Sugar

[Pablo_Snuky]

Hello,

I was making some Rhubarb wine the other night, while I was adding the vast quantites of sugar required I started to wonder what people used to make beer and wine before sugar was available. If you don't use sugar for beer then ignore me I have only made beer from a kit so far(just finding my legs in the brewing world).

 

[jamesb]

The "sugar" in beer comes from the conversion of starch in the barley grains to fermentable sugars.

 

[Tony]

My grandad would often use carrots in wine.... I don't know if everything he brewed was bright orange and tasted like something bugs bunny would have creamed himself over though.

Would be almost impossible to guage the sugar content.

 

[Moley]

Beer is made mostly from malted barley, the process of starting the grains germinating and then stopping and drying it makes sugars available. As AG brewers we only flush out and ferment those sugars. Premium kits usually contain sufficient malt extract but you don't get enough malt in the budget kits and that's why you have to add sugar or other fermentables.

Cider and Perry are made from crushed apples or pears, there's enough sugar in their juices.

Wine is traditionally made from crushed grapes. Again, their juices usually contain quite enough sugar to yield a decent percentage alcohol.

Added sugar is only necessary when using other fruits, vegetables, flowers, leaves etc. which might be loaded with flavour but don't contain much, if anything, in the way of fermentable sugars.

Edit: And don't forget Mead - bees have been making honey for a very long time and people have been fermenting that for millennia.

 

[Pablo_Snuky]

I understand now, so its the same process as you would use at the start of Whisky then. Cool thank you.