I was using Best and had ph projection issues. I quit using Best and moved to Weyermann. It was by coincidence actually. My ph was more predictable as a result. I never gave it a lot of thought until now. I actually like the Weyermann better than the Best.
I just got a sack of Rahr 2 row - what adjustment should be made in Brunwater for this malt? Treat it as higher Lovibond? The label on the sack says 2.14 for “Color of Wort, Degrees Lovibond”. Do I input as 3 or 4 Lovibond in Brunwater? Or add 3-4 to the 2.14 for this purpose?
I guess this was common knowledge, but I rarely use Rahr - my LHBS doesn’t carry it often.
Martin said to enter it as 5L in Brunwater, to account for its higher acidity. I used it routinely before my LHBS switched to Briess (good shop, but not happy with that one), and the 5L came out pretty close on pH. Verified with ColorpHast strips.
I’ve tried hard to like Briess. I have never been satisfied with that base and only use it as a last resort. When I buy local it is my only choice also. I’ve been entering 5L on Rahr and has been accurate enough for me.
How does that work?
same parameters as other tests-this time avangard vienna that has lov 4-5. PH was 5.4…whats expected for Vienna?
reran the avangard pils just to make sure I didn’t have any carafa II dust (as mentioned earlier that I forgot to vacuum rollers clean)- PH came in again at 5.4
this time I ran it on muntons marris otter. PH 5.73
Is there a table out there for adjustments within Brunwater for these base malt
Lovibond adjustments? That would be very helpful, if it exists or if it could be compiled…
The results for the MO and Vienna seem about right, Ken.
I did some mini mashes with the base malt I had on hand. I didn’t have distilled water in the house, so I adjusted my water to a residual alkalinity of 0 based on the water profile I have. Obviously, this could be off, but I have soft water to begin with (48 alkalinty, 28 calcium) and it’s a good comparison of the malts as well as a good starting point for me when I brew next time.
I mashed at 2 quarts per pound, and used a mini-randall for something other than destroying my taste buds. The crush was a fine grind with my kitchenaid flour mill.
Best Pils, lot GWP0013026:
MFB Pils, lot 23434, was identical:
Best Dark Munich, lot 325 (9.9L)
Great western 2-row, lot 01:11/1
These sacks were purchased 6-9 months ago, so obviously the results will vary. This might be something I check every time I get a new bag of malt now.
Checking new bags is my MO now. So far it’s just Avangard running low for me.
so after all this craziness…I am brewing a vienna lager with some best pils malt tomorrow. I entered it into Brunwater as 2L so what changes should I make now? How does one adjust this knowing this information? Call it a 4L or 5L to account for extra possible acidity?
Do keep in mind that producing a wort with a slightly low pH is better than producing a wort with high pH. While I have been disappointed that some worts end up a tenth or so low, the beers were still very nice. The need to make these fine tuning adjustments is not critical, but could be desirable.
Well, shooting for a 5.4 pH with my Vienna tomorrow so we shall see if the pils malt brings about a notable pH reduction.
agreed-that is if your are managing/checking PH. for instance, many may shoot for 5.2-5.3 PH for Pils. But if I did that and relied solely on the software, I’d end up too low and likely have poor conversion and not so good beer…likely hitting 4.9-5.0 PH with avangard. Moral is, software is great, but you cant beat the good old PH meter and know where you are at.
The software is only as good as the input data and underlying assumptions.
Edit - meaning that if the Pils malt is 2L and does not have extra acidity, everything is fine.
True…we only know that because we take ph samples. Edit: without that it’s an assumption.
+1 to Weyermann being very compatible with brunwater parameters. I made a Pilsner a week ago with my standard grocery store RO. I targeted high, thinking the RO was going to bring it down but it was very close to target.
Shooting for a 5.4pH for my vienna today using a portion of Best maltz pilsner. Got a 5.41 pH at 65F so I guess my lot is okay, or at least not affected by only 4.5# I used in a 5 gallon batch.
I measured some more base malts. Did lactobacillus on the husks grow some over the summer?
Best Dark Munich 5.36 pH
Malteurope 2 row 5.58 pH
Breiss 6 row. 5.52 pH
When brewing I will set the lovibond for these malts in Brunwater to give the correct pH for distilled water, then use that determined Lovibond in the grist portion. Flavor ions will go into the kettle for some as they won’t need adjusting.