Graham Wheeler & White Sugar

[snail59]

Just been reading through some of the Recipes in the Graham Wheeler book. Why do so many of them use White Sugar instead of getting the sugars from uping the grain bill. Genuine question as I realy would like to know why. Think I might have worked out the answer as Ive been typing this but lets see what you lot think.

 

[dennisking]

I think Graham has answered this else where, its because that's what the brewery use in that particular recipe.

 

[unclepumble]

white sugar. give a stonger beer without extra body i.e a drier beer

breweries actually use liquid corn sugar as its easier to add and is cheaper than grain one of the reasons they use it. white sugar gives similar results and is available to all.

third reason is the beer conditions quicker with an adjunct such as sugar, than it would at the same strength brewed with all grain as the recipe, resulting in less residence time in the brewery vessels, therefore quicker out of the gate and more beer brewed per annum.

UP

 

[Baz Chaz]

white sugar. give a stonger beer without extra body i.e a drier beer

That was the reason given in a discussion by the head brewer from Blacksheep Brewery if my memory serves me rightly :idea:

 

[unclepumble]

white sugar. give a stonger beer without extra body i.e a drier beer

That was the reason given in a discussion by the head brewer from Blacksheep Brewery if my memory serves me rightly :idea:

the other reasons are right too baz

 

[Aleman]

What Graham has said in the past is that the reasons are twofold . . .either it is quoted in the recipe supplied to him or Roger Protz by the brewer . . . Or there is a shortfall in ingredients leading to a lower OG (in other words they don't want to admit using sugar) . . . But you can't simply increase the grain bill to account for it as the FG is then raised . . . leading to a lower ABV % for the beer than the brewer states . . . The sugar raised the OG lowers the FG and produces the ABV%

 

[Baz Chaz]

white sugar. give a stonger beer without extra body i.e a drier beer

That was the reason given in a discussion by the head brewer from Blacksheep Brewery if my memory serves me rightly :idea:

the other reasons are right too baz

Yup but that one was the only one I remembered (and where it came from) :lol:

 

[gurtpint]

I bought Wheeler's book for myself as a premature Christmas present and was wondering about the same thing as you snail. Good answers here, thanks also for my behalf.

 

[Springer]

Good answers here

:clap: :clap:
Yes there is lots of top quality information made available to help people brew to a better standard.
Great Forum.

 

[snail59]

Thanks all. Good answers and all make perfect sense. Not what I had expected though . I thought it may have been to do with not upsetting the balance of the flavours and sugar was the way to reach the ABV. I wasn't aware that the recipes were given to Mr Wheeler by the brewers. I thought he had experimented and found recipes that gave the flavour of the beers concerned. You learn something new every day :thumb:

 

[rickthebrew]

I add sugar to some brews, my last brew was a 46litre brewlength and my tun is pretty tight with 8kg of grain in it so it helps to up the ABV. I have experimented with small amounts of sugar (200 - 300g) in hoppy pale ales (23litres) and find that it helps the hop profile and makes the beer very drinkable as it has less body. Belgian strong ales can have 30% sugar in them which makes the beer more digestable (Brew like a monk, Stan Hieronymus - great read) so added sugar can have a place in brewing, I suppose its a matter of experimenting and personal taste and brewing what works for you :thumb:

And a good reason to get another brew on