I'm doing an AG porter recipe. Historically, I have been dissatisfied with my porters - they come out thin, and a bit acidic. Some research suggested that my issue may be mash pH, so I bought so pH strips and some chalk. I measured my mash pH using the strips and it was in the 4.9 range, so I started adding chalk 1 teaspoon at a time. Eventually I got to 5 teaspoons, and the pH strip still registered about 5.0, MAYBE 5.1, but it is hard to tell with the colors. I decided to err on the side of caution and stop adding stuff to my mash.

I eventually had to also add 1.5 gallons of boiling water to hit my mash temp. So, I went from 4.25 gallons of water to 5.75 for a 13.6lb grain bill.

My question is - did I add ridiculously too much chalk? If so, what are the negative side effects of having done so?

For future brew sessions I think I will purchase a digital pH meter, but for this batch in particular I would like to know if I am fubar or not.

update:

According to my town's water report (from 2014....) here's what's in my water:

- 33 ppm Sodium
- 0.03 ppm manganese
- 0.44 ppm chlorine (relavent?)
- 3.03 ppm chloramines (good thing I filtered my water...no wait, that only helps with chlorine...)
- 0.11 ppm copper
- 34 ppm sulfate

I think that should be all the relevant stuff.