re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

OK thanks for the advice everyone. I'm just gonna leave it alone

Not sure if everyone gets BYO magazine, but here is an interesting article on ph adjustments and why or when to do them at certain times.

LINK

Some of it is knowledge i'm sure some have known, but some of it was not new, but more of a reinforcement of stuff i heard before but never paid attention to.

Mash and Sparge

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For pale beers the ideal pH is 5.2–5.4, and for dark beers 5.4–5.6, but these targets can differ depending on your process

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When I lowered a saison’s mash pH to 5.2, the amount of acid required with my hard water yielded off-flavors. While numbers are important indicators, the results in the glass are what really matter! Fly-spargers with hard water should acidify their sparge water to a pH of 5.5–6.0 using a weak acid with buffering capacity, such as lactic or phosphoric acid. This acidification reduces the solubility of astringent husk tannins, and is especially valuable if you do not halt collection when the runnings rise above a pH of 6.0 (or below a gravity of 1.010). Batch sparging more evenly distributes the buffering capacity of the malt, but there may still be benefits to sparge acidification.

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Boil

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A pH drop of 0.1–0.3 is inevitable through the boil as minerals continue to react with phosphate, but some brewers encourage this by adding salts or acids.

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If your goal is a whitish beer, lower the pH to 5.2 prior to the boil. Alternatively, a Scottish wee heavy or English barleywine may benefit from waiting to acidify post-boil.

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A high pH will extract more alpha acids from the hops, thus increasing utilization, but a pH in the low-5s creates a smoother bitterness by reducing tannin extraction.

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Fermentation and Flavor

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While all beers are technically acidic, in most cases you want the flat beer to have a pH above 4.0, where it begins to taste sour. I target 4.4 for many recipes. However, I find refreshing saisons and wits to taste best at 4.2–4.3, while stouts and porters are less acrid and harsh at 4.5–4.6. Dry hopping raises pH, so highly-hopped IPAs can finish above 4.7 without intervention. High-pH pale beers often taste dull and flabby, the opposite of crisp and quenching. Managing the pH on brew day is usually sufficient, but post-fermentation adjustments are an option.

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The whole article is rather informative.

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This is interesting. From a home canning perspective, a pH below 4.7 is critical from a safety standpoint. Anything above 4.6 is usually considered at risk for some nasty critters, especially botulism, which love low-oxygen low-acid environments.

Doesn't really seem like a big risk however, as I'd imagine we'd have heard about poisonings happening

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Maybe the alcohol content is enough to ward off such critters?

That's a great publication. Do you get the hard copies or just view it digitally?

Nevermind about the competition. My beer won't be ready in time for teh entry deadline. I need to do a better job of brewing coinciding with competitions. I really like entering the comps, but i rarely have a beer i'm happy with, ready in time to submit.

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buffbraz

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So when do you think will be your first brew day?

Also, what's on everybody's upcoming brew calendar?

For me, i will be checking my ph on my lacto/brett brux/wlp565 belgian saison mixed ferm beer. Hopefully it has soured some, it's been pretty calm the last month or so. Brewed it on 3/13.

In about a week i'll be dry hopping my French Benefits Saison with brett, with 2 oz. of Nelsin Sauvin. Still debating whether or not to lightly oak it.

I am hoping to get a keg for father's day from the wife, and if that happens, i'll brew a cucmber/cactus juice gose. I think, to figure out how much i need to use of both, i'll use my DFH mini randle i wasted money on several years ago, and mix a straight up gose, and keep note of oz. of cactus juice, and how much cucumber used.

However, if my pale ale keg empties before then, then i'll be brewing up a DIPA.

im going to brew another Berliner weisse this weekend, and I may also get another Hefeweizen started time permitting. Right now I have on the go:

Primary: Maris otter IPA with Columbus, Citra, Amarillo and 1968

Secondary: 2 5g golden sour (RR Temptation clones) that are 2.5 and 4 months old
Brett Baltic porter on whiskey oak
Belgian quad bulk conditioning in a keg.

On tap: Belgian tripel (chimay yeast) and sour cherry Berliner

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im going to brew another Berliner weisse this weekend

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I have a question. Is salt the only real difference between a berliner and a gose?

I'd like to try a gose and a berliner side by side and see if i could tell the difference. Maybe i'll grab destihl's versions and see if i can pick out any subtleties between the 2.

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I have a question. Is salt the only real difference between a berliner and a gose?

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Salt and coriander make a gose; technically Berliner weisse is only made in Berlin (they have an EU regional license). Berliner by style can have Brett flavor.

Both beers were essentially lost styles, and so the modern homebrew versions have a lot more flexibility in grain bill and yeast choices than many other German styles.