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Water (aghhhhhh) Testing


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#21 Big Nake

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 10:20 AM

Yes,  I was going along fine and then my actual pH reading was higher than what was predicted.  I would expect 5.3 or 5.3 an I would be up around 5.7.  This happened for a few batches and then I decided it was time for a water test.

Seems like it would be a higher-than-normal number for bicarb, right? What else pushes the pH or buffers the pH the way that bicarb does? The other thing that always confuzzed me was the way the pH of the water comes in based on the other values in the water. Is there some formula for what the pH of the water will be based on the other numbers? I have heard that my water is unusual because it has relatively low numbers for everything (Ca 34, Mg 12, Na 13, Cl 21, SO4 27) and then 138ppm for bicarb but then the starting pH of my water is 6.6 which is relatively low compared to many other waters. Can I be honest? I'm ready to stop concentrating on water and either concentrate on drinking beer ( :P) or move on to some other component of brewing that is in need of more education. :D

#22 positiveContact

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 10:26 AM

Seems like it would be a higher-than-normal number for bicarb, right? What else pushes the pH or buffers the pH the way that bicarb does? The other thing that always confuzzed me was the way the pH of the water comes in based on the other values in the water. Is there some formula for what the pH of the water will be based on the other numbers? I have heard that my water is unusual because it has relatively low numbers for everything (Ca 34, Mg 12, Na 13, Cl 21, SO4 27) and then 138ppm for bicarb but then the starting pH of my water is 6.6 which is relatively low compared to many other waters. Can I be honest? I'm ready to stop concentrating on water and either concentrate on drinking beer ( :P) or move on to some other component of brewing that is in need of more education. :D

 

I think there is more to the pH of your water beyond the typical stuff you care about for brewing.  on top of that your water pH is a fairly low sensitivity input into your mash pH if I remember correctly.



#23 HVB

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 10:52 AM

Seems like it would be a higher-than-normal number for bicarb, right? What else pushes the pH or buffers the pH the way that bicarb does? The other thing that always confuzzed me was the way the pH of the water comes in based on the other values in the water. Is there some formula for what the pH of the water will be based on the other numbers? I have heard that my water is unusual because it has relatively low numbers for everything (Ca 34, Mg 12, Na 13, Cl 21, SO4 27) and then 138ppm for bicarb but then the starting pH of my water is 6.6 which is relatively low compared to many other waters. Can I be honest? I'm ready to stop concentrating on water and either concentrate on drinking beer ( :P) or move on to some other component of brewing that is in need of more education. :D

 

Alert a Mod, someone has hacked Kens account!



#24 Big Nake

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 10:52 AM

Alert a Mod, someone has hacked Kens account!

:P

#25 neddles

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 05:00 PM

The other big variable that BNW cannot account for is the variability in the acidity of the malts you use. It can vary bag to bag, maltster to maltster, year to year.



#26 Steve Urquell

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 05:44 PM

The other big variable that BNW cannot account for is the variability in the acidity of the malts you use. It can vary bag to bag, maltster to maltster, year to year.

This. Rahr is a malt known for being more acidic than others. I had gotten used to using minimal or no acid addition with Rahr and even adding lime to a few pale beer batches to hit pH. When I changed to Breiss, all my pH adjustmants were off with high pHs and all batches needing more acid.

#27 HVB

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Posted 18 August 2014 - 06:02 PM

The other big variable that BNW cannot account for is the variability in the acidity of the malts you use. It can vary bag to bag, maltster to maltster, year to year.

While this is true, my issue came using the same lots of malts.




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