Hey guys, today I was brewing with a couple of friends and I am a bit worried about astringency production while mashing. The point is I got over there a bit late when mash was already started. I asked my friends if they had checked out mash Ph, answer was not. So I did it and found Ph was 7,25, I couldn´t believe my eyes so I started to think my Phmeter was failing, a friend took a read using strips and found the same result. Quiclkly I used lactic acid to lower Ph to 5,5 but the elapsed time was already about 30 minutes. I would like to know if is it out there someone else who has suffered the sane problem and what could be the aftermaths. BTW it was a Robust Porter recipe plenty of dark grains but I guess their brewing water was very alkaline. TIA Cheers
Wow! ...I think the high ph is more of a problem as you sparge, but that is quite high. Let us know how that porter turns out. Tell your friends to quit using their mash tun to mix cement. Cheers
There are a lot of dark malts in a Robust Porter which should substantially acidify the mash. My tap water is alkaline but when I homebrew Stouts/Porters I have no need to add lactic acid since the dark malts properly acidify the mash. I personally can't conceive of how tap water could be so alkaline to result in a mash pH of 7.25 for a Robust Porter. Do you have a water profile (water mineral amounts) that you can share with us? Cheers!
I find it hilarious that homebrewers are measuring pH when most craft brewers don't. I've preached it for years, but it's always fallen on deaf ears. Cheers to you for doing it the right way!!!
I just brewed a robust porter yesterday... For a 5-gallon batch, had 2# roast malt (Black patent, chocolate and Patagonia roast malt ~340L) and 1/2# Crystal malt. With Cleveland water, my pH was expected per Bru N' Water to be like 5.35 or something with no additions. I added a small amount of Pickling Lime to bring it up to a target of 5.5 (mash pH ended up being 5.45). I also find it hard to believe that with this style of beer that the pH would be so high... Even my light lagers and IPA's are not that high (like 5.8ish I think) which I acidify to drop to 5.2-5.3. Any idea on the base water profile?
Not all are measuring pH. There is that resistance to change out there. Some also brew the beers they like with the water they have, and see no reason.
The water could have enough buffering from very high alkalinity to stay high in pH. It would be great to see the water profile. Astringency if often caused by high pH and high temp. At mash temp you might be ok.
I will ask them to show me their water analysis for sure, I coudn´t believe that mash Ph either, it is the first time in 8 years of brewing that I come across with such a crazy thing
