StillSmart

I recently pitched two 50lt TPW washes, one on the 15 March and the second on the 17 March.

On the 30th March I finally stripped the first one which had a FG of 0.988

The second batch seemed to be coming to an end but on checking the pH I found it had dropped to 2.9 and the yeasties had effectively gone to sleep in the high acid environment. The Gravity reading was only 1.050 from a start of 1.090.

On Sun 31 March I treated the wash with several teaspoons of Potassium Carbonate which got the pH back to 5, I pitched in a fresh yeast starter and threw in an immersion heater to stabilise the temp in the mid twenties (C)

The wash took off almost immediately and picked up speed the next day. It''s worth remembering that low pH is often the cause of stalled washes and Potassium Carbonate is a great solution to this problem

AM

I'm glad to hear you've managed to bring it back to life

Do you think Calcium Carbonate would have the same effect on bringing the pH back up to normal levels?

I have some lurking in a cupboard that may be handy if ever I have a pH crash..

Uber wrote:Do you think Calcium Carbonate would have the same effect on bringing the pH back up to normal levels?

Yes, but it takes a ton of the stuff to make a big difference. I have been using 5-6 heaped tablespoons to shift a 50L wash a couple of points.

aidanmac wrote:The wash took off almost immediately and picked up speed the next day. It''s worth remembering that low pH is often the cause of stalled washes and Potassium Carbonate is a great solution to this problem

I've got some food grade trisodium citrate that I have been playing about with, I started having trouble with my sugar washes at the end of last year, I wasn't sure if it was a change in my water supply, or if the yeast I was getting was just less tolerant.
Dr. Who's posts on MD put me on to it, and I look to be having success. Once I get the levels right, I want to do 2 side by side washes with the only difference being the buffering agent.
I'll get round to it this spring and get a post up.

I'm currently running a 50lt TPW with a buffer recommended by Chuck which consists of Citric Acid and Sodium Bicarbonate in the ratio of 1:1.31.

It's been running a few days now and bubbling quite rapidly in a continuous blow.

I'll post any findings as the ferment progresses but the initial pH after pitching the buffer was 5.

AM

If anyone cares why I used that ratio (192g citric acid to 252g baking soda, dry weight and I use 100g/23L), here is the chemistry behind it:
http://www.cgcsforum.com/index.php?topic=1049.0

Chuck