My tap water here is very hard: 15.7 dKH, or 342ppm as bicarbonate, so I have to treat it with acid. I use Bru'n Water or Brewer's Friend to calculate the amount.
Recently I had some efficiency issues that I thought might be pH-related so I thought I'd check the predictions of the tools. The results seem to be a lot less accurate than I expected.
I tested four 'mini-mashes' of 20g Warminster MO (EBC 7) in a 40min single infusion at 66ºC with 3l/kg of tap water treated with different amounts of CRS.
Does anyone else get errors of this kind of size?
I'm wondering if it's strange batch of malt... looking at the SG (final column) the extract efficiency seems to be OK though.
I think I'm using the tools correctly (for example here's a link to the BF sheet for the 2.0 ml/l mash) but if anyone can see anything obviously wrong then please shout.
Recently I had some efficiency issues that I thought might be pH-related so I thought I'd check the predictions of the tools. The results seem to be a lot less accurate than I expected.
I tested four 'mini-mashes' of 20g Warminster MO (EBC 7) in a 40min single infusion at 66ºC with 3l/kg of tap water treated with different amounts of CRS.
CRS added (ml/l) | measured pH (cooled sample) | predicted pH (Bru'n Water) | predicted pH (Brewer's Friend) | gravity |
---|---|---|---|---|
0.00 | 6.05 | 6.27 | 5.7 | 1.073 |
1.50 | 5.65 | 5.38 | 5.3 | 1.075 |
1.75 | 5.61 | 5.23 | 5.24 | 1.075 |
2.00 | 5.54 | 5.09 | 5.17 | 1.074 |
- tap water alkalinity was measured with a Salifert KH kit
- pH readings were taken at 25ºC with a freshly-calibrated pH meter
- CRS strength was checked with the Salifert kit: 1.22 ml/l reduced the alkalinity as CaCO3 by 230ppm (2% higher than the spec sheet)
- water was treated in batches of 500ml which were then left to stand for 30mins before use
- the mashes were heated together in a water-bath to ensure consistent temperatures, and stirred regularly
Does anyone else get errors of this kind of size?
I'm wondering if it's strange batch of malt... looking at the SG (final column) the extract efficiency seems to be OK though.
I think I'm using the tools correctly (for example here's a link to the BF sheet for the 2.0 ml/l mash) but if anyone can see anything obviously wrong then please shout.
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