Acidulated Malt

[bleachcola]

I don't really mind if it has to be done. But I think the artistic side of brewing is lost a little when you throw in stuff that will reliably produce a flavor that could be produced by malt. Like if you want coffee or chocolate flavor you could accomplish that with some roasted malts or you could just throw in coffee or chocolate. Either way is fine but I think it's more respectable when you can coax that flavor out of malt. There's more to be proud about when you do it the hard way. I just rambled but I hope I got my point across.

[Mylo]

I did a 1/4 lb in a 6G batch of Saison, recently. It's subtle - but you can definitely taste a nice tartness.


Mylo

[bleachcola]

didnt you get "acidulated" enough two weekends ago? if you have any leftovers you could skip the acid malt and just dry hop with it. the beer will sound fine.

lol, i somehow missed this on first pass

[bleachcola]

At first blush, yes, way too much. The nominal wisdom is that each percent acidulated malt will drop the mash pH 0.1 units so 9% would drop it 0.9 pH relative to distilled water pH which would make it 4.8 - 4.9. Your water's RA would raise that somewhat (less that 0.1) which would still be too low but not by that much and the enzymes would probably still be able to do their job if not as effectively as at a somewhat higher pH. At those levels you would dobtless taste lactic acid but given you want that this would not be a problem. So you might want to consider mashing with half the specified amount of sauermalz which should give you a mash pH of around 5.4, letting the enzymes do their job and then adding the rest for flavor.

So the question arises as to where this recipe came from. Has someone brewed it with success? If so, you can forget my comments and follow that brewer's advice.

Alright, so I'm going to cut the amount in half. Will end up being a 1/4lb for a 3 gallon batch. Will test mash ph and make alterations if necessary in the future. Will report my findings.

[Quin]

...Alright, so I'm going to cut the amount in half. Will end up being a 1/4lb for a 3 gallon batch. Will test mash ph and make alterations if necessary in the future. Will report my findings.

Pussy.

[Kaiser]

I'd use as much acidulated malt as you need to get to the proper mash pH range and add the rest towards the end of the mash. Maybe even after raising the mash temp to 160f to accelerate a-amylase and convert the starch that is in the acid malt. Given the small amount of acid malt and large amount of a-amylase that is still available at the end of the mash, you should not have a problem converting the new starch even if the pH is well off the optimal pH.

here is a chart that can give you an idea how much pH shift to expect based on the %acid malt in the grist and the mash thickness. (http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?ti ... #Acid_Malt)



Kai

[ajdelange]

Since I'm in the thick of it at the moment (the 3rd decoction is boiling) I thought I'd pass along what I observed today (which is similar to what I saw last time I used sauermalz). Today's grist is 3.4% sauermalz. My water (blend) has an RA of about 20. I had 78% base (Pils malt), 9% wheat and 9% each Munich I and Vienna. At dough in (78F) the first pH reading was 5.18. By the time I got up to the "acid" rest at 105 F the pH was 5.33. At the return of the first decoction it was 5.41 and was the same at the return of the second decoction. It seems it takes a while for the malt to release its buffers or for the buffers to form and "neutralize" the lactic acid. So it seems the advice to hold some back and add it later on if needed is sound. The other advice is don't panic if pH appears to low at first. It also seems that the eventula pH (5.41) is about 0.3 pH lower than what I'd get with a grist. Decoction finished. Back to work.

[SacoDeToro]

If you're looking purely to acidify your mash, lactic acid is a much better approach IMO. The actual concentration of lactic acid in sauermalt can vary quite a bit. Dosing your strike liquor with lactic acid is about as precise and repeatable as you can get. Most lactic acid solutions are sold at an 88% concentration, which is what I use. I prefer to use lactic acid on my paler beers where I don't want a sharp hop profile. For example, I use very soft water for the strike and sparge liquor in my German pils and acidify the strike water with a few milliliters of lactic acid. Many years ago, I used to check my pH during the mash and sparge. I found that things always fell in my target range and haven't checked the pH in quite some time. Using only enough lactic acid for your mash (and not your sparge) for proper pH will not contribute acidic flavors in the finished beer.