Why pH Is Important In Beer Brewing & How To Measure It

[@moedogger21]

If you put shot glasses in the freezer, it will cool the wort/mash to a temp you can check in a few seconds, so that you can make an adjustment much faster.

[@grahamhawes7089]

Very cool tip, thanks.

[@kobrewing]

You beat me to it. That's exactly what I do. I put several double shot glasses in the freezer and pour one to another to get the temp to room right away.

[@thegoldenchild4657]

Nice, excellent tip. Subbed!

[@kobrewing]

Thanks for the great post guys. In my area water sources fluctuate during the time of the season and can throw estimates of source water off big time. I do RO water now and can get a really accurate mash pH. A calibrated pH meter is the way to go so you know your source water and whatever program or recipe is actually accurate. Sometimes something in your software or malt bill is not right and you can make the necessary adjustments for next time. I've had major misses in mash from as low as 4.7 to as high as 6.2. Both extremes cause problems and I probably would've been wondering what went wrong with both of those extremes if I had never checked the pH. While mash pH is the main thing to focus on I still like to do finish too. Different yeast finish different and things like dry hops can change your finish pH. The mash pH can really affect finish pH and make for a perceptible difference. For example NEIPA often target a finish of 4.2-4.6 to bring out fruit flavors. I don't think I could tell a difference of say 4.2 versus 4.5, but I can totally pick up a twang from a 4.0 per say. In stouts dark malts can drop your pH way too low so I like to compensate to make the flavor less acrid with a higher pH, which is noticeable to me. Besides that having a pH meter is a lot of fun if you're a dork like me. It comes in handy for other things say if you're fermenting hot sauce or simply wondering what you coffee pH is black vs. adding your favorite creamer! The possibilities are endless lol! Cheers

[@peterswatton7400]

Good video Guys. Thanks for information with out a lot flannel.

[@chrisnewman861]

In the recent times of Kveik yeast, perhaps measuring the pH of the final beer is relevant. The Apartment Brewer did a recent video brewing a Marzen split batch with Diamond lager yeast and Lutra Kveik. The beers were quite similar but the Lutra had a citrus/tart flavour (and a lower final pH). He suggested if he brewed it again, he'd perhaps aim for a higher mash pH in regard to using Kveik to avoid this outcome.

[@GentleGiantFan]

That video partially led me here. I'm a intermediate brewer which, I feel, has hit a break wall of sorts. My last few batches have been good enough to not throw away. The "final ph" of those beers were 4.3. Is that a possible issue or is it something like water chemistry (something else I'm venturing into)? My inventory is also pushing its expiration date so it could also be a freshness issue. Who knows, but I miss the early days of pre-all grain brewing where one of the extracts I brewed blew my taste buds out of my mouth. Now, I'm at "meh, not bad". The journey continues I guess.

[@mmmhsweetlemonade]

I have this exact phMeter and I'm very happy with it. Since my water is very hard (mainly due to bicarbonates) I always use lactic acid. As the amount needed depends on the malts it's a great way to add drops of acid until the wort is in the mentioned range. As far as I understand it, the bicarbonates and the acid form CO2 which evaporates while Ca and Mg salts remain in the wort.

[@felipesparks5267]

Thanks for this video! I just got one off Amazon a couple days ago. So this is timely!

[@JohnL9013]

Thank you for the informative video, guys. I didn't know BF had two different ways of calculating pH, but either way, this video motivated me to finally just buy a pH meter so I know exactly what I am doing (I'm an analytical chemist too so I should know better). I just ordered a Hanna HI98100 off Amazon, appears to be a cheaper version of what Hanna sent you. It was cheaper to buy it on Amazon than from Hanna strangely.

[@irrlicht6997]

Nobel price to the one that creates a pH meter that doesn't need calibration

[@MegawinkPub]

Thanks Elvis & John

[@exceldude2001]

Bru’n Water gets you calculate your ph. I have same ph meter, but hardly use it (except for testing wort for sours) because bru'n water estimates ph

[@paulbilodeau8569]

Great video thank you. So would you say more important to check PH for ending flavor and Chris knows other than conversion give him the way the new grains are being produced?

