Hi all,
I'd like to have some information about lactic acid additions. I saw on several comments dating back to 2018 that Beersmith's recommendations on acid additions had to be lowered, because BS overestimates the amount of acid need (so if BS says 1 unit, actually just use 0.2 or 0.25 unit). Is this still the case now, or has this been fixed?
Also, I'll use this opportunity to ask a couple of questions: mash PH needs to be in the correct range for enzymatic reactions, which primarily take place during the mash, and basically stop anfter the enzymes are denatured at the end of the mash, when sparging starts (78?C denatures the enzymes, and makes them stop working, if I'm not mistaken?). So my question is: if this is right, it makes sense to modify only your mash water, and not your sparge water, right?
Also, quantities wise, I'm planning on brewing the same Pils twice, one with modified water, the other one with unmodified water, to see the difference. To get the "adjusted mash ph" box down to 5.37, I wrote in that I would add 1.5 grammes of calcium chloride, and 0.5 grammes of calcium sulfate, and also 1 teaspoon of lactic acid (total in mash water, not per liter or gallons.). I brew on Grainfather 30 litres, so my mash water will be 16 litres, and my sparge water as well. I have calculated that this will amount to 1.16 mL of lactic acid per US gallon i the mash water. Does this seem to make sense?
And finally, to conclude, if the answer to my first question is "yes BS does overestimate the quantity of acid that you need to use by a factor of 4 or 5", then that means I basically just need a quarter of a teaspoon, and not a full one. If the answer is no, then I'll just proceed with a teaspoon, and see what happens.
Sorry for a lengthy post,
thanks to all that help,
cheers everyone!
I'd like to have some information about lactic acid additions. I saw on several comments dating back to 2018 that Beersmith's recommendations on acid additions had to be lowered, because BS overestimates the amount of acid need (so if BS says 1 unit, actually just use 0.2 or 0.25 unit). Is this still the case now, or has this been fixed?
Also, I'll use this opportunity to ask a couple of questions: mash PH needs to be in the correct range for enzymatic reactions, which primarily take place during the mash, and basically stop anfter the enzymes are denatured at the end of the mash, when sparging starts (78?C denatures the enzymes, and makes them stop working, if I'm not mistaken?). So my question is: if this is right, it makes sense to modify only your mash water, and not your sparge water, right?
Also, quantities wise, I'm planning on brewing the same Pils twice, one with modified water, the other one with unmodified water, to see the difference. To get the "adjusted mash ph" box down to 5.37, I wrote in that I would add 1.5 grammes of calcium chloride, and 0.5 grammes of calcium sulfate, and also 1 teaspoon of lactic acid (total in mash water, not per liter or gallons.). I brew on Grainfather 30 litres, so my mash water will be 16 litres, and my sparge water as well. I have calculated that this will amount to 1.16 mL of lactic acid per US gallon i the mash water. Does this seem to make sense?
And finally, to conclude, if the answer to my first question is "yes BS does overestimate the quantity of acid that you need to use by a factor of 4 or 5", then that means I basically just need a quarter of a teaspoon, and not a full one. If the answer is no, then I'll just proceed with a teaspoon, and see what happens.
Sorry for a lengthy post,
thanks to all that help,
cheers everyone!