# Ph help.



## hooper80 (26/10/17)

The local spring water company has donated 200lts of water to my brewing cause. Ph is a learning point for me at this stage. The ph of the spring water is 6.3. What ph do I need to brew a nice crisp lager and what salts are going to get me there. I brew 44lts and as a ball park figure I am satisfied with a 5.2 mash ph. Any info is much appreciated. Scott.


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## 2cranky (26/10/17)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v8jSCy_uDUL9qu0vwXAlAuY2jrTHhpvK8pCkBMoPXTQ/htmlview


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## manticle (26/10/17)

Be nice to know a mineral breakdown of the water.
Water pH is largely irrelevant - it's mash pH that needs to be taken care of.

Without knowing the mineral content, I can't say much about salt amounts but start with acid (lactic or phosphoric) or acidulated malt to hit mash pH around 5.2-5.3, then add calcium chloride to get calcium to 40-50ppm (if you can somehow get current calcium content information).

More acid to sparge water if sparging, slight dose more of chloride to the boil.


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## rude (26/10/17)

As Manticle said mineral breakdown of water & grain bill
Being a Lager I presume Pilsner malt ebc low so will need acid to get mash to 5.2 ph
Another water spreed sheet is Brun, there are a few around
You should get about 6 cubes of wort from that amount of water


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## good4whatAlesU (26/10/17)

Good swimmer.

Liked to drink and drive and smoke bongs though.


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## evoo4u (26/10/17)

I'm brewing with country rain water, which I'm assuming has little mineral content. And it's pH? As manticle said - largely irrelevant. My last brew day (to end up with 23 litres wort) had 6.6kg grain, the darkest being 120g Crystal 40L. Overall colour was 14 EBC, so a bit darker than a typical lager I'm supposing.

Point of this info? I take a sample of wort from the mash tun early in the mash, cool it, and measure pH (Hanna 98128 instrument). My target pH, at ambient temperature (nominally 25C) is 5.4 to 5.8 and that mash came in at 5.60 without adding any acid or acidulated malt. Salts added to this IPA were 7g Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) and 4g Calcium Carbonate (chalk). Normally, using the KISS principle, I just add 4g CaCl and 4g Calcium Sulphate to my rainwater for a standard brew.

If I'm making a darker brew (porter, stout etc) I find I have to add 2 to 3g Calcium Hydroxide (pickling lime) to raise the pH up to where I need it. I do have lactic acid in my inventory, but have never had to use it.

As a point of interest, when I used to measure pH at mash temp, the ideal target was 5.1 to 5.5 however that practice (measuring at mash temps) is severely detrimental to the longevity of the sensor I have since learned. That info direct from Hanna! While the 98128 is rated at up to 60C, the advice I got last week was to keep it below 30C and double the life of the ($116) sensor.


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## good4whatAlesU (26/10/17)

evoo4u said:


> I'm brewing with country rain water, which I'm assuming has little mineral content. .


Depends where in the country, how far away you are from a mineral source and which way the prevailing wind blows...


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## hooper80 (26/10/17)

manticle said:


> Be nice to know a mineral breakdown of the water.
> Water pH is largely irrelevant - it's mash pH that needs to be taken care of.
> 
> Without knowing the mineral content, I can't say much about salt amounts but start with acid (lactic or phosphoric) or acidulated malt to hit mash pH around 5.2-5.3, then add calcium chloride to get calcium to 40-50ppm (if you can somehow get current calcium content information).
> ...



I usually add 10g of cal sulfate to my mash water when using filtered town water. Here is the recipe


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## evoo4u (26/10/17)

good4whatAlesU said:


> Depends where in the country, how far away you are from a mineral source and which way the prevailing wind blows...



Yeah - I wouldn't feel as comfortable if using rainwater in Brisbane, Gladstone, Mt Isa, or near an open-cut coal mine, etc.


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## good4whatAlesU (26/10/17)

More thinking along the line of salts from the sea, inland lakes etc.


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## rude (26/10/17)

So Hooper we have the grain just need the water mineral content
I would be aiming for 5.2 to 5.3 mash ph at room temp but thats my preference
SRM is 4.3 which is approx 8.47 ebc


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