My LHBS owner swears by this stuff. Doesn’t seem possible that you could have a universal water treatment for all mashes, guaranteed to bring them to 5.2 PH. What do you guys know about this product?
Does your LHBS owner have a pH meter? 
AJ DeLange said at the NHC that it will keep the mash from dropping below 5.2. That might be the only thing it does.
It doesn’t help (raise mash pH) if your water has low residual alkalinity and you want to brew a dark beer.
I typically have to raise my pH in my mash, and have found that this product doesn’t really do anything for me. YMMV, though.
My personal hero Kai Troester said it’s mostly sodium, and it might keep your mash pH from rising over 5.8, at best, but probably doesn’t do anything. It definitely adds about 100ppm of sodium to your beer. So, if you like salty beer, 5.2 stabilizer is really cool. In fact, it’s the best!
It’s just not physically possible to make a phosphate buffer that buffers to 5.2, end of story.
As AJ says: 5.2 works great for brewers that don’t check pH and doesn’t work at all for those that do check.
A smart brewer learns to properly manage their mash pH.
Salts do more than affect the pH. They also add flavor.
Do you like the taste of sodium phosphate?
Consider other ways of managing pH that are less detrimental to the flavor profile of your finished beer.
Not only did it not control pH for me, it gave my beer a weird(er) taste. Is that Bob you’re talking about, Jim? You should know better than to listen to him.
Of course, it was Bob! Ha! I know he’s a salesman first. I’d just never heard of a “one size fits all” mash treatment. Give me some credit, man.
I do…I really doubted that you took him seriously. If you wanna try the stuff, I have most of a container that I’ll never use that you can have…
Bold City brewing here in Jax uses it. I don’t think I know enough about tasting beer to say it has any kind of effect, though.
used to don’t no mo…got some comments about mineral finish on a couple beers
was not a bad thing to me but now i opt for a couple handfuls of acid malt in the mash
fwiw
I haven’t had their beer, but I think using 5.2 is one of the few things in brewing that is objectively, unequivocally, just plain wrong. You might be able to use it and make good beer , but it’s certainly not good because of the 5.2, it’s good despite the 5.2. It goes to show you that just because someone is a “pro” doesn’t necessarily mean they know the best way to do something.
Doesn’t work for me. I tried it thinking it was going to be the “miracle elixer” for my mash pH. Nope, didn’t do a dang thing for me. However - using phosphoric acid, lactic acid and chalk all are ways to bring your mash pH into an acceptable range that actually works.
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is…
Ill second what most have said. I personally dont care for the taste of sodium phosphate in my beer…bleh. Thats about all the stuff is good for is adding sodium.
Never used it, never will. But 4oz of acidulated malt brought my light lagers from 5.8 to 5.3!
Dave
I guess I’m the contrarian here, as I have used 5.2 with great results, even won medals with it! I dont get any off flavors either. I dont check my mash ph, but do adjust my water accordingly for the beer style.
My 2 cents worth.
I have a jar and used to use it. Then I started forgetting with increasing frequency. Now I never use it and don’t notice a difference. I suspect that for those with bad water pH it might help some. The concept of a pH buffer is chemically valid, but that doesn’t mean it makes good beer.
No one is arguing buffers don’t exist, only that no one with a pH meter has ever seen “5.2 mash stabilizer” buffer a mash to a pH of 5.2.
Maybe I interpreted the original post wrong.