StillSmart

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-08-02T22:54:01+00:00

For sure hard water is good for beer brewing.
My experience tells me that a good ph to start a brew is 5.5.
Where mine usally start without fiddling with them.
I add Bi-carb to get it finished fast somewhere sub 4.
We all have our own methods.

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:54 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-08-02T05:43:53+00:00

gaza the instructor wrote:
A good old school winemaker said to me that
if there was a limescale build-up in the
kettle you shouldn't need to adjust the PH.
So I make from that hard water is good.

Never heard it put like that but BANG ON.

Statistics: Posted by Mash — Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:43 am

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-08-01T20:29:05+00:00

Got to say that the wiki entry is about as understandable as quantum physics . I'm none the wiser

Statistics: Posted by H12rpo — Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:29 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-08-01T18:15:54+00:00

A good old school winemaker said to me that
if there was a limescale build-up in the
kettle you shouldn't need to adjust the PH.
So I make from that hard water is good.

Statistics: Posted by gaza the instructor — Tue Aug 01, 2017 6:15 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-08-01T12:19:44+00:00

The Wikipedia entry on pH buffers is actually not a bad entry as Wikipedia entries go

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffer_solution

The acid/alkali mixture prevents rapid and large swings to either end of the pH scale. The usual example is maintaining pH during a large addition of acid (or alkali) to a buffered solution. If you consider a ferment, that's kind of what happens, only slowly - as a ferment progresses, the wash becomes increasingly acid, eventually resulting in very slow or stalled fermentation. A pH buffer resists this change, thus allowing the yeasties to continue doing their stuff effectively. This at least is how I uderstand it.

Eitehr way, it works for me, so I shall keep doing it.

Cheers

Hampk

Statistics: Posted by hampk — Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:19 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-31T23:09:19+00:00

I will be totally honest, I have tried, but do not see/understand the "science" behind buffering.
However having the means; cheap Litmus strips or a cheap Yellow electric wand being two ways to get at least an approx. of your ph. seems good to me.
My washes usually start around 5.5.
When I add Sodium Bicarb. it is sub 4.
That seems good.
The wash then finishes sub 4.
And is only done the once.

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-31T20:41:57+00:00

50g of alkaline and 50g of acid ?? I presume that didn't change the ph.......so what does it actually do ?
What is buffering ?

Statistics: Posted by H12rpo — Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:41 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-31T20:11:24+00:00

hampk wrote:
I used to reliably have slow wash problems; lentils, wheat and kale all seemed to take ages. I now routinely add 50g of sodium bicarbonate and 50g of citric acid when I kick off a wash - it buffers the pH and I now get a much more acceptable ferment time.

Cheers

Hampk

Great sounds just the job,,are you in a hard water area ? and any idea what the ph of your wash is,ive just checked a kale wash a week in and i was amazed its at 4.02 i thought it would be a bit higher than that ..

Statistics: Posted by ninja_geezer — Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:11 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-31T12:30:00+00:00

I used to reliably have slow wash problems; lentils, wheat and kale all seemed to take ages. I now routinely add 50g of sodium bicarbonate and 50g of citric acid when I kick off a wash - it buffers the pH and I now get a much more acceptable ferment time.

Cheers

Hampk

Statistics: Posted by hampk — Mon Jul 31, 2017 12:30 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-30T23:04:47+00:00

Easydrinker wrote:
THAT described method no...
I routinely add about about 50g of Bicarb to every 25 litres of neutral ferment on day 3 to get the Ph back to something that sees it finish well.
Try a search, someone here mentioned this a couple of years ago, AFAICR.
It didn't seem to get much response.

Robert.

Thanks Robert ,thats useful info ,maybe that will stop me having to pop the lid and give it a good stair as it really slows down after a week almost stalling .if i pop a teaspoon or 2 in at this time would it help or should i check the ph first ? i live in a very hard water area if this makes any difference.

Statistics: Posted by ninja_geezer — Sun Jul 30, 2017 11:04 pm

Re: Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-30T22:34:20+00:00

THAT described method no...
I routinely add about about 50g of Bicarb to every 25 litres of neutral ferment on day 3 to get the Ph back to something that sees it finish well.
Try a search, someone here mentioned this a couple of years ago, AFAICR.
It didn't seem to get much response.

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:34 pm

Bicaronate of soda ?

2017-07-30T13:43:23+00:00

Anyone used this method at all ?
was thinking of trying it with my kale washes .

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =15&t=5753

Statistics: Posted by ninja_geezer — Sun Jul 30, 2017 1:43 pm