I understand that there is an optimum pH range for a mash, and that a pH that is too high can cause astringency problems at the end of the sparge, but what problems might you expect for a pH that is lower than it should be?
I brewed a pale ale and added more phosporic acid than I meant to. The pH of the mash was 5.05, and mostly I am just curious about what side effects I an expect.
One thing is fermentability vs body. The alpha and beta amalayze don’t just have temp ranges they also have ph ranges. Too low may hinder alpha and cause extra fermentability than you expected.
There could be problems with conversion when pH is too low. Exactly how low it needs to be to have big impact on conversion - don’t know. Was your OG as expected? Regardless, the beer will be really crisp, maybe even slightly tart as well. Possibly cloudier than usual. Maybe not.
What was the temp of your mash sample when you took the reading? I believe the 5.3-5.5 range is for a room cooled sample and its actually lower of about .3 for a mash temp sample?