Brewing Sugar Alternative

[kermettfrog]

Hi all, so far i have successfully complted four brews. All coopers including Dark ale, pale ale, lager and european lager.

Until now i have used either 1kg of brew sugar or 1kg of brew enhancer.

My question - Is there a cheaper alternative or more readily available option? my closest home brew shop is 70 miles away in belfast (as far as i know) and other than that i have to purchase online. The brew enhancer is quite expensive to be using every time.

Can any type of sugar be used? If so what would would the outcome be? I.e. would it change flavours or strength?

thanks folks : :

 

[phettebs]

So far, I have used:

White sugar
light brown sugar
dark brown sugar
demerara sugar
turbinado sugar
corn sugar
light Belgian candi sugar
dark Belgian candi sugar

From a flavour perspective, not all are appropriate for every beer. For example, you would not want to use dark Belgian candi sugar in a European lager, unless that's what you wanted to do for some reason. Colour would be affected too.

If you are just looking to boost the gravity a little on a bitter, then demerara is nice. That is the main sugar I use now. But white works well too.

 

[Tony]

Depending on what you are using it for, DME is best... but if you just want sugar - then use any sugar. Brown sugars (of varying degrees) will impart a little flavour but more importantly will change the colour. If you're wanting a bog-standard then use Tate & Lyle as it's cane sugar.. Silver Spoon is beet which is not as good.
:

 

[kermettfrog]

Depending on what you are using it for, DME is best... but if you just want sugar - then use any sugar. Brown sugars (of varying degrees) will impart a little flavour but more importantly will change the colour. If you're wanting a bog-standard then use Tate & Lyle as it's cane sugar.. Silver Spoon is beet which is not as good.
:

Thanks lads, i guess my next two brews will be Mexican Cerveza and Canadian Blonde. I might try some Tate and Lyle on these then.

 

[StubbsPKS]

Depending on what you are using it for, DME is best... but if you just want sugar - then use any sugar. Brown sugars (of varying degrees) will impart a little flavour but more importantly will change the colour. If you're wanting a bog-standard then use Tate & Lyle as it's cane sugar.. Silver Spoon is beet which is not as good.
:

Thanks lads, i guess my next two brews will be Mexican Cerveza and Canadian Blonde. I might try some Tate and Lyle on these then.

The cerveza is quite nice. Mine ended up going stale pretty quickly bc I had a leaking issue with my keg that I didn't realize (it was my first brew lol), but before that it was quite tasty.

 

[Aleman]

I would suggest for the Coopers Lagers that you just use white sugar or at most a 75/25 mix of white sugar and extra light spraymalt. . . .I've used various other combinations of malt extract and they have thrown the kit balance completely off

 

[StubbsPKS]

I would suggest for the Coopers Lagers that you just use white sugar or at most a 75/25 mix of white sugar and extra light spraymalt. . . .I've used various other combinations of malt extract and they have thrown the kit balance completely off

I did a 50/50 Brewing sugar and Light Spraymalt and it came out okay... still a bit thin, but I honestly just think that's down to it being a kit and me using the yeast that came with the kit