# Acidulated Malt to 88% Lactic Acid Conversion



## Cervantes (17/7/15)

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knows the direct conversion for grams of Acidulated Malt to ml of 88% Lactic Acid.

The table below is from the Bruakaiser website and leads me to believe that if I divide the weight in grams of Acidulated malt in a recipe by 35 it will give me the required amount in ml of 88% Lactic Acid to achieve the same results.





Can anyone confirm that my math is correct?


----------



## antiphile (17/7/15)

Hi Cervantes

It looks to me that table is only reflecting the effect on residual alkalinity which is not (in my understanding) the same as pH. For my equipment, to get in the desired mash pH range (which is what I assume you are wanting) and with a town water pH of 8.3 avg and no other mineral adjustments, I've found the following rules work well:

For hop foward and pale beers, make grist with 2.5 to 3.5% acidulated malt (mash between 5.1 and 5.4)
For malt forward and darker beers, use 1 to 2% acidulated (mash between 5.3 and 5.6)

Apologies in advance if I misunderstood the question. Of course, I whip out the Bru'n Water spreadsheet when using salt additions. It also has good calculations when using lactic acid.

Cheers


----------



## seehuusen (17/7/15)

Sorry, can't confirm your maths, but I can say that EZ water calculator (http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/) will give you the required ml addition of lactic 88% acid.
That's what I use.

Cheers
Martin


----------



## Cervantes (17/7/15)

Thanks guys,

I do use EZ Water calculator to work out my water additions including lactic acid.

I was looking for an easy way to convert recipes that contain Acidulated Malt into recipes that use a Lactic Acid addition instead.

I understand that acidulated malt is approx. 3% lactic acid by volume.


----------



## MHB (17/7/15)

Acid malt is designed to lower the pH by 0.1 for every 1% of acid malt in the grist
The numbers for Lactic acid I have on hand are for 100% and 80% but by applying a bit of interpolation it looks like 0.5454.... mL/Kg of grist will do the same (lower pH by 0.1)

So if you had a 5Kg grain bill that was 6% Saur malt, you would be using the Acid Malt to lower the pH by (6*0.1=) 0.6 pH
To lower the pH of the same 5Kg of grist using Lactic acid at 88% I think you will need 6 times 0.5454.../ kg so 6*0.5454*5=16.4mL (roughly)

Would be a touch careful, add most of the calculated amount and test the pH, carbonate in the water can screw the calculations a bit and if you don't know the exact carbonate EQ of your water the answer wont be exact.
M


----------

