I use lactic acid with my sparge water, but is there a certain acid that is best?
Lactic is most common, that or 10% phosphoric acid would also work. You’re limited with lactic in that it has a tartness so you want to keep under 5ml/gal or something like that. Phosphoric acid just becomes phosphate and thats a nutrient for yeast.
From what I understand, lactic acid is usually not needed if you’re using RO water for brewing. Lactic acid is really only needed if your sparge water is highly alkaline, right?
Right, with a really low alkalinity water like RO, acidification is not needed. But don’t assume that you only need be concerned with acidification when dealing with high alkalinity water. In my opinion, when the alkalinity exceeds about 25 ppm as CaCO3, then its time to get out the acid. The good thing with acidifying those relatively low alkalinity waters is that you won’t have to add much acid and there is no negative with adding it. Its only when the exceeds about 200 ppm that you need to start worrying about flavor effects from acidification.
You would still need something to acidify the mash with Pilsner malts as they only acidify the mash to 5.7 pH.
What’s the difference between using something like lactic acid vs. acidulated malt?
I brewed a hybrid pilsner ale last summer and used 5 oz acidulated malt. I guess I’d rather just use malt than measure out acid, if there’s no read difference.
Martin - thanks so much for the water knowledge and the work you’ve put in to Bru’nWater. Since I started using it and reading up on water, I’ve seen a huge improvement in my beer! Just phenomenal - thank you!
Acid malt is either infused with lactic acid or is naturally acidified by bacterial action. For the most part, one can assume that the ‘active ingredient’ is lactic acid in acid malt. But in the case of the naturally acidified malt, there could be a variety of other acids in low quantity. AJ Delange likes to say that acid malt adds nuances that the refined lactic acid from the bottle does not. He may be right. But for most users, the acid malt addition is so small that the opportunity to actually taste those nuances doesn’t seem feasible.
Using either acid malt or lactic acid from a bottle should be roughly equivalent. My biggest problem with acid malt is that the amount of acid delivered with the product can vary, whereas the bottled product should be more consistent.
Use what you like!
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