Light DME vs dextrose to boost OG
 

What would happen if I used light DME instead of dextrose as my beginning OG booster?

Also, why is dextrose such a preferred additive vs just table sugar or brown sugar?

Thanks,
jason

well i would say that dme would add more body to the cider, possibly a little bit of head retention (not a whole lot). sugar ferments out totally dry, remember that when you use dme that some of the sugars are not fermentable. so they leave a little bit a sweetness. i would prefer to use some dme instead of sugar myself.

Great thank you! Any answers on why dextrose is so popular?

I just pitched safale-04 into 3 gallons of juice with 1 lb light DME. I'll let you know how it is in 3 months....

My understanding is that dextrose is 100% fermentable.

is that what makes it better than, say, table sugar? I would have thought that was 100% fermentable also.

Table sugar is fructose

i believe table sugar is actually sucrose, and i just confirmed that it is 100% fermentable.

so i am still wondering why use dextrose

Dextrose is supposed to be a "cleaner" sugar. It imparts less flavor to the brew, think of it being a neutral abv adder.

OTOH, the flavor that sucrose (cane sugar) adds is usually called "cidery". That's unwanted in most beers, but in a cider?

That's what I was thinking. I used dextrose to make my first beer and the resulting flavour would have been great for a cider, too bad it was an IPA :(