Not adding acid to finished beer… just with 10 minutes left in the boil.
So what exactly is the difference between, adjusting pre boil pH and boil pH? What does adjusting at those different times do?Or is it the same thing?
Some theorize that a higher boil pH (5.4 or so) will lead to better protein precipitation, I haven’t had any trouble with beer clarity and I prefer adjusting the preboil pH and be done with it. pH will sometimes change slightly during the boil, mostly lowering slightly. Honestly, as long as it is the correct ph at pitch, I really don’t think it matters whether it’s adjusted pre-boil, the last 10 minutes or at flame out. It’s really just splitting hairs.
So is pre boil ph pretty much the same as mash ph?
It seems like it would be.
I think we touched on this earlier and there was no specific answer. What would happen if you boil at 5.1 - 5.2? I have no idea. Would it be just fine, would it cause clarity, etc? No idea. I know that boiling at a higher pH can cause a darkening of the wort. But I thought there was information out there that said to boil at 5.5 and Kai was one source of that. There was no mention of what would happen if the pH was lower than that. So I boil in the mid 5s and then make this addition during the boil to lower the pH so the kettle finings will work better and to get closer to pitch pH which will hopefully get me to a good finished-beer pH.
I accidentally found out a few brews ago with a British Golden Ale. For some reason my mash pH was around 5.1 and I expected slow conversion, but it went rapidly and as efficiently as usual. The beer was light in color and the wort clarity seemed normal. It took some time to clear in the keg, but ended up a very clear and crisp beer that was so good I will do it again in a couple of weeks. If the pH had been 4.1 I would have expected big changes, but 5.1 - 5.2 is not that big a deal.
Nice. That’s good information. I feel like I boiled at that pH a few times and I thought (although it could’ve been something else) that I caused clarity issues. I feel like I absolutely want that lower pH for pitching and final beer pH because the beer is more refreshing and “snappy” but I have been doing the mid-5s for mashing and boiling.
At the risk of repeating myself, pH in the boil is not so critical, pitch pH is much more important. As mentioned above, higher boil pH will increase color. As far as a lower pH producing a “snappy” beer, that depends on the yeast. Each yeast strain will land near a specific pH range reliably if the the pitch pH wasn’t off by a great deal and has a healthy fermentation. WLP029 will drop the wort pH from 5.2 at pitch to 3.9-4.0 at the finish. 1056 will drop the pH from 5.2 to 4.4 or so, creating an entirely different finish. So a “snappy” Kolsch or American lager is a good thing, but not a snappy Porter or Stout. There is no one answer to all beers, but yeast is the main key to the final pH of the beer.
I feel like a dead horse is getting beaten.
Sans that acid can easily be added both post mash and pre-boil.
The higher the boil pH the greater the utilization of the hops (and also the greater their harshness). If you want to minimize hop addition mass while maximizing IBU’s at the same time, enter the boil at a higher pH.
But if you want to maximize hot break and minimize finings mass, you must hit pH 5.1-5.2 before introducing finings (such as Irish Moss or Whirlfloc).
If you want the very smoothest hop bitterness, and you are willing to use more hops, add acid pre-boil (sufficient to hit 5.1-5.2 pH post boil and cooling). If you want to maximize $$ economy as to both hops and finings expense, add the same qty. of acid with only about 10 minutes remaining in the boil, before finings.
Clear, concise information. Very helpful.
That is my experience also.