Lowering ph

I use lactic acid to acidify my tap water. Lactic acid should work just fine for RO + mineral addition too.

Cheers!

 

You would be guessing correctly.

 

Lactic Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Acid Malt. Any of the above.
And yes, it's the wheat that's driving your pH up.

 

"And yes, it's the wheat that's driving your pH up"

That, and a lack of any caramel or roast in the recipe.

 

You could just as easily say that a lack of phosphoric acid is driving the pH up. But neither crystal/roasted malt nor phosphoric acid are part of the recipe, so what do they have to do with it? Wheat malt has higher distilled water mash pH than typical (barley) base malts... take any grist you want and substitute wheat malt for some/all of the base malt. pH goes up.

 

Just letting any newer brewers reading this thread that there are MANY recipe items/combinations that will make mash ph go up or down...that's all.

 

Oh good. You had me thinking the ANTI "Crystal Malt Police" had gotten to you.

 

Citric and Sulfuric acids are also used by some.

Edit - citric works, just don't over do it.
Sulfuric adds SO4 along with dropping pH, but is nasty to work with in the homebrew environment.

 

Must be tough marketing also: "On Tap #3 is a delightful Ale; bittered with Cascade and acidified with Sulfric Acid"

 

I use acidulated malt on most of my pale beers, maybe all of them. To me, it's easier to work with than phosphoric acid.

 

I use RO water exclusively and always use a little wheat in my pale beers, so my mash pH is always high. I add all Ca++ containing salts to the mash and usually use between 2-3% acid malt to get sub-5.3.

 

I tend to lean towards lactic. From what I've read, acidulated malt is just a pale malt that has been infused with lactic acid and there may be some inconsistency in the amount it actually absorbs. I typically have more consistent results using lactic. But that's just me,

 

I've had good success with acidulated malt in mash, phosphoric acid to get sparge water to 5.5 - 5.8 range and then mineral additions straight to BK.

 

Just how one malting company does it: “Weyermann Acidulated Malt is produced by using lactic acid, which is generated by on grain natural occurring lactic bacteria.”

Cheers!

 

Using some lactic acid might be the easiest way to go. It is usually a standard concentration (88%) and only requires a few mL to lower the pH of the mash. Acidulated malt can be variable, but the rule of thumb about the quantity needed for the same effect as lactic acid tends to work well. The question I would ask is, Do you want that malt in your beer? Your recipe doesn't seem to have anywhere for the acidulated malt to hide if the base pilsner malt used to make it doesn't suit your needs. Also, what does "large amounts of minerals" mean to you?

 

His basic grist is 60% (or nearly 60% pilsner malt). If he adjusts the pH by switching in 4 ounces or so (probably less, after mineral additions) of acidulated malt for ~4 ounces of whatever pilsner base he's using, nobody on the planet is going to notice that the pilsner used to make the acid malt was (maybe) a slightly different variety from his base pilsner.

I would say the same thing if his base malt was American 2-Row, or Maris Otter, or whatever.

 

Quick noob question. Why not just add (as opposed to switching out) those few oz of acid malt to the grist? Would that really affect the OG or the overall character of the final beer that much to be noticeable?

 

No, good point...but don't make a habit of adding large amounts of things like sugar without replacing some malt...cheers