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Author Topic: Finished Beer PH?  (Read 3688 times)

Offline quattlebaum

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Finished Beer PH?
« on: February 27, 2014, 08:33:42 pm »
Does anyone think that this is a reasonable PH range for these styles?  I found this some time back and reference it frequently and compare my finished beers to the suggested PH. there isnt a suggested range for APA and IPAs but most of mine are finishing around 4.4 to 4.6 at room temp which i tend to like

Czech pilsner and Bock Ph 4.5 to 4.8
Kolsch and Alt  ph 4.15 to 4.4
Bavarian Hef   ph 4.10 to 4.4
English Ales  ph 4 to 4.2
Lambic ph 3.4 to 3.9
Gueuze and farmboise ph 3.3 to 4.5
Berliner weisse ph 3.2 to 3.4

Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2014, 06:40:02 am »
I have no idea, but I was just thinking about beer pH and its affect on flavor/balance yesterday. There is not much information out there.
 
Generally, those numbers make sense to me. I would have expected the Czech pils to be closer to Kolsch and maybe the English Ales to be higher. Of course, English 'ales' is a broad range of styles. I'd expect geuze to be more acidic than Berliner weisse too. But again, this is me guessing.
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2014, 06:50:31 am »
I question the pils and bock line having a pH over 4.6. It might be true, but it is often stated that beer is safe as the pH is 4.6 or below. Time for some searching.
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2014, 07:07:07 am »
Jeff Rankert
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Offline mabrungard

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2014, 08:04:16 am »
I just finished the ferment for a Hefe that I specifically sought to mash at around 5.2. The finished beer pH was 4.21. That falls within that range mentioned above.
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Offline natebriscoe

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2014, 08:12:31 am »
I want to say that you want a ph below 4.5 for biological stability. 

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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2014, 08:30:39 am »
I know there are a few sour beers that drop below 3.3 although I'm not sure exactly how low they go.
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Offline quattlebaum

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Re: Finished Beer PH?
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2014, 04:01:19 pm »
It looks like the numbers you got are from, or are repeated in, a Weyermann .pdf.

Other sources have lower numbers for Pilsners.

http://www.weyermann.de/downloads/pdf/Weyermann_TKW_Mash-pH_2010.pdf

http://byo.com/india-pale-ale/item/1494-the-principles-of-ph
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_pH_affects_brewing
http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?15898-pH-of-finished-beer

This is from a previous forum discussion, maybe some are over 4.6.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=4875.0
Thanks for those references and yes it was from weyermann. Took a picture with my phone some time back and couldnt remember where i got it from:)
I have much to lean about finished beer PH and do consider it to matter. Me and a buddy have been collecting "data" over the past year on Mash PH, Pre boil PH, Post Boil PH and finish beer PH as related to yeast strains. We both had a discussion this past week and wonder if we are wasting our time on this. I guess if anything it has made me more aware of beer flavors and desires of my finial product that "I" want.
Dont know if this helps anyone or i suppose it's an FYI but here are some PHs of some styles i have brewed recently.

Robust Porter: Post boil PH 5.52, finished beer PH 4.14.  OG: 1.058 FG:1.014. Wyeast 1968
Mineral ranges: Ca-99, Mg-12,NA-19,Sulfate-50, Chloride-88, Alkalinity 113, RA:34

English Brown: Post boil PH 5.60, finished beer PH 4.13. OG:1.050, FG:1.012. Wyeast 1469
Mineral ranges: Ca-100, Mg-15, Na-20, Sulfate-47, Chloride-88, Alkalinity- 125, RA:45

Vienna lager: Post boil PH 5.6, finished beer PH 4.56. OG 1.051, FG 1.013. saflager 34/70
mineral ranges: Ca-84, Mg-12, Na- 16, Sulfate-50, Chloride-69, Alkalinity-117, RA:50

Witbier: Post boil PH 5.75, finished beer PH 4.23. OG1.050, FG 1.010. Wyeast 3944.
Mineral ranges: Ca-51, Mg-5, Na-13, Sulfate-39, Chloride-46, Alkalinity-19, RA:  -20