Adding sugar to brew

[G-Town Brewer]

Hi All

I'm about to embark on my maiden all-grain brew (hopefully this weekend if I receive all ingredients through post) and have a couple of questions. I have opted for the Townes IPA recipe which I found on here as it seems fairly straightforward with a short list of ingredients to get me started.

I have been doing as much research as possible and have found the info on here invaluable. I have also been reading Dave Line's Big Book of brewing. All the recipes in his book call for a considerable amount of sugar to be added to the boil - normally 2lb for a 5 gal brew. I've not seem one recipe on here which calls for sugars to be added in this way.

Has this now become unfashionable to do this or what are the reasons behind this?

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Hi All

I'm about to embark on my maiden all-grain brew (hopefully this weekend if I receive all ingredients through post) and have a couple of questions. I have opted for the Townes IPA recipe which I found on here as it seems fairly straightforward with a short list of ingredients to get me started.

I have been doing as much research as possible and have found the info on here invaluable. I have also been reading Dave Line's Big Book of brewing. All the recipes in his book call for a considerable amount of sugar to be added to the boil - normally 2lb for a 5 gal brew. I've not seem one recipe on here which calls for sugars to be added in this way.

Has this now become unfashionable to do this or what are the reasons behind this?

This is a very good question.
Adding sugar will cut down on your grain bill. It will also cut down on the maltiness of your beer. It will also affect the mouthfeel of your beer. If you stay true to the basics of the four ingredients ie. barley, water, hops and yeast, then you shouldnt add sugar.
My first 4 or 5 AGs came out really malty, and I mean cloying malty. I knew that my mash effecienty (sp) must have been too good.
All my recipes now start with 500g of DM and 500g of TW. This keeps the maltiness and the head retention that I like.
HTH Johnnyboy.

 

[craigite]

Many recipes call for sugar of one sort or another. White sugar will dilute the taste and mouth feel, treacle might give a licorice note....
As for me, I only use sugar to make up a priming syrup. That's just my taste.
To get the maltyness level and dryness I adjust mash temp and water to grain ratio.

I am a great believer in trying the recipe as it is written the first time, then try a change to see the effect. This method does have the drawback that you have to drink more beer. :party:

 

[evanvine]

This method does have the drawback that you have to drink more beer.

I can't brew it fast enough (only got 24ltr capacity).
I am intrigued to know what JB1965 meant by "DM and TW" in relation to all grain brewing?

 

[Moley]

I am intrigued to know what JB1965 meant by "DM and TW" in relation to all grain brewing?

Dark Malt & Terrified Wheat? :wha:

 

[evanvine]

Cheers Ade, it's so obvious when it's spelled out.

 

[Ceejay]

:rofl: "Terrified Wheat". That made me chuckle, I can see them in the malt house now:

"Nah mate, don't heat it up or nuffing, just scare the **** out of it"

 

[luckyeddie]

:lol: @ terrified wheat.

I use sugar in all of my Belgian brews (apart from witbiers) because I'm trying to be true to the Trappist methods as far as possible (come on, we all say a little prayer that we've got the strike temperature correct and that the mash tun outlet manifold doesn't block).

The sugar I add is invert sugar, partially caramelised and reconstituted into a syrup (light or dark candi), and it takes me hours to prepare. I doubt you would be able to brew 10% strength beers that are not over-heavy without it for the reasons already stated (it effectively 'replaces' body that would otherwise be present if you used just grain).

 

[ncmcdonald]

I think experimenting with different sorts of sugar is a good thing.

It's been fairly well documented that adding too much white sugar to a brew will give it a cidery taste. On the other hand though if you can get hold of any unrefined sugar then they will impart some flavours and character that really adds to your beer.

I have used Muscavado and Demerera on a couple of beers now and they definitely add rum and liquorice notes. There are also things like treacle and golden syrup which are used widely to good effect in beers like Old Peculiar.

Let's face it honey is basically sugar which is commonly used in brewing because it adds it's own character to the beer. If you can get hold of some flavourful sugar then I don't see why they won't be good in a beer.

 

[Aleman]

It's been fairly well documented that adding too much white sugar to a brew will give it a cidery taste

:hmm:

Let's face it honey is basically sugar which is commonly used in brewing because it adds it's own character to the beer. If you can get hold of some flavourful sugar then I don't see why they won't be good in a beer.

And lets face it, Bee Spit is 100% Fructose (More or Less) . . Sucrose is 50% fructose, 50% glucose . . . in the metabolic pathway glucose is first decarboxylated to Fructose (IIRC :pray: ), so in theory adding bee spit to beer also gives this cidery effect . . . .

Or could it be that the 'fairly well documented' authors are actually talking about a particular style of beer in which the addition of anything with taste is a flaw. I'm thinking American Standard Beers here, where any taste is a flaw . . . if you add a kilo of sugar to a barley wine or imperial stout you just won't notice any cidery flavour.

 

[luckyeddie]

It's possible that combining the phrase "American Standard" and the word "Beers" constitutes an oxymoron in many circumstances.

 

[evanvine]

It's possible that combining the phrase "American Standard" and the word "Beers" constitutes an oxymoron in many circumstances.

You daft bugger, but I agree!

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Im sorry...DM is Dextrose Monohydrate, or glucose, or C6H1206-H20, or Brewers Sugar, available at your LHBS for a quid a go, but it dont taste nice in tea. It is good for making jam though.

 

[ncmcdonald]

And lets face it, Bee Spit is 100% Fructose (More or Less) . . Sucrose is 50% fructose, 50% glucose . . . in the metabolic pathway glucose is first decarboxylated to Fructose (IIRC :pray: ), so in theory adding bee spit to beer also gives this cidery effect . . . .

There is obviously more to it than just saying honey contains these types of sugars. Honey is also around 20% water and only 95% fermentable, It contains numerous compounds other than just sugars which is why is has it's own flavour.

I had noticed how cidery mead is though