PH meters

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squid88
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Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:03 pm

PH meters

Post by squid88 »

So i normally just add some gypsum as ezwater suggests, but planning on doing a Pilsner or Helles and looks like using acid would work better.
( Pilsner water profile looks low in everything)

What pH meter do you guys who treat water use ? or can i get away with test strips?

Thanks !
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I_used_to_brew
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Re: PH meters

Post by I_used_to_brew »

If you must, then use pH strips read in natural daylight. The ones from Brouwland are particularly reliable https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-produc ... OmFWMYqffY
PMowdes
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Re: PH meters

Post by PMowdes »

Do you measure alkalinity?

I use a Salifert Alkalinity test kit right before i brew.

The thing with water treatment is that without an understanding of alkalinity and pH your can get yourself in a muddle.

Alkalinity has a buffering effect in water, meaning that it resists a change in pH as you add acid until the alkalinity is used up.

Once it is used up pH will change quite significantly with a small addition of acid.

As a result the pH of your water is a directly linked to alkalinity and a result of it.

Phosphates in your grist can also have a buffering effect and so you may need to take the grain bill into consideration as well.


It's a bit of a minefield but


If you know your alkalinity and the concentration of the acid that you are using to adjust pH there are a lot of tools which can predict pH accurately enough that you wont need pH measurement.

Bru'n water is very good. It's worth paying for the expanded version.


My advice (if you are bothered about water treatment) is buy an Alkalinity test kit and get a copy of bru'n water and don't bother with pH measurement.
60 percent of the time it works every time.
squid88
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Re: PH meters

Post by squid88 »

I've been using /www.ezwatercalculator.com is bru n water better ? So far tesco ash beck been fine with 10g gypsum,(beers were a lot better than ones I made from untreated kingswood tap water ) but like you said this very light grain bill won't bring down the mash pH. I want to move to filtered tap water so I guess should bite the bullet and invest in a salifert kit and some ph test strip's. Is there anything else I'll need apart from the above and campden tabs ?
PMowdes
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Location: Bristol

Re: PH meters

Post by PMowdes »

squid88 wrote:I've been using /www.ezwatercalculator.com is bru n water better ? So far tesco ash beck been fine with 10g gypsum,(beers were a lot better than ones I made from untreated kingswood tap water ) but like you said this very light grain bill won't bring down the mash pH. I want to move to filtered tap water so I guess should bite the bullet and invest in a salifert kit and some ph test strip's. Is there anything else I'll need apart from the above and campden tabs ?

I'm not sure bru'n water is better, each of the water calculators have their good and bad points. Looks like ezwater is well laid out and simple to follow but doesn't seem to let you use different types of acid for pH adjustment.

Bru'n water is a bit more comprehensive but it can be a bit of a nightmare to navigate.

There is a John Palmer calculator out there somewhere which has recommended values for BJCP styles which is great, but it misses some functionality that some of the others have.


I use a carbon filter for my water, and have magnesium sulphate, calcium sulphate and calcium chloride to hand. I usually use CRS to adjust pH.

At the end of the day you can get obsessed with water treatment but i think so long as you get your mash and sparge pH right and you up Sulphate for hoppy beers then you won't go too far wrong.
60 percent of the time it works every time.
squid88
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Re: PH meters

Post by squid88 »

Yer im just looking at it as the next step , in 4 years I've gone from kit and buckets, all grain , temp control fermentation, yeast starters & reuse, i guess my next step to improve is water ? Looks like bru n water has a lot more detail I'll check it out.
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vacant
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Re: PH meters

Post by vacant »

squid88 wrote:So far tesco ash beck been fine with 10g gypsum
2L Tesco Clearview is 25p while 2L Tesco Ashbeck is 45p. They are both from the same source (Armathwaite)
When a man is tired of beer, he is tired of life; for there is in beer all that life can afford
squid88
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Re: PH meters

Post by squid88 »

Oh really , thanks !
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