mash ph too low. even on pale beers

[losergonewild]

Hey guys, does anyone else have this problem? I'm pretty sure it's affecting the flavor, especially the stouts... thin, body-less beers... I guess adding a little baking soda would be the way to go, but I'd like some feedback on this because most of the discussions about mash ph are about bringing it down. Has anyone else had to raise the mash ph? I'm in nyc with very soft water btw. Thanks!

[Steve Urquell]

How are you checking pH? How low is it?

If using strips, what brand are they?

[losergonewild]

How are you checking pH? How low is it?

If using strips, what brand are they?

I'm using a Milwaukee meter- MW102, taking a sample after about 15 minutes of the mash and letting it cool to room temp. I'm getting readings of 5.0- 5.2 at room temp.

[Steve Urquell]

How are you checking pH? How low is it?

If using strips, what brand are they?

I'm using a Milwaukee meter- MW102, taking a sample after about 15 minutes of the mash and letting it cool to room temp. I'm getting readings of 5.0- 5.2 at room temp.

Good that you're checking it correctly. I add a little pickling lime to my black beers. It takes very little to affect a change. My last batch of Porter came in at 5.2, I added 2 grams of pickling lime to raise it to 5.4. Go easy and check. After you get a feel for it, you'll be GTG.

[Kbar]

I am assuming that with the error bandwidth, you are good. How are the beers turning out? Do they attenuate???

If yes, RDWHAHB

[mabrungard]

NYC water is almost pure rainwater, very Pilsen like. It is a great starting point, but it does require alkalinity for brewing a broad range of styles. I recommend getting some pickling lime and a good scale that reads to the tenth of a gram.

For the dark beers, the results of thin and body-less is typical for low mash pH. Bumping that up several tenths will improve the beer markedly. The same thing can be said if you are adding a lot of gypsum for hoppy beers. All that calcium drives mash pH down and that can also lead to less than ideal results.

Most brewers have to acidify to neutralize alkalinity. In NYC and other places with very low alkalinity, you need to be ready to add alkalinity for some brews.