Post by Ken on Jul 13, 2022 8:04:58 GMT -6
I put my Cabana Lager on tap yesterday. I have made this beer many times... 70% pilsner, 20% Vienna, 10% flaked corn, mild hops like Hallertau, Spalt, Liberty, etc. 940 yeast. The head on the beer is crazy.
I checked my notes on the batch. On this particular batch I decided to check the pH of the mash. I have been out of that habit lately because of this "get the strike water to a pH of 5.5 prior to mashing" that I have been doing (a trick mentioned by BrewBama). But it's a very pale beer and I guess I was just curious about the pH. The pH was slightly high so I added a few extra drops of acid to the mash. A couple minutes went by and I realized I hadn't added my salts which were just 3g of calcium chloride. I added that and checked the pH again and it was right where it should be. The additional acid may have dropped it lower than it might ordinarily be. Anyone have an idea of why this would impact the head this way? It's INSANE! The closest I have seen to this was with spunded beers I made a couple years ago. Adding the CaCl late? Doesn't seem like that would be it. Slightly lowering the mash pH? The malts would have been Montana Craft Pils and I think it was Best Malz Vienna. Nothing else unusual with the batch. Cheers Beerheads.
I checked my notes on the batch. On this particular batch I decided to check the pH of the mash. I have been out of that habit lately because of this "get the strike water to a pH of 5.5 prior to mashing" that I have been doing (a trick mentioned by BrewBama). But it's a very pale beer and I guess I was just curious about the pH. The pH was slightly high so I added a few extra drops of acid to the mash. A couple minutes went by and I realized I hadn't added my salts which were just 3g of calcium chloride. I added that and checked the pH again and it was right where it should be. The additional acid may have dropped it lower than it might ordinarily be. Anyone have an idea of why this would impact the head this way? It's INSANE! The closest I have seen to this was with spunded beers I made a couple years ago. Adding the CaCl late? Doesn't seem like that would be it. Slightly lowering the mash pH? The malts would have been Montana Craft Pils and I think it was Best Malz Vienna. Nothing else unusual with the batch. Cheers Beerheads.
