So I may break out the ole PH meter tomorrow (picked up a Milwaukee PH56) on a brew day. I am using Bru’n’Water, but assuming I want to check the mash and possibly adjust can someone give me the 101.
-How do I check the PH in the mash?
-What do I do if it’s too high/low?
Cheers and thanks for answering my lazy post.
Pull a small sample, say a shot glass worth of wort. Cool to room temp, then take a reading (after having calibrated your meter). Lactic acid can lower for you if too high, lime or baking soda to raise if too low. On the other hand, Martin suggests not chasing your pH mid mash. Just run with it and make good notes, then adjust accordingly on the next iteration of the brew. How much lime, baking soda, or lactic to add really depends on how far off you are. Using Bru’NWater, you should be able to quantify the projected effect of a measured amount of any of these and adjust accordingly. Good luck, hope htis helped at least a little
I think you want to pull out a small sample, cool it to 72ish and then take your reading. But then, I may be all wet on that. It helps to have a small metal container for the sample so it doesn’t take forever to cool. I found an antique silver shot glass that works great.
Edit: franx beat me to it but confirmed the room temp. thing.
I bought a bunch of small plastic dixie cups that work well. put a half inch into the cup, and stick it into the freezer for 5 minutes… works great.
Are people who use brun water and testing the ph finding it to be off a lot. My intention is to continue relying on brun water and not buying a ph meter and not pulling a Dixie cup of wort and testing it after calibrating the stupid ph meter then cleaning it and storing it in some goddamned storage solution then adjusting the ph and or taking notes. Sounds like something that I don’t want to add to my brew day. My guess is the ph pretty much always comes out just fine and ph is something that is important but worried about too much.
ive found some issues as it relates to expected PH of base malts. the software uses formula related to base, crystal, roast, and acid malt, and the lovibond. some of my avangard malts dont seem to align, and therefor I was getting lower than expected PH. most dramatic is the pils base malt. its comes in around 5.4PH vs 5.7-5.8PH that typical pils with 1.5-2 lov might be expected to register.
software guides me, but the PH meter tells the truth.
If its wrong what do you do?
Once I figure it out, I adjusted the lovibond up to account for PH .
If it is in the 5.2-5.6 range I let it proceed. Too far off I adjust up or down.
Brunwater work fine, usually. Malts are not uniform, I had a thread talking about low pH with best Pils. It had gotten mixed with acciulated malt, pH was too low, but was 5.25 so I let it ride.
As an engineer, I know the computer predictions are only as good as the input data and assumptions. The product I worked on had an extremely large capital expense in the prototype phase for validation testing, to assure the predictions were correct.
Pulled a sample of the mash this morning (big shot glass). The sample is about NOT clear…full of wort prior to vorlauf. Does this matter at all?
try to remove all floaties (pieces of grain or husks). they can stick to probe and cause some false PH readings. other than that, you should be good to go-cloudy or not.
edit: i use cloth strainer to pour sample through into my sample glass.
I have a fine mesh SS strainer that is submerged, and the small portion cup scopes the strained liquid.
I used my meter for the first time on last brew day and ran into this problem. I’ve been kicking around how to strain the chunks out. This seems like a nice easy way to do just. Thanks!
Paul
Came in at 5.10…not sure what that means though! Bru’n’water estimated 5.34 as the mash PH. I used a little more calcium chloride than I should have…nothing more than a half gram on each mash and sparge. Based on what I actually used I should have ended up at 5.31. I’m guessing it’s not as low as my PH reads.
if that was accurate, that’s pretty darn low for mash. did you attempt to bump it up with baking soda? what kind of brew?
We’ll probably not accurate bc of all the grain in my sample. It was a 1.036 or so Mild.
No, didn’t do anything. In fact I checked this hours after the brew so didn’t plan on adjusting.
Most likely too low, but I dont know exactly what that does to your recipe, as I am not sure what you are brewing, grist, etc. really want to be between 5.2-5.6 for most, just a tenth off, not sure how big of a deal that is, again, depends on recipe and desired outcomes. As others have replied, pretty low
I love this post!
+1. If you had grain in your sample, then it definitely can read lower than expected.
I should note that the angry, curmudgeonly tone is mostly for fun. I think for many brewers using a ph meter is a great idea but I am actually thinking about making my brewing more intuitive and fun like my cooking. A lot of brewers have come from engineering/science/math backgrounds and have been very influential on the hobby and that’s why you see an emphasis on precise measurements, experiments, and gadgets. It doesn’t have to be that way. I was a History/English major and have a JD and have been a professional chef and kitchen manager most of my career so I tend to have a different view of brewing. I like the art of it and its connection to traditional rural life and the seasons. I now have enough experience and know my system, water, and ingredients well enough that I am going to start making beer without a lot of measuring and fussing. I’ll measure water with the marks I made on my BK and the marks on my cooler MT. I know about how much base malt and specialty malt I need for beers I like to make, and I know what 6 pounds looks like and what 1/2 a pound looks like. I know most take a little gypsum and some a little baking soda. I don’t need to know the gravity at any time. I know what beer that is finished fermenting looks and tastes like. I know about how much and which kind of hops I need for bittering and aroma. So my next few beers at least, and probably most of them from now on will get little measuring: mash temp, fermentation temp: not much else. Of course when trying something new I’ll research, measure etc. I think it will be fun and I’ll make good beer.