# Big mash ph adjustment idead



## Not For Horses (19/4/14)

I've been doing some testing on mashing sorghum malt to try and get to the bottom of poor efficiency.
I've done a few small mashes and have found that mash temperature ph is around 4.7.
Punching the numbers into Ezy water calculator and trying to adjust with salts gives ppm values well above recommended values.
First question I guess would be how much bicarbonate is too much flavour wise for a range of styles from pale to dark?
Second question would be how else could such a big increase in mash ph be achieved?


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## MHB (19/4/14)

First up the obvious, have you calibrated your pH meter lately?
4.7 is very acid, surprisingly so, but given that it really is that acid the ideal adjustment would be Calcium Hydroxide, I know its not one of the common brewing salts, but it is the first choice in extreme cases.
You could get away with Sodium Hydroxide (caustic soda), but it will up your sodium content, how much extra sodium you can live with is will be down to your water.
You wont need much, both Calcium and Sodium Hydroxide are very powerful bases, in strong solutions they are both very dangerous, so be careful
Mark


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## Not For Horses (19/4/14)

Yeah after a few results in the high 4s the ph calibration was my first move. It was within .1 so I sort of ruled that out. It is a cheap ph meter though so I'm still not sure I fully trust it. I might try and find a more reliable ph meter and try again.
Is there a calculator available to adjustment with hydroxide?
The water here is about 8ppm sodium from memory so that may not be an issue.

Ed. The last sorghum beer I made was super tart so such a low ph is believable.


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## Dan2 (19/4/14)

I'm no chemist but regularly use EZwater & brewersfriend to work out my salt additions.
A quick google reveals;
Calcium hydroxide = slaked lime. Can be added in both EZwater spreadsheet and Brewersfriend water calculator.
Sodium Hydroxide = lye. Also on Brewersfriend but not EZwater


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