The after boil pH shouldn't rise. Was your meter calibrated and accurate (rechecked)? It should have dropped to 5.0, not gone up!
Step Mash
- Thread starter Nola_Brew
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If the pH is only checked in the mash and not at the beginning of the boil, the pH will rise from sparging even if RO or distilled water is used, so the finished boil pH will be higher than the mash. pH needs to be check and adjusted at the beginning of the boil or it gets away from the brewer. Most time the pH drops during the boil by @ .1 or so. But not always.
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Huh? Mine's always lower, as all I can read on the subject indicates it should be. When you boil, you're concentrating the acids as well as the sugars. My post-boil pH is generally around 0.2 lower than the pre-boil.
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Its an el cheapo PH meter. I never check ph during or after the boil. I've only checked it at the 10 min mark during the mash.
So i assume the meter is accurate or close enough.
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Not only are you concentrating the acids, but also the mineral content, only water is leaving the wort, a drop in pH would mean a the ratio between the acids and bases have changed. Evaporation would not cause this change, only an increase in ions would do this. The pH drops due to reactions between calcium and phosphorus. pH in the boil is relatively stable. I have had pH rise slightly in the boil, not much but it comes up sometimes.
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