[homebrewdad7]

Thanks for the link, Denny.  I had been looking at some of the information, as well.  I think that the Briess blog link on how crystal malt is made is super informative.

[denny]

Thanks for the link, Denny.  I had been looking at some of the information, as well.  I think that the Briess blog link on how crystal malt is made is super informative.

That and more info is in Experimental Homebrewing, also.

[homebrewdad7]

Time to dig that one out...

[erockrph]

FYI, your choice of chalk was likely the reason your mash pH still ran low. It's not all that soluble in the mash.

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[homebrewdad7]

>FYI, your choice of chalk was likely the reason your mash pH still ran low. It's not all that soluble in the mash.

Two things. 

1) It's all I had.  I'm aware that pickling lime would be preferable.  I only had chalk due to an accidental purchase.  My water is usually very high in pH, and I have never needed to raise my pH in five years of brewing.

2) This is my third brewday in a row (and fourth batch) so affected.  My water company has recently changed something - it's all over the community facebook group.  Our friend could not buy her tropical fish when she had planned due to not being able to get the pH up enough. 

So while the chalk is likely a factor, the lower than reported pH is probably a bigger issue.