Adjusting Mash PH and Mash Temperature Loss

[JT]

May the pH gods smile upon you.  This is one area that I calculate to the nth degree, but usually end up frustrated with on brew day.

[flbrewer]

@JT

@flbrewer

@JT

Justin: a bit more clarification: you can add acid to the strike water (water you are putting in at the beginning of the mash), even if it is RO and it will drop your mash pH. 
You don’t need to add acid to the RO sparge water because it will easily assimilate to the current mash pH.  IME the pH rises a bit during sparge, but not enough to really matter especially for us batch spargers.

Got it! Strike, sparge…tomato, tomato.

Not really.  Strike water (water to mix with the crushed grains) and sparge water (water to rinse the grain bed).  To separate terms.

I kid.

[wort-h.o.g]

@mabrungard

I’ve observed that there is an important phenomena in mashing pH that needs to be spread to you brewers. Through the thousands of mashing pH measurements that I’ve made over the years, there is an interesting tendency in early and late pH measurements.

When an early mash pH measurement is lower than 5.4, the pH tends to rise toward 5.4 during the mash duration. Similarly, when an early mash pH measurement is higher than 5.4, the pH tends to drop toward 5.4 during the mash. For that reason, when you have done a reasonable job of treating your brewing water to produce a desirable pH via either experience or a program like Bru’n Water, its probably best not to screw with chasing pH when you find that an early measurement is off.

To produce the most homogeneous distribution of minerals and acid in your mash, its also very important to add those components to the water before mashing in so that you can thoroughly mix them into the water. Anyone that adds minerals or acids to the mash after the grain is in there, is not doing themselves much good. It takes an incredible amount of mash mixing to get those components evenly distributed at that point. The only brewers that can get away with adding acid or minerals to the mash after the mash-in are those with wort recirculation. Recirculation does a better job of mixing than physical mixing can do.

Martin I experience this all the time. Today I mashed in with bru’nwater projection of 5.45. after 15 minutes acutal PH was 5.54. at the end of 75 minute mash final PH was 5.42.

[mainebrewer]

I read this post by Martin and an similar earlier one regarding the mash pH stabilizing around the 5.4 mark.
The question it raises for me is why target say 5.2 or 5.6 when the mash will revert to 5.4?
Perhaps, as JT notes, it would be better to adjust the pre-boil wort to whatever target the brewer might want depending on the beer style.

[wort-h.o.g]

well for me, i’ve noticed it move that direction, not necessarily land at 5.4.  if I target 5.25, and first PH reading is say 5.18, i leave it alone and it moves up at or near my intended target some point during the mash.  same thing like what happened today-only the inverse. i started out 5.54 with target of 5.45, and the PH landed at 5.42 when measured at end of mash.

[brewinhard]

well for me, i’ve noticed it move that direction, not necessarily land at 5.4.  if I target 5.25, and first PH reading is say 5.18, i leave it alone and it moves up at or near my intended target some point during the mash.  same thing like what happened today-only the inverse. i started out 5.54 with target of 5.45, and the PH landed at 5.42 when measured at end of mash.

You must have been whistlin’ dixie at end of the mash.  Very interesting reactions going on there.