[PORTERHAUS]

Thank you guys. This is why I came here, to read over posts and pick the brains of everyone here. Now that I look back over things I have read before, I can see it plain as day but at the time I interpreted it all differetly.

Well, if my mash ph's have been running high becasue of this it goes for everything in my process like sparge ph, pre and post boil ph...etc because I was treating them the same as my mash ph in regards to the .3 ph difference. So sparge ph and boil ph's have also been running high. Only thing I have treated as a room temp reading has been finished beer ph...(which has been higher on some beers).

I guess this explains whey I always felt my best beers have been darker styles...Stouts, Porters, Browns. That would be because they can handle a higher mash ph. Other styles I brew are bound to have improvement going forward. Now I'm excited to brew the next batch and fix this mis-understanding. Thanks again guys, might seem like it's no biggie but that could have a huge impact in my beers.

[dilluh98]

It matters. If you don't believe me, come down to central TX and try to brew a non-dark beer with the tap water (even dechlorinated) - I've got solid limestone bedrock less than three feet from topsoil on my property (alkaline city). Flabby, weak, lifeless are all descriptors of those lighter style beers before I got a handle on my water (by switching to all RO), using some water calculation software (Bru'n Water is great) and measuring mash pH (at room temperature!!!).

Consequently, the only good beer I produced when I first started and had no knowledge of the importance of brewing water was stout. Go figure.

[hopfenundmalz]

It matters. If you don't believe me, come down to central TX and try to brew a non-dark beer with the tap water (even dechlorinated) - I've got solid limestone bedrock less than three feet from topsoil on my property (alkaline city). Flabby, weak, lifeless are all descriptors of those lighter style beers before I got a handle on my water (by switching to all RO), using some water calculation software (Bru'n Water is great) and measuring mash pH (at room temperature!!!).

Consequently, the only good beer I produced when I first started and had no knowledge of the importance of brewing water was stout. Go figure.

When I started focusing on light colored lagers, same story,