[Iliff Ave]

Piggy backing on the dark grains thread. Is there a guideline for mash pH and lighter beers? I assume it would depend on the style but is it advised to shoot closer to 5.2 for beers like kolsch, pils, and even American wheat?

I am relatively new to treating my water. I have been shooting for 5.4 for all my beers but will begin pushing that up for my darker beers. Curious if I should go lower for lighter beers.

[denny]

I generally go for the lower end (5.2-5.3) for lighter beers and the upper end (5.5-5.6) for darker beers.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

this has been a great discussion here lately. I used to target a room temp mash PH5.2 for pils, wit, etc and 5.4-5.5 for IPA and darker roast beers. most recently, after reading some opinions on this, I started targeting a room temp mash PH in the 5.3-5.5 range for everything...referenced by some as a nice blend for optimal room temp mash PH. I then adjust after mash up or down- pils 5.1-5.2 and porter or other dark beer at 5.5-5.6 into the kettle.

[HoosierBrew]

+2.   I shoot for Saison- 5.2,  other pale beers 5.2-5.3,  APA/IPA  5.4,  darker beers 5.5-5.6. 

[Iliff Ave]

Thanks guys!

[Wort-H.O.G.]

couple interesting reads if you feel like it.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CGwQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.weyermann.de%2Fdownloads%2Fpdf%2FWeyermann_TKW_Mash-pH_2010.pdf&ei=Hvb1VK3yCobRgwT2uoGYAg&usg=AFQjCNG47qXfX0M8n7fJyGMcN6UfrgAUyQ&sig2=xG8eQ14kjAYrsn3hgQ9D7Q&bvm=bv.87269000,d.eXY

http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_pH_affects_brewing

[rabeb25]

this has been a great discussion here lately. I used to target a room temp mash PH5.2 for pils, wit, etc and 5.4-5.5 for IPA and darker roast beers. most recently, after reading some opinions on this, I started targeting a room temp mash PH in the 5.3-5.5 range for everything...referenced by some as a nice blend for optimal room temp mash PH. I then adjust after mash up or down- pils 5.1-5.2 and porter or other dark beer at 5.5-5.6 into the kettle.

I do the same.

[Phil_M]

I'll be brewing a saison this weekend, aiming for a mash pH of 5.2. I'll be posting more about that later in the week, my water is a mess and I'm hoping to finally get things dialed in with this batch.

[dfhar]

I typically mash at a pH of 5.3 to 5.4 for my lighter beers, and at a thickness of 2 quarts of water per pound of grain.

Adjusting the pH again right before the boil is worthy of consideration, as well. I believe I read some references to some German brewing literature (might have been on Braukaiser) suggesting that for German lager styles, adjusting the boil pH to 5.4 or even lower is desirable as it softens the bitterness extracted from the hops.

[reverseapachemaster]

+2.   I shoot for Saison- 5.2,  other pale beers 5.2-5.3,  APA/IPA  5.4,  darker beers 5.5-5.6.

This is pretty much what I do. I target 5.3-5.4 for pale beers that aren't saisons or lagers. Pale lagers I target 5.2. Otherwise I generally follow the same targets.

[HoosierBrew]

+2.   I shoot for Saison- 5.2,  other pale beers 5.2-5.3,  APA/IPA  5.4,  darker beers 5.5-5.6.

This is pretty much what I do. I target 5.3-5.4 for pale beers that aren't saisons or lagers. Pale lagers I target 5.2. Otherwise I generally follow the same targets.

Yeah, I left a hole in my pH numbers for beers that aren't really pale, dark, or hop forward (ie., Scottish, some Belgians, etc.). I shoot for 5.3-5.4 for those.

[quattlebaum]

PH has definitely been popular on the forum lately. I once heard AJ Delange say that he felt the boil PH and finial beer PH had the biggest impact. So if one controlled the mash PH the beer should fall into a desired range. His observations seemed to be mashing at 5.2 at room temp (pre boil PH 5.2 also) is ideal for a soft hop profile and anything at or above 5.4 would result in a harsher hop profile when boiling.

He said when it come to finial beer PH he liked 4.2 at room temp for his IPA/ales and 4.4 to 4.6 for lagers/malty styles. He felt that IPA finishing at 4.4 had a soapy finish and anything at 4 or below was acidic. it is an interesting observation mainly because many of the commercial beers that i have been testing finial PH in seem to be on average 4.6 and this is IPAs mainly in the Northwest region. Hell it all comes down to what ya like personally and to be able to manipulate the brewing process to get what ya want in the end. Does anyone else even consider/measure finial beer PH?

[denny]

AJ brewed an IPA???   

[quattlebaum]

at least he said he did in a pod cast:)

[Wort-H.O.G.]

PH has definitely been popular on the forum lately. I once heard AJ Delange say that he felt the boil PH and finial beer PH had the biggest impact. So if one controlled the mash PH the beer should fall into a desired range. His observations seemed to be mashing at 5.2 at room temp (pre boil PH 5.2 also) is ideal for a soft hop profile and anything at or above 5.4 would result in a harsher hop profile when boiling.

He said when it come to finial beer PH he liked 4.2 at room temp for his IPA/ales and 4.4 to 4.6 for lagers/malty styles. He felt that IPA finishing at 4.4 had a soapy finish and anything at 4 or below was acidic. it is an interesting observation mainly because many of the commercial beers that i have been testing finial PH in seem to be on average 4.6 and this is IPAs mainly in the Northwest region. Hell it all comes down to what ya like personally and to be able to manipulate the brewing process to get what ya want in the end. Does anyone else even consider/measure finial beer PH?

Just started measuring beer ph for the reasons you mentioned. Just curious and collecting data points from mash to beer and seeing the impact.


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