Acid Rest

Anyone on this forum ever do an acid rest ?

I did for a while, but the time and effort just wasn’t worth it. Using acid (lactic or phospohoric) is quicker, easier, and more accurate.

I’ve done it a few times, not regularly. Every now and then I try to go old school with some process (mostly just to see how it works in practice) and I’ve used acid rests. They do work, but they also add a lot of time to your brew day and as Denny said, the time it takes for a given pH drop can vary depending on more factors than I understand, so it is hard to plan out your schedule ahead unless you are brewing the same beer time after time.

I’ve thought about doing it for the hell of it.

You need to know if your water and mash will benefit from an acid rest. If your water has high alkalinity and you are brewing a pale beer, then an acid rest could be very beneficial. If you have low alkalinity water, then that same acid rest could ruin the beer. Figure it out FIRST.

:wink:

+1
In addition to Martins advice on mash rest, blindly using amounts of acids or sauermalt will see the same results. So use only if mash matrix calls for it. So bottom line is do the research first or else leave it alone.
Because you can go from a good to fantastic beer with proper adjustment.
But you can quickly go from a potential good beer to fair/ poor, possibly horrible beer if you make the wrong assumtions.

:cheers:

I do a “ferulic acid rest” at 110 F for my Bavarian Weizens and Saisons. According to an extended (50-page) thread on this forum, the ferulic acid produced provides the precursors for the phenolics responsible for the clove and related spicy flavors in those beers. It’s worked well for me.

The details (lots of them) are at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=40751&hilit=bavarian+weizen+project The first post has been edited to summarize the project.

Other than Weizens and Saisons, single infusion works great.