[@matthewbrown5677]

BYO magazine....(imported from the US to UK) .... Quote .....cooled sample (20 degree,s ) should be around 5.60 pH because at wort temperature the MASH PH is supposed to be 0.35 lower ........so true mash Ph is in this example..... 5.25 PH. Can someone in Pro brewery confirm !!!.?

[@campfiretunes8598]

As always, great informative video dudes. I do have a quick question if you dont mind. Since starting brewing, pH seems to be the most murky subject. I always hear 5.2 is what you want to strive for. Yet John Palmer says at room temp, you should be in the 5.4~5.6 range. Which is correct? Judging by this video, I guess in your opinion, 5.2~5.6 is fine?

[@vikramjitsingh4538]

5.2 is a good number to target, but the window is between 5.2-5.6 (higher for darker beers, and lower ph for lighter beers........ a lower ph for a lighter beer will make a crisp light beer and a higher ph will make a rounder, softer dark beer...... but measurements should always be taken at room temperature to get an accurate reading because hotter mash will give a lower ph reading...........for more info please read the knowledge tab on Bru n Water, it has a lot of helpful info................cheers

[@Margarinetaylorgrease]

60 minuet mash? I brought a refractometer and found that for full conversion 60 to 75 mins (maybe a bit more as the memory is weak) is needed depending on mash temp. The last few points are the slowest.

[@FermentationAdventures]

Good video! But with a ph meter, it all seems like a crap shoot… the meter description says an accuracy of plus or minus .2. So if the measurement is 5.3, it could really be 5.1 or 5.5? Seems like a big potential range. Unless I’m misunderstanding the accuracy figure.

[@gileus1]

I have noticed that if you enter all the information correctly into brewfather software. It has always gotten me to within .5 of measured ph. After about 10 brews is when I got this average so I aim for 5.4 ph in software and I'm always golden when I measure it. I use kroger ro water for brewing or a local spring called cave springs in North East GA. The spring water is very soft and I would use it always if it wasn't 40 min away.

[@BrewDudes]

I think that once you dial in your process you certainly can relax a bit on sampling pH every brew unless you really change up the minerals or some of the specialty grains. Nice to here BrewFather software hits the mark pretty close. Cheers! -Mike

[@roydaniel5642]

On brewing software, they give you a number for HCO3 per beer style. Do you actually need to try and hit that number? How would you hit that number for darker beers with adding a lot of PH raising salts like baking soda?

[@BrewDudes]

I don't try and hit any of the numbers ascribed to beer styles. I think its been pretty well established that all those arrays of mineral profiles based on world famous city water profiles but not the actual beer profile. Most brewers were altering water even before they fully understood mash pH or could measure things like residual alkalinity. I treat my water chemistry in two parts; first to hit an appropriate mash pH for good conversion and second to achieve a mineral balance in the beer to MY liking. Mash pH is done in the mash tun and if I need more minerals to achieve a specific goal I add more in the kettle. As for dealing with dark malts. I tend to top mash and avoid the issue all together. Top mashing is where you leave the darkest malts out of the mash tun until you've achieved you conversion. Then before I sparge or recirculate I add the dark malts to the top of the beer and let them infuse the mash wort for the last 20min of the mash. That being said, I have added a few grams of baking soda to a stout mash if I was going to mash all the grains at once, but I would only do that if I already had brewed the recipe before and knew I needed the adjustment. Hope that helps and makes sense. Cheers! -Mike

[@gerardnatale2387]

The water chem calc always wants me to add a few grams of baking soda to my mash water. After I take a mash PH reading I have to add lactic acid to counter act it. Should I just skip adding Baking Soda?

[@scottbenson4818]

I sell things to people! C’mon man…. Just kidding. I guess helping to cure cancer is better that that for sure! You guys do a great job in making “scary” things seem much simpler. Once you’re solid in your process and fundamentals, water, ph, and the science side can put your beer over the top. It’s not really hard to do and kind of fun to learn about. Of course nothing wrong with just brewing with regular water either. I think we all did that for years and still do from time to time. Thanks for helping the people that sell things to people become pseudo scientists! Enough of my rambling. Cheers from Uxbridge!!

[@timwood8733]

One area not discussed is the PH of final beer in relation to the shelf life of beer. Food standards generally requires commercial beer final PH to be below 4.6 or else pasteurization or chemical stabilizers need to be added. There is also discussion to achieve this & good fermentation that post boil wort should be below 5.2 & preferably below 5 PH on entering fermenter ??.

