 to 5.3 target?

Thanks for the quick response! Per the Bru'n water spreadsheet: "Tart or crisp styles may benefit from a mash pH range of 5.2 to 5.3". I guess I could be misunderstanding the style guide but I figured a witbier would fit that description.
 
Thanks for the quick response! Per the Bru'n water spreadsheet: "Tart or crisp styles may benefit from a mash pH range of 5.2 to 5.3". I guess I could be misunderstanding the style guide but I figured a witbier would fit that description.

Witbier would fit that description (tart), but I'd still aim for 5.4.
 
If Wit is your target, then lactic should be your acid. You don’t mention what your acid’s strength, so its impossible to deduce if the dose is too high.
 
Wit's are traditionally mashed, AFAIK, in the normal (in terms of mash pH - one could hardly consider the use of bizarre devices like the Stuykmanden normal) way. The wort is then inoculated with lactobacillus. They get the pH down to the desired range. They are then killed off and the yeast then pitched for the alcoholic fermentation. Thus you don't add acid to the mash to get the pH you want for the beer. You add enough to get the pH to the point where the starches convert to sugar and the bugs are happy. They will set the pH where they want it. You can, of course, use any acid you want for this first step. But you must then provide for the souring of the wort. You probably will not want to go through the lactobacillus fermentation and will probably, as most seem to, brew a normal beer and add lactic acid to the product until the pH is what you want it or, better still, until it tastes the way you like it. Caution: be careful and experiment with additions. It takes some time for the lactic acid flavors to meld with those of the beer. You can, of course, add the acidf to the wort but this is clearly riskier than adding it to the beer. With experimentation you will find the right wort pH. Keep in mind that authentic wit yeast strains are given a sour wort to work with which wort contains less fermentable stuff than a wort that hasn't had some of that sugar converted to HLac.

I really don't have very good information about the unmalted grains but they tend to have pretty high DI mash pH. Given a more reasonable target pH of 5.45 you would need roughly 30 mL of 10% lactic acid or about 2 mL of 85%. So yes, 100 mL of the 10% is too much (would take pH to something like 5.1) and 100 mL of the 85% way too much.
 
As I pointed out in No. 6 the acid used for mash pH adjustment does not need to be lactic (though there is no reason it couldn't be lactic). The tart flavor of Wit beer does come from lactic acid - the lactic acid produced during the souring fermentation or the lactic acid used to sour the wort or beer if the lactobacillus fermentation is not done. This is probably why he mentioned lactic.
 

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