So I’m about to brew my first beer with modified water (75% distilled, 25% my own super-alkaline well water, and a bunch of salts, and also some acidulated malt).
How soon after dough-in should I test the pH to see if I’m hitting what Kaiser’s water spreadsheet says I should be hitting? 1 min? 5 min? 30 min? Does it matter?
I’ve checked my mash pH before, usually within 5mins of dough-in, but now I’ll be mixing in salts and I’m wondering how long it takes for the pH to stabilize.
-red
I seem to remember hearing that 5 minutes should be about right.
I do it about 5 min. in.
I’d take one reading after 5-10 min and another one of the first wort. Mainly b/c I’m curious if you will see a change.
But that is also what I do.
Kai
Lately I’ve been taking one at 5 min. and one when all the wort is in the kettle. I’ve been finding them to be within about .1 of each other.
I check mine about 10 minutes in and often again at the end of the mash just for kicks. In general it seems to be a bit lower toward the end, maybe .1 pH units. I can’t say this for sure with a wide range of grain bills but in general…
Once you mash in and get everything stired so the temperature is stable/uniform, take you sample and cool it. You will be abourt 5, or more like 10 minutes in, like everyone says. Don’t worry too much if you take a little longer.
thanks everyone. seems like we’ve reached a consensus! (kinda rare for the forum, I know… ;) )
I know you’re making a joke but, in fact, one thing that seems to set this forum apart from lots of the other homebrew forums is that fact that consensus is often reached. And the tone here just seems more civil even when consensus isn’t reached.
+1 and amen to that
+2. Credit to the moderators. I have had that job and know how it can (try to) get out of hand.