Sugar

[paulgough]

Looking through some recipes.

I'm curious.

What's the function of sugar in the recipe?

 

[calumscott]

Graham Wheeler's ones by any chance?

 

[paulgough]

Yeah!

Is it used as a substitute for something else?

 

[calumscott]

I read somewhere that its to cover any discrepancy between the recipe given by the brewery and and actual ABV of the finished beer at the pump.

The ones I've done so far I've just cranked up the pale malt to get to the right ABV...

 

[Bignige]

Sugar is added principally to raise alcohol content especially when limited mash tun space is available i.e. as a wort extender. Commercial brewers will use adjunct syrups such as invert or 42DE etc.

It does also allow a variety of styles to be produced where the mashing regime might actually give a low fermentability for sake of body/mouthfeel but where a higher alcohol level is wanted.

Care should be taken that excess sugar additions will lead to yeast metabolism changing and subsequent fermentation patterns being altered.

 

[calumscott]

...and of course different types of sugars will throw (presumably with the right yeast strains) different flavour notes. Most notable I suppose is Candi sugar in belgian beers...

 

[rpt]

I don't have Wheeler's book to hand, but I don't think any of his recipes have very much sugar in (as a percentage of fermentables). So the sugar shouldn't adversely affect the balance of the recipe and is just to adjust it to more closely match it to the original he is trying to clone.

It's interesting that he specifies sucrose (ordinary sugar) and not brewing sugar. This is probably as it is quite a low proportion of the overall recipe.

 

[calumscott]

I don't have Wheeler's book to hand, but I don't think any of his recipes have very much sugar in (as a percentage of fermentables). So the sugar shouldn't adversely affect the balance of the recipe and is just to adjust it to more closely match it to the original he is trying to clone.

It's interesting that he specifies sucrose (ordinary sugar) and not brewing sugar. This is probably as it is quite a low proportion of the overall recipe.

He does make the point that in such low quantities with respect to the grain bill, sucrose shouldn't be a problem but that where breweries use sugar it is almost always dextrose.

 

[paulgough]

Interesting topic.

Thanks for the contributions.