acidifying sparge water...how?

[soccerdad]

My situation is different since I BIAB. My mash water and sparge water are one and the same. My water is such that dark beers pretty much acidity themselves, and for light colored beers I can add 1 to 4 ounces of Sauermalz (German acidulated malt) to acidity the water.

I am not 100% clear on this, but I believe acidulated malt was developed by the Germans to abide by the Reinheitsgebot and use only water, malt, hops and yeast

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

so whats the question

 

[oliver]

so now I'm thinking if the pH of DI water isn't really 7, and the CO2 in the air drops it significantly, plus any other things getting in when applying heat to it before grains go in, than I've been miscalculating in the first place, and don't need as much acid going in before the grains, yes?

 

[GFHomebrew]

so now I'm thinking if the pH of DI water isn't really 7, and the CO2 in the air drops it significantly, plus any other things getting in when applying heat to it before grains go in, than I've been miscalculating in the first place, and don't need as much acid going in before the grains, yes?

It would seem to be the case Oliver according to Ozarks thoughts sone carbon dioxide absorption gee it's pretty technical. What's wrong with your tap water?

Have you got a PH meter handy that will give you a definitive answer on PH?
Yeah I'd be hesitant on adding half a mil even of acid. Like I said my water is around 7ph or there abouts and I've more than once gone one to many drops and dropped PH easily below 5ph! It doesn't take much to drop neutral water down under 6. Remember you only need it below 6 Ph on the sparge to reduce " tannin extraction" from the grains.

 

[ACBEV]

I like to keep things as simple as possible. I modify all my brew water before I start, in most cases for me between 5.8 - 6.0, depending on malts.

It is important to measure PH at 20c/68f, or you are comparing oranges with elephants.

 

[oliver]

What's wrong with your tap water?

Ca...Mg...Na...Cl...SO4...CaCO3...pH
48...12....30....38...17......148........9.2

I think that report is from 2014 or 2015...And the water changes per season. They add stuff depending on the weather and if the brain eating amoeba (not joking about that) get into the water supply. Among a bunch of chlorine and other garbage in the water here, I'll never make another beer again in New Orleans without using DI water or using a serious filtration system. It's just so much easier to build up from DI.

 

[Nosybear]

Same problem here. Water varies - I noticed that I was getting different mash pH values with the same treatment at different times of the year. And yes, I know of the brain eating amoeba AND the flesh-eating bacteria that occasionally get into the water that far down the estuary. Important to keep in mind: Water pH is not the relevant measurement, mash pH is. Mash pH depends on the amount of calcium, magnesium and carbonate in your water, plus the composition of your grist. Managing the mash pH will do nice things for your beer like make the malts more pronounced, giving the beer a more lively flavor, helping it clear better, improving your conversion efficiency. Sparge pH is simply to ensure you don't extract tannins from the grain husks. I usually control it to pH 5.4 using the Brewer's Friend calculator. If you came up with zero, for some reason your water was already acidic enough that the resultant amount of acid was less than or equal to zero. Either that or some input, likely the water analysis, was missing. It's a tool problem, not a water problem.

 

[Matt Fuctard]

one thing you don't want to do is lower your ph too much it can cause bad flavors

Yes it most definitely will. I overdid it once and it tasted like a red wine vinegar pale ale.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I think that report is from 2014 or 2015...And the water changes per season. They add stuff depending on the weather and if the brain eating amoeba (not joking about that) get into the water supply. Among a bunch of chlorine and other garbage in the water here, I'll never make another beer again in New Orleans without using DI water or using a serious filtration system. It's just so much easier to build up from DI.

if your making small batches you can boil the tap water, decant off the solids then add a campden tablet and it should help some