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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Irish Moss (Ralph Link)
  Potassium bicarbonate for mash pH adjustment (Philip Denlinger)
  Potassium Carbonate ("A.J deLange")


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Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:44:43 -0600
From: Ralph Link <ralphl at shaw.ca>
Subject: Irish Moss

How are most brewers using Irish Moss? For example do you re-hydrate it 
before introducing it to the boil? What ratio do you use per 23 litres? 
How do you rehydrate it, cool water or hot wort etc.? Plus any other 
suggestions or comments are much appreciated.
Thanks from
Ralph


Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:51:55 -0500
From: Philip Denlinger <philip at mindbet.com>
Subject: Potassium bicarbonate for mash pH adjustment

I want to thank A.J deLange and BURP for posting the slides and audio of his
Water Workshop

(Links are available on the wetnewf.org site)

Any reason not to use potassium bicarbonate, which is regularly used in
winemaking, to raise mash pH?

I have found that CaCO3 does not really move mash pH at all (I don't think
it dissolves) and NaHCO3 raises pH pretty quickly.  I wondered if potassium
bicarbonate was a workable choice.




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Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:56:10 -0500
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Potassium Carbonate

There is no reason not to use potassium bicarbonate instead of or in 
addition to sodium bicarbonate for tailoring water except perhaps that 
NaHCO3 is more readily available in food grade i.e. at any grocery store 
or place where one would go to buy various health related things which, 
if called by its usual name, triggers the spam filter. Calcium carbonate
will have an effect on mash pH but as it 
is, as noted, not soluble in appreciable quantity it must be added to 
the mash, as opposed to the brewing water unless acid is used in 
formulating the water to get it to dissolve. The acid is usually in the 
form of carbon dioxide bubbled through water in which the chalk has been 
suspended. Be prepared to wait a long time. As you probably put the 
chalk in to neutralize excess malt acid (black, patent... malts) you 
want the CaCO3 to neutralize that acid and not some extra acid put in to 
dissolve it so this again suggests adding the chalk to the mashtun. 
There, too, you can expect to wait a while for the weak acids of the 
mash to react with and dissolve the chalk.

A.J.



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