[@Soupy_loopy]

Yeah, I've been canning pickled vegetables, I learned that basically anything needs to have a pH of 4.6 or below to be shelf stable with simple boiling method. Otherwise you will need a pressure cooker for safe canning. But I don't really think it's something to worry about with beer.

[@timwood8733]

@@Soupy_loopy I think you will find that all the commercial brewers do worry about the final ph , as it crucial for shelf life etc. So why wouldnt it be important to home brewers. We are already controlling PH at mash, not much extra work to control it post boil

[@Soupy_loopy]

@@timwood8733 as Mike said, if you start off at the correct pH, then you will end at a good pH. I'm sure commercial breweries have to follow certain regulations to ensure public safety. But also they cannot control how the beer is stored after it leaves their facility. Commercial beer could be sitting in a hot warehouse for several months before it even gets to a store. But, nobody is saying you can't check your final pH if you want to, it's just not something most homebrewers need to worry about. Maybe you want to check if you're storing your beer for a long time. But you should be sure you're doing everything else right before you get to the point of worrying about pH at all

[@timwood8733]

@@Soupy_loopy agree that if u start off with good ph level in mash u are on the right track, provided however that u reduce the PH of sparge water to below 5.2. Final PH does have a big impact on some beers taste, sharpness eg largers etc if the final beer PH, post fermentation, is above 4.6 etc. Just think, if educational or information videos are being put out there, its important to cover some of this information, or state that u havent covered this information. Really enjoy the videos, but I think if u get into technical topics it needs to be a bit more explanatory.

[@Soupy_loopy]

@@timwood8733 , yeah John Palmer goes into a lot of detail in his book How To Brew. I read the book when I first started brewing. The problem is, I was so concerned about pH that I emailed him to ask about it. He was kind enough to respond to my email and tell me not to worry about it too much. I went on to brew about 100 batches of great beer before I ever even started adjusting pH. Sure it helps dial in an almost perfect beer, but it's not going to make a bad beer better.

[@poisonpotato1]

So strips will be fine?

[@BrewDudes]

If you keep them fresh and free of humidity strips can get you in the ballpark. You don't have to measure pH to the second decimal place to get a great mash. Focus on being between 5.2 and 5.6 and you're making pretty big strides forward. Monitoring that kind of range is easy with the right strips. Cheers! -Mike

[@Soupy_loopy]

I bought one and used it for the first time couple weeks ago. I think maybe I pulled the sample too soon. Initially it was a little high, then I added about 4 oz of acid, this was a 10 gallon batch, the second reading was almost too low. I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head, but I was surprised how much it changed. I'm wondering if it's better to wait at least 5 minutes or so after mixing the mash before you take the reading?

[@chrisz8532]

4oz? That would be 120ml, I think. I usually add 3-4ml in the mash and about 3ml in the sparge water. So about 6-7ml total to 30L. So that’s probably 12ml in 10 gallons. Looks like you’ve added 10x that amount. Sorry if I’m wrong.

[@Soupy_loopy]

@@chrisz8532 no, I meant 4 ml

[@JohnL9013]

In my homebrew club we've found, generally, check pH, add half of what Brewfather says to, wait 10-15 minutes, and check again. Oftentimes we hit targets with half as much less as predicted. Higher kilned malts will lower pH a lot as well.

[@Soupy_loopy]

@@JohnL9013 Thanks for the tip! Sounds like good advice.

[@DR991_]

You didnt mention when to adjust the ph if it needs to be adjusted!

[@BrewDudes]

I did. Next time! If you’re horrible off then maybe you can save it but from a conversion efficiency stand point by the time you measure it you’ll have been mashing for too long. And in all honesty being odd by a few tenths isn’t going to impact beer flavor or attenuation in a noticeable way in my experience. Cheers -Mike

[@DR991_]

@@BrewDudes For example when I start with my water ph at 5.2 (which I get with phosphoric acid), the mash temperature raises quickly to 5.6. By the time I measure yea its too late. So should I start with water ph at 5 or should I add phosphoric acid at say 5min into the mash. Not sure what's best. Cheers!