5.2 PH Stabilser and mineral salts

I was just about to do a video, well I have done half of it, but my pH meter started playing up..
pH.. So you start with a water report, you try and get one from the water authorities, local aquarium or even swimming pool or supply shop.
You then use software to try and estimate what salts you'll need to bring the ph in line, depending on beer style that can be anywhere from 4-6 but most will say 5,2-5.6 as a standard.
You mix in the salts, add your grain, wait 10mins, pull a sample, chill it a bit, as per usual around 20c is a good test temp, though some pH meters will have different temperature adjustments.
You can use lactic acid or acid malt in your grain bill as well if thats your want or needed.
Usual salts are Calcium Chloride, Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum), Epsom Salts, Baking Soda, Chalk.
If your readings are way out you can try and adjust, but by the time you do that, mix them in, wait another 10mins to take a reading, 99% of your mash is going to be done, it sort becomes a useless step. So what you do is take notes and adjust for next time. Either up or Down of course.

There is another way if you can be bothered step mashing, so you mash in under mash temp, so maybe protein rest temps, wait your tens mins and adjust there, once you get it right you then raise to your mash temp, can be difficult in some situations.

People used to recommend 5.2 adjust but they seem to be against it these days

pH will continue to change through the whole process, by the time the beer hits the bottle its usually around 4-ish.

umm think thats most of it.

no harm in using 5.2 stabiliser if you have it there though

So , if your doing an IPA then Gypsum is the only one I would use to start with, and I say that because salts apart from slightly changing your ph also affect the favour profile. Gypsum increases the perceived bitterness of the beer and sits well with an IPAs etc. Just a level tea spoon into your mash with your 5.2 stabliser and your good to go. Personally I piss about with lactic acid to drop the ph.
Its just a small adjustment but it will make a difference you can taste and follow. As Gash said in his reply take notes on every brew, so important.
With the other salts, CaCl2 rounds out the malty flavor and mouth feel which is great for that malt forward beer but too much can leave a slight salty taste. Chalk raises the ph quite a bit and is good in a stout where your grains are dark and acidic. but once again not too much. Great question hope this helps a bit. Cheers enjoy your brew day.

Thanks so much for your awesome post. So, its only 6pm here in NZ but im spent so want to continue with this tomorrow. Going to bed now with my Jameson stout cask mates whiskey which I love after 4 pints of brown ale home brew and my book of Irish mythology and my book on how the mighty Finn lost his Bride to was it Fergus? My Irish mythology goes back to after the flood(Noah) and finishes with the Roman empire and st Patrick. But Queen Sotia came from an Egyptian father and married a king from the Iberian area.( Spain)I think his name was King Mill, of the Milesians. They were Gaelic.
Gaeldals

They went to Ireland and Battled with the Tuatha de Dannan, Queen Soctia was killed. The Tuatha de Dannan went under ground and became the Faery folk, And the Gaelic Mills became the Irish folk. And bla bla bla bla. went to Dalradia and made it Scotland.

And what has this ramble got to do with an IPA....Im not sure lol, but after a good sleep Ill get to it and get back to you , Slainte

Many question how a pH stabiliser actually works, or if it does work how effective it is. How does it distinguish if it needs to higher or lower? I haven't done any tests myself. Maybe its the name thats deceptive. I could see how they could make an average mix to suit most "city" water.

Hardness of Drinking Water
Water that contains high amounts of calcium and/or magnesium is considered hard, and water with low amounts is soft. Water hardness is determined by the level of calcium carbonate in water (in milligrams per liter) [11]:

Soft = 0-60 mg CaCO3/L
Moderately hard = 61-120 mg CaCO3/L
Hard = 121-180 mg CaCO3/L
Very hard >180 mg CaCO3/L

So I think and I say think a good start is a bit of CaSO4 Gypsum as your water is Hard and Alkaline and lacking Sulphates so should be good. I also think your mash will tend to be high so hence the stabilizer 5.2
Im very much learning myself but starting to get a handle on it and im very keen to hear back on how your IPA went mate. cheers

5.2 stabiliser is a buffer, so its not supposed to be used to change your pH but stabilise it. So you try and get your ph in that range 5-5.6 or something and 5.2 will help keep it there. Pretty sure thats how its supposed to work rather than some of the claims it makes, makes it sound lie it fixes things.

Heres a piece from a website I found.

pH Buffers
by Bill Reeder
Separator


One of the least understood parts of brewing is making water adjustments. Homebrewers can make beer that tastes great just by using tap water, however when a person wants to take brewing to the next level, water adjustments is the place to begin. Mash pH is critical in getting the best possible efficiency out of brewing grains. In order to convert the stored starches in grains into fermentable sugars, enzymes must begin breaking the starches apart. In order to do this the enzymes need to be at the right temperature and the correct pH.

Many brewers decide to use acids and bases in order to get their mash pH to the correct level (right around 5.2). The easiest way to do this, for the non chemistry minded individual, is to use a pH buffer that will hold the pH right where the brewer wants it. This is where Five Star’s pH stabilizer comes in.

Equilibrium is where the pH of a solution becomes constant. If a person adds more acid or base, the mixture will reach equilibrium again (where the hydrogen ions are in a constant back and forth battle that ends in a constant pH). If a person wants to, by using a buffer, he or she can lock this equilibrium into a specific pH. pH is essentially a measure of how many free hydrogen ions are in a solution.

Buffers act by utilizing conjugate pairs. If we think in every day terms and look at HCl or hydrochloric acid, we can imagine throwing the acid into water and the first thing that happens is that the hydrogen ion will leave the chloride ion. This will result in an H+ ion and a Cl- ion. HCl is an acid, however the resulting Cl- is now a base (called the conjugate base), meaning it is now a hydrogen ion acceptor, as oppose to the HCl being a hydrogen ion donor.

The basis behind a buffer is that if a person adds an equal amount of acid (HCl) and conjugate base (Cl-) then a person creates a buffer. If a new hydrogen ion is introduced, equilibrium will continue as the hydrogen ion binds to the Cl-. This is best seen in weaker acids such as Phosphoric acid (as in Five Star’s pH stabilizer).

While HCl is a mono-protic acid (as in only one H+ to donate), Phosphoric acid is a tri-protic acid (H3PO4, see picture), where it has three hydrogen ions to potentially donate. Once one hydrogen ion is lost from Phosphoric acid, the resulting conjugate base (H2PO4-) can now be an acid (as it still has a possible two hydrogen ions to donate) or it can act as a base (it wouldn’t mind getting it’s lost hydrogen ion back). Again, if this resulting conjugate base acts as an acid and gets rid of another hydrogen ion, it’s resulting conjugate base (HPO42-) can again lose another hydrogen ion (although not likely to lose it’s third) or it can accept its lost hydrogen ion as a base would do.

The end result is that by adding varying amounts of acids and the resulting conjugate bases, a person can create a buffer solution that will lock in a specific pH. If a new hydrogen ion is added to the solution, on of the conjugate bases will bind to it and in sense neutralize it, maintaining the appropriate pH. If a base is added, such as a hydroxide ion (OH-) then a hydrogen ion will be released from one of the acids in order to neutralize the hydroxide ion, all the while maintaining the pH where needed.

This all seems pretty in depth, although this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to acid-base reactions and pH, the fact is that by adding one tablespoon of pH stabilizer will lock the mash pH to 5.2 which is where the amylase enzymes are the happiest. If adding a tablespoon of a something sounds too easy, by all means, grab a pH meter and some acids and bases and see how it works.


This article was published on Thursday May 27, 2010.