What the heck is up with Ph?

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  • Ok Y'all. I have a dumb question. What the heck is up with Ph? In 5 years I have never measured Ph on any of my batches. I know I know let me hear it. haha

  • Also, I usually ferment for about 2 weeks or until the bubbling slows. How do the big distilleries only ferment for a couple days?

  • @LocalGoat said: Ok Y'all. I have a dumb question. What the heck is up with Ph? In 5 years I have never measured Ph on any of my batches. I know I know let me hear it. haha

    If you stick to what works for you, then it's not a biggie. Gets interesting when you have a stuck or slow ferment.

  • To get fast ferments you have to have low SG. You also have to pitch a load of yeast at the right temp and control the temp.
    The right nutrients in the right amounts and it's all done.

    So a 5% allgrain mash pitched with a large slurry starter at 34C will be over in a couple days for you too.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited March 2015

    Five years of tradition is hard to argue with. pH represents the negative log of the hydrogen ion (hydronium ion) concentration in an aqueous solutiion.

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • pH is important to the enzymes that are necessary to convert starch to sugar in grain-based mashes. To keep it simple, if you are working with grain, and your pH is way off, you'll end up with very poor yield. It's one of the reasons folks tend to have limited success with their first grain mashes (that and temperature control).

    If you have a consistent water supply that falls in the right parameters, and a consistent process, it's possible you don't need to monitor pH at all - if you did you'd see you were falling into the right ranges at the right point in time.

    There are still reasons you might want to use pH for sugar-based. Initial starting pH - setting a pH low enough to discourage bacterial growth, but not so low that you stress the yeast. Or, monitoring for a stuck ferment due to low pH.

  • @Kapea said: Five years of tradition is hard to argue with. pH represents the negative log of the hydrogen ion (hydronium ion) concentration in an aqueous solutiion.

    Boo ping chau, moocha kowa gee. Ling dau goonka gai.

  • That's easy for you to say!

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • Thanks for the info. I guess I have really good well water. I will have to pay more attention when I start moving to grains.

  • Dicking around with AG will expose a lot of your weaknesses that other types of distilling/mashing won't. Not to mention it is an ass-ton more work than sugar based. Hard to beat the final result when you get it dialed in but until then it can be frustrating. Judging by your previous tenacity, I'm sure you can handle it. Plenty of good folks here that will help.

  • Google malt extract.

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • edited March 2015

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    Startpage Search for "malt extract"

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  • edited March 2015

    Google in a generic sense. (web search)

    15kg pails of unhopped liquid malt extract go for $60USD here. That will make you around 50L of wort at SG 1.080.

    Not as cheap as mashing your own grains, but a whole lot easier and a whole lot less work.

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • edited March 2015

    @Kapea said: Google in a generic sense. (web search)

    OT but I wish it were that easy, most people just aren't aware:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MwTvtyrUQ

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