Water adjustment sanity check

[judsonp]

The last handful of batches, I've been trying out making water adjustments. It seems to have gone all right so far; I'm just hoping for some feedback as to whether or not what I'm doing makes sense.

Starting water profile (ppm), per city water report:
Ca 36
Mg 9
Na 23
SO4 12
Cl 33
Alkalinity (CaCO3) 112
(pH 7.7, est. Bicarbonate, 136)

What I've been doing is using gypsum and calcium chloride to bring SO4 and Cl up to somewhere in the 50-100 range each, depending on style (up to 150 SO4 once). That generally brings Ca up to somewhere between 60 and 100. I then add enough acid malt to get down to an estimated 5.5 pH. That generally takes 4-7 oz / 5 gal (in the ballpark of 3% grist weight).

Does this seem like a reasonable approach?

(One thing I'd like to avoid doing is diluting with RO or distilled water, since that is not really convenient for me.)

 

[mchrispen]

I think you are fine with your process. 5.5 pH is high for me - but within range for conversion. I personally feel safer around 5.3-5.4, others may disagree. If you are happy with your results - I wouldn't change the process.

You ***might*** consider using lactic or phosphoric acid rather than the acid malt to have some finer control over the acidity, but there is no issue with 3% aciduated. I mention this - because if you wish to mash just slightly lower between 5.3-5.4 - which is a typical recommendation, then it might push your acid malt contribution as high as 5% - which ***might*** have a negative flavor. You would want to experiment to determine the right levels. It should only take a few ml of 88% Lactic to achieve a proper mash pH without the acid malts - or you can combine the two - but you could use a test mash and a pH meter to determine. You could also consider acidifying your sparge water with lactic to 6.0 for further insurance. Again a few ml should be adequate.

 

[judsonp]

Well, adjusting with lactic acid directly should give the same flavor effect as with acid malt, no? The acid malt is just malt with lactic acid on it, as far as I know. I have been considering picking up phosphoric.

The reason for going only to 5.5 is that I've made acceptable beer with no pH adjustments before and I've been doing this without a pH meter (a recently-corrected problem). So I've been using as little acid as possible, in case the estimation is off.

 

[mchrispen]

Well, adjusting with lactic acid directly should give the same flavor effect as with acid malt, no?

There are inconsistencies in sources for aciduated/sauermaltz, although perhaps subtle and not important here. The beauty of liquid acids come down to precision. As to the flavor affect - you will need to determine for yourself. 3% is a somewhat arbitrary warning line that some people may detect the lactic "bite" as part of the flavor profile. You are correct that liquid lactic acid and sauermaltz will have a similar flavor contribution - but it is easier for me to say that 5 ml in 5 gallons of water of liquid lactic acid is probably undetectable. You have to decide which is more convenient for your process and tolerance. Most phosphoric is concentrated in a much weaker solution - so where 1 ml of 88% lactic is effective, you might need 3-4 ml of 10% phosphoric. At high concentrations - phosphoric tastes like soda to me (and is used as a tart compliment to citric acid in sodas). I try to use as little acid and alkaline salts as possible, but still hit a given expected flavor profile.

Your caution is well placed. Don't fix what is not broken. Make sure to calibrate and check the stability of your pH meter regularly - so that you have the confidence in the readings as you brew. As you get more comfortable with making pH readings, you might wish to experiment nudging the pH down a hair and compare the results.

 

[zwiller]

My water is nearly identical to yours... I don't think I could agree more with what was suggested to you already. I will expound on your pH goal. 5.5 is "acceptable" but surely not optimal for all styles. If you are looking to improve things I think you should at least try acidifying sparge liquor. If you like the results of that, then try mashing a bit lower.

 

[judsonp]

I batch sparge (with a single sparge) and had the impression that acidification of sparge water was not necessary in that case. (Which is good, because I do not have liquid acid. I really should probably pick up some phosphoric acid and give it a try.)

 

[zwiller]

I debunked this some time ago. I was a long time fly sparger and always acidified but gave up doing so when I learned to batch sparge based on stuff on the web. While I was happy to be brewing again (batch sparging got me back into brewing) the beer suffered. I measured it a few times and it was confirmed. Run the numbers and see for yourself. I use bru'n water sans meter now.