Teach me about water adjustments

[Beer-lord]

I take a sample 15 minutes in, cool and measure.

What do you do if your pH is off? How do you correct it mid mash?

I've only had to do this twice. Once I added some lactic acid (very small amount) to bring it down and one other time I added backing soda to bring it up. But I've read that usually 30 minutes in, most of the mash has done its work and what you add may not make much of a difference. That's why I'm happy that I've pretty much got my system tweaked like I need it. But, I'm always looking to make it better.
My last few beers the ph has been pretty much where it is supposed to so I'm almost to the point where on re-brews of the same recipe, I won't even bother checking the ph.

[BlackDuck]

But I've read that usually 30 minutes in, most of the mash has done its work and what you add may not make much of a difference

That was my thought too, that's why I asked the question. So if it's off, there may not be much you can do on the current batch, but you can make corrections for future batches.

[Beer-lord]

That's the way I've been approaching it. But I'm still very much a newb at this though happy with where I am so far.

[mashani]

I take a sample 15 minutes in, cool and measure.

What do you do if your pH is off? How do you correct it mid mash?

I've only had to do this twice. Once I added some lactic acid (very small amount) to bring it down and one other time I added backing soda to bring it up. But I've read that usually 30 minutes in, most of the mash has done its work and what you add may not make much of a difference.

So, yeah, it won't make much of a difference when you are talking about mash efficiency, but if you actually change the final resulting PH that of the wort you end up boiling (as in your additions don't get buffered by the mash) it can still make a difference as far as yeast metabolism later, and also could effect hop extraction and/or hop perception and/or taste perception in the final beer.

[MrBandGuy]

Thanks, folks. I figured checking was really for future batches too, what with short mashes being a thing and all. By the time you check the pH, most of the conversion is done.

I'm hoping to get the calculator dialed close enough that I can trust it and not have to measure the pH all the time. I just got whatever the cheapo one was on homebrewfinds the other day. Decent reviews on Amazon. I don't want to obsess over it, just get in the ballpark. I'm not going to sweat 5.2 vs 5.4, but I want to know when I think I'm at 5.4 and I'm really at 6 or something.


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[Dawg LB Steve]

FWIW, I try to keep my light colored beers closer to 5.2-5.3 and the darker beers closer to the 5.4-5.5 range.

[Beer-lord]

I've actually thought of trying Accumash once just to see how it works out. http://www.accu-mash.com/products.html
It's for 5 gallons and I usually do 6 so I get at least 5 in the keg but I've been mixed on trying it. Rather pricey though and I'm not sure it'll be any better than my mad scientist method.