Approach to Hitting Target Mash pH ?

After a long time brewing with our soft-ish well water, I can guesstimate the mash pH from the hot liquor pH after making mineral and acid additions. I will check the actual mash pH occasionally, especially for very light/dark/weak/strong recipes, but in general have it nailed at this stage. Yes, I'm very lucky to have the water that I do.

 

I use soft water as well and I find that brewer's friend is consistently 0.3 high on its estimate. So for pales, I target 5.6 (5.3 actual) and for darks I target 5.9 (5.6 actual).

I measure these with colorphast strips, which are consistently 0.3 low, according to Kai Troester's site. So for a pale, I estimate 5.6 in the calculator, read 5.0 on the strip, and get 5.3 actual mash ph.

Confusing as hell, right? But it works for me. I do plan to get a ph meter since colorphast strips don't go low enough for sours.

 

I will say from personal experience that pH is important, regardless of how you manage it. High pH pales are flabby and bland, low pH stouts are thin and "astringent".

 

For three different batches I used EZ Water, Brun Water and MpH to estimate my mash pH. I entered my water adjustment (e.g., using x ml of lactic acid), my tap water mineral profile from my municipal water supplier's water report and my grain bill. I also measured the mash pH to confirm things. For those three batches MpH came closest to predicting my measured mash pH. I have concentrated on using MpH thereafter. The best that I can say is that MpH works best for me and my tap water at predicting my mash pH. At this point I really do not have the need to measure my mash pH but I do it anyway simply out of habit.

Cheers to @utahbeerdude and the MpH calculator!!

 

No meter
From what I've read ... good ones are a tad pricey; short life-span (the probe wears out); require frequent calibration and chemicals

Tried 'beer' pH strips
Increments are too wide in the critical range of wort's pre-boil; worthless

Use the shareware version of Bru'n Water
More thorough and user-friendly compared to other brew water freeware
Some calculations have been challenged; however ... home brewing isn't pharmaceutical science.
Added bonus: accessible water tutorial written in mostly plain-language
Other water calculators lack ... for better or worse ... Bru'n Water's detail

 

My meter broke last year and haven't got a new one. Also don't have a water report for our new house and haven't gotten one.

So I use Bru N Water and Distilled water for most of my "stylistic" beers and filtered tap water for some of my more "rustic" ventures.

I started using Bru N Water after just a few batches in when I started this hobby in 2012. It seemed like the easiest spreadsheet to navigate to me at the time. When I had a working meter I would check my mash PH to double check and it was always almost spot on. After my meter broke I bought a new probe, and that didn't work either so I said screw it. So I know just pretty much plan on Bru N Water getting me near where it tells me I am ph wise. Being able to add the specific grist and Lovibond of each grain greatly helps its accuracy I believe and hope.

I'll typically add some lactic acid if I am brewing a pale beer and I need to get my ph down into the 5.2 or 5.3 range. My CA levels always vary depending on what I'm going for moutfeel/bitternes wise. When I brew dark beers I typically add baking soda/pickling lime to boost my mash ph into the 5.4-5.5 range after my CA level is where I want.

I honestly have never tried another calculator other than Bru N Water because it seems to work and I don't like change all that much. Although I'll have to check out the MPH calculator at some point because I know that Vikeman uses that in Brewciper, and if its good enough for Vike, its probably pretty damn scientifically astronomicaly accurate!!

I've learned a lot about water through this site and various resources, but always continue to learn more. Water knowledge is a great tool in tool belt for this hobby and I look into seeing other peoples responses in this thread.

 

Any of those calculators are only as accurate as the input data.

 

I picture you taking a pinch of mash between your cheek and gum and being like...... Yup....5.3.... perfect.

 

I use the water tab in brewchiper which I believe is MpH Water Calculator. I don't have a ph meter so I target a middle of the road ph, say 5.4. That way if I over shoot or under shoot I have a slight buffer. Most cases I try to use as much distilled as possible. I have had good results until this most recent batch that I brewed my first stout, but I think that was more of an issue with me and not the calculator.

 

I build from distilled and use Brewcipher. No checking, mostly because I live life on the edge.

 

I use filtered tap water, a city water report, Brewers Friend and aim for 5.4. I used to verify the pH with a meter and determined the calculator is accurate enough. Haven't had any mash conversion issues since I started adjusting water.

 

I have been using Bru'n Water "blindly" with water reports I found (multiple) for Cleveland City Water... My last two batches though, I checked the mash pH with a MW102 I got for Christmas, and the mash pH was exactly where Bru'n Water estimated it would be... So that was a good confirmation for me!

 

For the past 5 batches I have built from RO using MpH (in Brewcipher) to hit my desired mash pH and water profile. Before that, I was cutting my tap water with distilled, and then using the monthly water reports provided by the City of Columbus and salts to build to the desired pH and profile. I'm definitely glad I made the change. I have a pH meter, but it's cheap and after checking a few batches, I felt comfortable with the output MpH was giving me and don't feel the need to check any further.

 

True'dat; however ... home brewing t'ain't pharmaceutical science.

There's a lot of play in the wheel of home-brewing.
First approximations are close enough to produce tasty beers.

 

I will not say the last is wrong, but sometimes base malt can be more acidic than the Lovibond would suggest. Did a Pils recently that was targeted at 5.5, measured at 5.25. Testing the malt in Distilled water, it was 5.55 pH, one expects 5.8 for that case.

 

I trust BrewCipher... I have a meter but don't have the freaking calibration solutions or storage solutions to use it properly.