I brewed the NB karma Citra Session IPA.
Grain Bill
1 lb Rahr 2 row
1lb Caramel 40
Hops
.5oz Centennial (60 min)
1oz Cascade (20 min)
1oz Cascade(10 min)
2oz Citra (flame out- 10 min hop stand)
For most part went well. The Sacch rest was 153 and I did that for 90 mins with 3.5 gals. I ended up doing 2 mash outs. The first I added tooo much cold water and it was 147 with 2.5 gals. The second mash out was 165 with 1.5 gals. I ended up with 4.5 gals. Upstate was cold and snowing today. The OG I ended with was 1.060. I had small boil over. The water ph was 5.2-5.4, mash ph upper 4 lower 5. I thought the day was good, fun and educational. The grain bag did have a hole in it. I noticed it before I took out the grain.
2 Likes
I like the hop profile. 1lb of 2-row? You must mean 10 lb. If not that is indeed a session beer
1 Like
Congratulations. Something missing in that grain bill. Not enough malt there for a 5 gallon batch with that gravity.
If you are batch sparging the temperature of the water really does not matter. All you are doing is rinsing the grains.
Also, those mash pH numbers are very low. That could lead to some fermentation issues.
sorry yes 10lb. I thought I re-read before sending.
Last year started working on ph. I know that wort ph was low. Trying to improve. I did do batch sparging.
I’m confused you lowered the water pH to 5.2 before mashing in?
I did not. I do not have anything to fix ph levels.
How are you measuring your pH?
2 Likes
I use a test strip. Brewers Best strips,a $7 product. Next I want to go the HBS and talk about ph adjustment products. Any suggestions on ph adjustment products?
And what is your water source? Most tap water sources run in the 7.5 to 8 pH range.
1 Like
See if you can get your $7 back. Cant imagine your drinking water is that low. Send your water our to get tested. If you go to the brew store and they tell you how to adjust your water before you know what you have I’d stop asking them for advice
1 Like
Good water will make good brews… To add to add to your good brews, pH is another tool that is fun to tinker with…
A good reliable pH testing tool is key in my book… Water pH from some sort of tap, will change… knowing what it is BEFORE you mash in will help you hit the sweet range every time… that’s were testing and brewing help show you what you need to add…
So pH testing tool, solution to verify the tool is accurate and a small collection of low pH, food grade aides are what you need…
I’ve got a Milwaukee meter, testing solutions from our host and phosphoric acid and lemon juice… For relatively light colored brews, I correct my water to 5.8 pH… Then I will end up in the 5.2-.5.5 range after mash in has had a chance to alter its pH the rest of the way…
Sneezles61
@sneezles61 do you lower your total water pH or just your mash water? Unless you are doing a full volume mash I would only adjust the mash water
I do a full volume BIAB style… So for 10 gallon batch, I correct 13+ gallons…
Sneezles61
1 Like
I have well water. When I did my Irish Red last year, it was the same reading on the stick. Getting water tested is on the list to do once things open up.
See if you can get a ph meter. These are acuarate. And now not so expensive. Any more. Best thing get a water test kit. And go from there. Me sort of ball park testing right now. Read. Ph before it hits the brew kettle. From there. I add some. Ph 5.2. Powder. Seems to work. Yes i know not. The right way. Me stuck on island no flights. Coming in or out. So no way i can test my water now.
pH test strips are infamously unreliable. I wouldn’t trust that reading at all.
There is no way that grain bill would have brought pH that low and I highly doubt it’s coming out of the ground that low.
Yesterday ended up getting a ph test. I ended up getting a Milwaukee ph600-Box Full Range 0.0ph-14.0 ph. It does not have anything to do with the tool company. I t seems easy to calibrate.
2 Likes
And testing solution… I got the bottles that are about a cup in each one… Now… I store mine in the fridge… I’ll take it out, put enough in a snit glass to preform the tests… Then, be very mindful which came from where… and put back into its appropriate bottle…
I have bought the little test pouches to verify I’m not lead astray… So far, the solutions do read as they say on the package…
Sneezles61
I bought the 7.0 test and the KCI storage solution.
1 Like
