I entered my numbers into brewers friend and EZwater calculators and both were +.2 high
Target was 5.35pH
Using 7g gypsom, 4g Calcium chloride, 2.5g epsom salt and 3ml lactic acid Brewers friend estimated 5.36, EZ estimated 5.39
After additions and doughing in. I stirred for 5 min the took a sample and started mash
Once sample came to room temp I, calibrated meter, then tested with Omega pH-7011. Reading stabalized at 5.15pH
Just wanted to share results. Brewing again in 2 weeks with a similar grain bill. Will reduce lactic acid by 1/2
I have some comparisons recently and found that for the most part, Bru’n Water (BWS) and Brewer’s Friend is fairly close. If you know the DI Mash pH of a given malt - you can use that information in EZWater to get a closer agreement. Look for the distilled water column - you can edit it there. Otherwise, EZWater always seemed to estimate a higher mash pH than Bru’n.
For the most part - it seems that folks are using some generic numbers for malt Lovibond that might need to be adjusted to match reality. Then there are the outliers like Rahr 2-row (which you should set to 5L in BWS) that skew well away from many basemalts.
You just hit on something I’ve been meaning to bring up, Matt - I’ve posted more than once that software is only as accurate as the accuracy of the info you put in. Except that can be pretty tricky with roasted malts in particular. I just brewed a stout with Muntons roasted barley which on their own site they give a range of 457-619L, and their chocolate malt which they give a range of 363-512L. In terms of trying to hit a target pH, those ranges are almost useless to us! Only through trial and error have I come up with numbers to enter into software that give me the end result I’m after - a smooth roastiness. And that changes maltster to maltster, even batch to batch sometimes. It definitely pays to try to get lovibonds that are as accurate as possible.
