Acid rest/Protein rest

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

While most if not all brewing books claim that an acid rest and protein rest are not required for modern base malts, what if you have very alkaline brewing water?

Has anybody out there actually experimented with a stepped infusion mash?

Secondly: some sources say that the acid rest allows phytase enzymes to release phytic acid from the grain. Other sources claim that lacto-bacillus bacteria creates lactic acid during that process.

Who is correct? Why is there so much conflicting opinion even in so-called BJCP accredited resources?

[kingcur Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kingcur]

I think it has to do with time. I would imagine that lacto takes more than an hour to do anything noticable to the pH. Whereas an acid rest is well under an hour.

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[that guy al Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close that guy al]

my tap water has a very high ph. if i use it for brewing, an acid rest of about 30 mins is usually sufficient to bring it down to acceptable levels. quite amazing actually.

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

my tap water has a very high ph. if i use it for brewing, an acid rest of about 30 mins is usually sufficient to bring it down to acceptable levels. quite amazing actually.

define high, define acceptable?

Ours is 8.0 on a good day..........

[SimonB Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close SimonB]

Just add acidulated malt.


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[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

Just add acidulated malt.


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aha but then what about the protein rest? Shouldn't we help the beta-glucans?

With BIAB and no sparge I need every tip and technique to improve the beer.

I was thinking a 50 degree hot liquor @ dough-in and that should drop the mash temp to around 45-47 degrees. Leave that there for 30 minutes and that will take care of the acid and the proteins. The two rests luckily overlap nicely at around 45 degC.

Acidulated malt adds another complexity to the recipe.

[SimonB Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close SimonB]

Acidulated malt adds another complexity to the recipe.

It's less complicated than protein rests.

Personally I'd rather being the chemistry into line suitable for the style rather than messing around with rests and acid malts.



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[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

It's less complicated than protein rests.

Personally I'd rather being the chemistry into line suitable for the style rather than messing around with rests and acid malts.

Easier said than done. I suppose I can start stuffing around with Calcium Chloride but I suspect my water is too high in TDS already.

[that guy al Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close that guy al]

define high, define acceptable?

Ours is 8.0 on a good day..........

i don't have a super accurate way of measuring but our water is somewhere above 7. resting for 30 mins at about 40C brings it down to under 6.