[Wort-H.O.G.]

quick update. I mashed in without pickling lime and got PH 5.28 vs 5.35 Bru'nwater (pretty good). I added the 1gr pickling lime and was projected to be 5.5PH (my target). I got to PH5.38. perhaps the pickling lime was not as strong or effective as it should be. I added some to distilled water and it read 11.5PH.

Anyway, I ended up adding more baking soda at this point since i knew the impact that would have, and got my mash to PH5.51. lowered a tad after sparge, so added more baking soda so I had PH5.5 in the kettle (final additions of baking soda only contributed about 30PPM sodium).

All in all good day and cant wait to see if the lower chloride and sulfates in conjunction with PH5.5 makes for a smoother dark beer.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

FWIW, it was a great move using black balanced vs. brown balanced (lower sulfate and chloride) at 5.5PH. my porter is pretty darn smooth already in taste I took this morning. at 1.017 at 4 days, and looks to be pretty much done.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Another update for anyone interested. Before moving my porter to cold crash, I of course sampled and took gravity. Without question, this is the smoothest dark beer I have ever made. I think using the black balanced with lower sulfate and chloride and 5.5ish PH has made a huge difference. It reminds me of the smooth roasty character you get with Guinness, and then add in the porter attributes. I'm really looking forward to carbonating this one and sampling.


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[mabrungard]

Ken, your result with lime is not a surprise. AJ DeLange did some testing with lime samples and found that it is often not as pure as we expect. In addition, lime can degrade into chalk in the presence of air moisture. Not exactly what we would hope for our brewing use.

Fortunately, baking soda potency is unaffected by moisture and it retains its alkalinity. As long as you don't push the sodium content of your finished wort too high, baking soda is a pretty good choice for adding alkalinity. In addition, I find that sodium is a nice compliment to roast flavors.

Since we only add alkalinity to mashing water, sparging water ends up diluting the final sodlum content of the wort. The supporter's version of Bru'n Water automatically calculates the final sodium of your wort when using baking soda in the mash. You can generally add a lot of alkalinity without pushing the sodium content too high.

[HoosierBrew]

Another update for anyone interested. Before moving my porter to cold crash, I of course sampled and took gravity. Without question, this is the smoothest dark beer I have ever made. I think using the black balanced with lower sulfate and chloride and 5.5ish PH has made a huge difference. It reminds me of the smooth roasty character you get with Guinness, and then add in the porter attributes. I'm really looking forward to carbonating this one and sampling.


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Sounds great, man!  I felt the same way when I bumped up to 5.5 and kept sulfate in check.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Another update for anyone interested. Before moving my porter to cold crash, I of course sampled and took gravity. Without question, this is the smoothest dark beer I have ever made. I think using the black balanced with lower sulfate and chloride and 5.5ish PH has made a huge difference. It reminds me of the smooth roasty character you get with Guinness, and then add in the porter attributes. I'm really looking forward to carbonating this one and sampling.


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Sounds great, man!  I felt the same way when I bumped up to 5.5 and kept sulfate in check.

Yes it's a great breakthrough for me. I've tried a few other methods to make my dark beers better, but this by far has been the most significant.

I'd recommend others to try it if they've not been completely happy with darker/roast  beers....worth the experiment.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Ken, your result with lime is not a surprise. AJ DeLange did some testing with lime samples and found that it is often not as pure as we expect. In addition, lime can degrade into chalk in the presence of air moisture. Not exactly what we would hope for our brewing use.

Fortunately, baking soda potency is unaffected by moisture and it retains its alkalinity. As long as you don't push the sodium content of your finished wort too high, baking soda is a pretty good choice for adding alkalinity. In addition, I find that sodium is a nice compliment to roast flavors.

Since we only add alkalinity to mashing water, sparging water ends up diluting the final sodlum content of the wort. The supporter's version of Bru'n Water automatically calculates the final sodium of your wort when using baking soda in the mash. You can generally add a lot of alkalinity without pushing the sodium content too high.

Thanks Martin. Probably won't use pickling lime again.


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[Stevie]

Martin,


I've never noticed the note regarding dissolving chalk in carbonated water before and have used chalk for years in beers where I need to avoid adding additional Sulfate and Choloride. I never looked into pickling lime as I had always used chalk. Based on Kai's numbers (roughly estimated at 50% dissolved in the mash without CO2) i'm within an acceptable range, but I'm still shocked that I had not come across this or hovered over the chalk cell in the sheet long enough to notice your instruction.


What is a recommended water volume to dissolve 1g of chalk?

[mabrungard]

Unfortunately, the 50% dissolution of chalk is a fallacy. If you look closely at Kai's data, you will notice that pH is only increased by 0.1 to 0.2 units, regardless of the dose.

I have to assume that your water adjustments only required about 0.1 to 0.2 units increase.

Chalk is not a reliable alkalinity source. Don't use it unless you are properly dissolving it with carbonic acid.

[Stevie]

You nailed it. Taking it from mid 5.3 to high 5.4/5.5.

So just add to water, hook-up to a carbonator cap, and shake until it goes clear? Let it go flat before adding to mash water? I have some 18oz sparkling water bottles, I'll give them a shot with 8oz of water for 1g of chalk.