Is there anyway you can sligthly sweeten a kegged stout?

Hi there I have just made a Simply Stout which is a basic 1.8kg extract kit. I brewed it with 1kg of brewing sugar & 500g of demerara sugar.....the OG was 1044 and finished at 1004 which I believe is around 5.25% ABV.
While understanding this is a basic Low cost beer it has non the less a good mouthfeel and decent head.
However while drinkable it is very dry on the back end. If I could get a bit of sweetness to the finish it would be excellent. I was therefore wondering is there anyway I can introduce some sweetness to it and if so by what remembering it is already made and in my corny keg or is it too late to do anything.
Ty

Most supermarkets sells a yellow top tub of granuled sugar for about a £1.


https://groceries.asda.com/product/...wcid=AL!11432!3!!!!x!!&gad_source=1&gclsrc=ds

Test it in the glassfull first and then mulitpy up.​

Avoid anything with Stevia or saccharin in it.

Ps. Sorry bold seems to be stuck on!!

Lactose. It adds sweetness to beer without being fermentable. Adding any other sugar in the presence of yeast will kick off more fermentation if added to the keg.

Lactose just be careful when adding as if the beer has any co2 in it it will cause nucleation points and can foam up and over the Fv/Keg so add carefully.

Yes, lactose. Also yes, nucleation - dissolve the lactose in a little boiled water and add the sugar water to the keg. If you add lactose powder count to three (if you’re lucky) and watch the same effect you get from adding mentos to Coke!

Sadfield said:

Lactose. It adds sweetness to beer without being fermentable. Adding any other sugar in the presence of yeast will kick off more fermentation if added to the keg.

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That's not strickly true "any" other?

The Baron said:

Lactose just be careful when adding as if the beer has any co2 in it it will cause nucleation points and can foam up and over the Fv/Keg so add carefully.

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Just dissolve it in a little water first.

MashBag said:

That's not strickly true "any" other?

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How so?

I add Splenda to my Ciders. I like a dry Cider but the yeast I use produces something too dry even for me. Try adding one or two to a pint once poured to find out how many you’ll need. Two to a pint of my cider is about right so I add 35 to a corny keg.

mancer62 said:

Hi there I have just made a Simply Stout which is a basic 1.8kg extract kit. I brewed it with 1kg of brewing sugar & 500g of demerara sugar.....the OG was 1044 and finished at 1004 which I believe is around 5.25% ABV.
While understanding this is a basic Low cost beer it has non the less a good mouthfeel and decent head.
However while drinkable it is very dry on the back end. If I could get a bit of sweetness to the finish it would be excellent. I was therefore wondering is there anyway I can introduce some sweetness to it and if so by what remembering it is already made and in my corny keg or is it too late to do anything.
Ty

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For a cheap beer just suck it up, fix it on the next brew. Make a Porter Gaff, or a Black Velvet with this brew if you want it sweeter.

Just make up a simple sugar syrup https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sugar-syrup

Add a bit to taste to your stout when pouring.

This is exactly what I do with my turbo cider though I'll sometimes use a flavoured syrup such as Lowciz or Monin (cocktail section at the supermarket).

Ty for all the replies very I formative indeed cheers.
Graz: you suggested a simple sugar syrup using caster sugar & water. If I use this can I ask what amount of water and caster sugar I'd need to use for a corny (32 pints I think)?

Also does it have to be caster sugar as I have a bag of normal granulated sugar in my cupboard......if this would be OK to use in a syrup again how much water & sugar should I use....

I presume I pour in when around room temp yes?
And once the syrup mix is poured into the corny do you mix with spoon or shake or just let it fall through the beer on its own?
And finally how long after adding to the corny do you wait before it's OK to drink?
Ty.

Hi Mancer, I could be wrong but I think Graz meant for you to pop the granulated sugar syrup into your pint glass when pouring?
Otherwise in the keg it may ferment.
Cheers and good luck

mancer62 said:

Hi there I have just made a Simply Stout which is a basic 1.8kg extract kit. I brewed it with 1kg of brewing sugar & 500g of demerara sugar.....the OG was 1044 and finished at 1004 which I believe is around 5.25% ABV.
While understanding this is a basic Low cost beer it has non the less a good mouthfeel and decent head.
However while drinkable it is very dry on the back end. If I could get a bit of sweetness to the finish it would be excellent. I was therefore wondering is there anyway I can introduce some sweetness to it and if so by what remembering it is already made and in my corny keg or is it too late to do anything.
Ty

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Hi, funnily enough I've made exactly the same beer. I cut the volume down to 21 l. I'm surprised at the alcohol. I didn't test, but seems strong. I have no complaints though. It tastes lovely. I'm just about to do another but add a kilo of blackberries and a kilo of damsens. I'll do that the full 23l.

Baldylocks Brewery said:

Hi Mancer, I could be wrong but I think Graz meant for you to pop the granulated sugar syrup into your pint glass when pouring?
Otherwise in the keg it may ferment.
Cheers and good luck

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Yes, this

You don't want to add anymore to the keg as it will just start fermenting again.

And granulated would also be fine for a sugar syrup.

Although there are naysayers, based on other recipes I've used saccharin sweeteners. In small amounts it's very good at taking the edge off an unsweet or dry beer. Imagine 1 tablet in a pint of tea, & go from there.

The FG is 1.004, and should ideally be above 1.010 for a stout. Adding regular sugar (sucrose), or artificial alternatives, to the glass will sweeten, but you won't need be adding much to reach the desired taste, this will not raise the FG noticably. Lactose, however, is around one tenth of the sweetness of sucrose. This means that you can add more to reach the desired taste, raising the FG significantly, adding body back to the beer.

mancer62 said:

I brewed it with 1kg of brewing sugar & 500g of demerara sugar.....the OG was 1044 and finished at 1004

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Before getting carried away with how to "fix" it, it's worth taking a moment to understand what's gone "wrong". You've given your yeast nothing but simple sugars, which they can ferment in full, which is why you've ended up at 1.004 and why it tastes so dry. If you feed your yeast something (like dry malt extract aka "spraymalt") containing complex sugars that yeast can't digest, you'll end at a higher gravity so it won't be so dry, and the overall taste will be richer and maltier. TBH, if you're going to go to the trouble of having a keg, it's a bit of a waste to brew with just sugar like that.

Going on to how to fix it - the problem is that there will be some yeast kicking around in the keg, so if you add fermentable sugar to the keg, the yeast will ferment it and you end up with more alcohol but no extra sweetness. So that's why your options are :

1. Add a solution of unfermentable sugar like lactose to the keg (effectively turning it into a milk stout like Mackeson)
2. Add artificial sweetener to keg or glass
3. Add any sugar to the glass

As for how much - it's hard for anyone except you to say, so much depends on the beer in front of you and personal taste (I'm really not a fan of lactose). So the only way is to experiment on a glass of a beer to work out how much to add to the keg or future glasses. But to give you an idea, Mackeson has about 15g/l of lactose and is noticeably sweet, so maybe start with 1g lactose in a half-pint just to see if that takes the edge off the dryness, and add a bit more if it's not to your taste. And yes, table sugar is ~10x sweeter than lactose so adjust accordingly if you go that route.

For quickness and prob laziness lol U decided on the syrup method...rightly or wrongly with my amounts I dissolved 4 level desert spoon of regular white sugar in half pint of water which I stirred for 5 mins. I added to my pint of stout and must say it's made a difference much more enjoyable...ty for the feedback it's always appreciated cheers

All of it?

Lol no!!! I added small amount then poured pint then stirred....I'd guess it prob do at least 10 or 12 pints at a guess