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===How to Pre-Acidify===
After the production of the wort, but before pitching the culture of ''Lactobacillus'', some brewers like to slightly lower the pH of the wort with food grade lactic acid (available at homebrew stores) or phosphoric acid before adding the ''Lactobacillus''. Acidifying the wort before pitching ''Lactobacillus'' has several benefits, such as discouraging unwanted microbes that may have accidentally been introduced into the wort, and helping to prevent [[Lactobacillus#Foam_Degradation|''Lactobacillus'' from degradation foam degradationproteins]]. The idea is to get the wort down to a pH of 4.0 - 4.4 before adding ''Lactobacillus''.
There currently is no formula for how much lactic acid to add to a volume of wort due to the different buffering capacities of wort <ref>[http://www.mbaa.com/districts/Northwest/Events/Documents/Study%20in%20the%20Practical%20Use%20of%20Lactic%20Acid%20Bacteria.pdf A Study in the Practical Use of Lactic Acid Bacteria. Greg Doss from Wyeast Laboratories Inc. 2014.]</ref>. Water chemistry spreadsheets and formulas geared towards mash pH adjustments may not be accurate for wort pH adjustments since wort does not contain grain material, however there has been at least one report on MTF that [https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/ Bru'n Water] can accurately determine how much lactic acid is needed to lower a wort's pH, however this claim requires further investigation. We encourage readers to experiment with water chemistry calculators to see if they can accurate predict wort pH adjustments <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1244954842199394/?comment_id=1245053585522853&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D MTF Thread with Landon Ortiz. 03/03/2016.]</ref>.