Sparge water

Physics, chemistry and biology of brewing. The causes and the effects.

Moderator: slothrob

Post Reply
Steve
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 5:21 pm

Sparge water

Post by Steve »

I have a good understanding of how to treat mash water for the proper PH.
How should I deal with the sparge water?
Gravity Thrills
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 285
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2001 10:12 pm

match ending mash pH

Post by Gravity Thrills »

Treat the sparge water to get it close to the final pH of your grist at the end of the mash. In the ballpark is more than adequate here, I think. A little bit of food grade phosphoric acid does the trick with my system, water, and the styles I usually brew. My working understanding is that the general idea is to make sure that your final wort pH is in the right range for optimal fermentation and the production of all the desirable beer flavors in the correct proportions. If you are brewing dark beers you may not need any adjustments at all, since the abundance of dark specialty grains are working to put the final wort pH right into the target area for you and can likely buffer against any pH change that high pH sparge water might otherwise cause.

Cheers,
Jim
Steve
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 5:21 pm

5.1-5.5?

Post by Steve »

Jim
The mash ph goal should be 5.1-5.5, at mash temp. Or 5.4-5.8 at room temp. So the sparge water ph should be close to the same Yes?
Gravity Thrills
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 285
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2001 10:12 pm

let me backtrack...

Post by Gravity Thrills »

My approach was taken from Dave Miller's guidelines. He says you'll rarely see a pale malt grist lower then 5.3, and you'll often see dark malt grists get down to 5.0 and be very hard to correct upward with calcium carbonate. He says anything in the 5.0-5.5 range is on target. So his reccommendations are to acidify sparge water to 5.7 for pale beers and to maybe only 6.5 for dark beers. the proclivities of the specific grists will ensure that these pH levels get you/keep you where you want to be.

The reason for pH-correcting the sparge water is to avoid the grainy astringency you could get when excess tannis are leached out in a high pH sparge. Not to go any lower than you have to is in good keeping with the rule of thumb that you don't want to add more than 2-3 tablespoons(max)of chemical modification.

Cheers,
Jim
Steve
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2003 5:21 pm

Thanks

Post by Steve »

Hey, thanks for the info!!
Post Reply