Mash ph consistently 5.5

[welly2]

So what to do? Acidulated malt or mess with the water? I guess the consistency is a good thing at least.

I measure about just under 10 minutes into the mash, which I read is about right.

 

[manticle]

At what temp are you measuring?
And what with?

pH will alter depending on your recipe too so are we talking all beers, pale beers, dark beers....?

 

[Camo6]

So you're getting 5.5 mash pH consistently without any adjustments? Is it ruining your beers?

 

[welly2]

So you're getting 5.5 mash pH consistently without any adjustments? Is it ruining your beers?

Actually not, my beers have turned out pretty well. I guess this is something that in the middle of a boozy brew day seemed more important than it does now.

 

[Dan Pratt]

The thing you will achieve from the mash pH being lower or at 5.2 is the overall crispness of the final beer. I fine tuned my pH on my summer ales and when I got the pH in the right range the beer got much much better. I achieved that with acidulated or lactic acid. One thing to check is your final beer pH, that should be at 4.4 for optimum quality.

 

[MHB]

I'm pretty much going to agree with Pratty.
Depending on what you are brewing pH can make a lot of difference to how good a beer tastes, your efficiency and the beers stability.

One thing I have noticed is that when people are getting the same pH reading over several brews - is that they really aren't! The pH meter is just reading the same all the time.
It is very important to calibrate your pH meter, when choosing a pH meter its worth investing a bit more in a quality pH meter, make sure that it has two point calibration, that you have and use appropriate calibrating solutions (normally pH7 & pH4 for brewing) and measure at the right temperature, one with a built in thermometer is better and two decimal places are much better than one (0.01pH resolution).
Automatic Temperature Compensation (ATC) will help if the temperature is a bit off, but it tends to be a bit iffy near the upper temperatures of its range.

Mark

 

[Drekavac]

I've noticed a similar issue. My pH is constantly reading 5.8 no matter how much pH stabiliser I put in (which should bring it down to 5.2 according to the instructions). Reading what MHB said, it could the the pH meter although from day 1 it was reading 5.8 so I'll be a bit disappointed if I paid $60 for a pH meter that didn't work out of the box.

 

[rude]

From what I have read you can forget the stabilizer 5.2 Drekavac

To get mash ph right use salts then acid depending upon grain used

You need to calibrate & store probe of meter correctly as MHB said above

$60 probably isnt a good one but should be better than strips

 

[wobbly]

From what I have read you can forget the stabilizer 5.2 Drekavac

This is what is stated on Bru'n Water

SPECIAL NOTE: Five Star 5.2 Stabilizer is indicated by its manufacturer to "lock in your mash and kettle water at a pH of 5.2 regardless of the starting pH of your water". Evidence by homebrewers indicates that this product does not produce a mash pH in the preferred room-temperature range of 5.3 to 5.5. That evidence shows this product does produce some pH moderation in waters with high Residual Alkalinity. But, the mash pH tends to center around 5.8 (room-temperature measurement). While 5.8 pH is acceptable, it is at the upper end of the desirable range. The evidence also shows that in waters with low Residual Alkalinity, this product shows no effect on pH. Since Five Star 5.2 Stabilizer is a compound with high sodium content, its use will elevate the sodium concentration in the brewing water. High sodium content is undesirable from a taste standpoint in beer. Proper acidification of mashing and sparging water will produce more acceptable brewing results for most brewers than the use of 5.2 Stabilizer.

AJ deLange goes a bit further on HBT Water Primer basically saying it doesn't do anything other than add sodium to your brew

Wobbly

 

[GalBrew]

I've noticed a similar issue. My pH is constantly reading 5.8 no matter how much pH stabiliser I put in (which should bring it down to 5.2 according to the instructions). Reading what MHB said, it could the the pH meter although from day 1 it was reading 5.8 so I'll be a bit disappointed if I paid $60 for a pH meter that didn't work out of the box.

5.2 stabiliser is a waste of time and money. It does not work.

 

[Jack of all biers]

I paid $60 for a pH meter that didn't work out of the box.

Probably what you should have written.

Research should have indicated that this price could not possibly have given you a pH meter worth much more than a "guide" for swimming pool water readings.

Without spending extreme amounts of money you could get something easy to use like this one http://www.testmeters.com.au/product/ph-11-ph-22-ph-33-laquatwin-compact-ph-meter/ which has two points of calibration for $176 (shipped). I'm not advertising them, and there are other options out there, but this is the best quality meter I could find for a reasonable price.