Using White Sugar in a Recipe-What does it add?

llannige · Feb 23, 2009

Thinking about knocking up a Burton Bitter.
The recipe calls for 340g of White Sugar.
Never used sugar in a brew before.
What does this contribute to the overall finished product?

Would this dilute the body/feel of the brew? Does it effect the taste?
Could the same result be achieved using extra Pale Malt or Golden Syrup for instance?

Any thoughts or experiences? :hmm:

BrewStew · Feb 23, 2009

I would say it'll thin the flavour a little in that quantity. Might even impart a very slight cidery taste :hmm:

if this was taken from a recipe book, perhaps the thinning was intentional?

adding more malt would give it more body aswell as strength

Aleman · Feb 23, 2009

It increase alcohol . .. at the expense of body and flavour . . . .If used to excess( 25% plus) then you might get a cidery taste . . . . If its from a clone recipe book it could be because the brewer uses sugar . . . you could replace it with extra pale . . . but you need to be careful and consider the balance of the beer . . . I tend to use some in stronger beers to cut the body . . . and oddly enough in Milds to for the same reason . . . certainly a beer with a high proportion of Crystal in its make-up does benefit from some sugar so as not to be cloyingly sweet.

llannige · Feb 24, 2009

Don't want to lose the body and flavour .
So I may try using glucose syrup,as its not 100% fermentable and therefore should not thin out the body of the beer as much as sugar. :hmm: