Corn Sugar? 4 cups = 1 lb?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

HoppyDaze

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
13,926
Reaction score
4,332
Location
Lake Oswego
Im going to make some of this famous Apfelwein but I dont have a kitchen scale. anyone know how many cups in a pound?

thanks!
 
my true brew handbook says 2.4 cups equals a pound but the lady at the LHBS says 4 cups....I think she is on crack
 
My instructions called for 1lb or 5 cups which seems right because i used half the pale and it was a 2 lb pale
 
If you are talking table sugar it's 2.25 cups per pound. I'm not sure if dextrose comes out the same because I use a scale but it's probably pretty close. Another example of bad advice from a LHBS. ;)
 
In baking, one pound of sugar is about 2.25 cups. Remember, even though a pound is 16 ounces, that's by weight. If you don't have a scale, you could use 1/2 of a four pound package of sugar if you need 2 pounds.
 
So I got curious about corn vs cane weights and pulled out the dextrose and scale.

I measured 2 cups and the total weight of corn sugar came out to be 10.5 ounces. That averages out to 5.25 ounces per cup of corn sugar.

The difference between mine and tom777 is probably how packed it is which just leads to two conclusions:
1. Volume vs weight with corn and cane sugar is not equal
2. GET A SCALE TO WEIGHT INGREDIENTS.
 
yep, I think the corn sugar I get from my LHBS is "fluffier" than most. I don't try to pack it at all in the cup when I measure.
I posted a thread asking about this a while back as a lot of priming advice says to use 3/4 cup or 5 oz. But, for me, 1 cup doesn't even weight 5 oz.
 
If you have something that weighs exactly 1 pound, a yardstick and a couple pieces of string, you can make a balance...
 
I'm surprised this hasn't been nailed down here. Seems like dextrose would be a consistent convertible substance
 
I don't know about corn sugar (dextrose), but 1 eight fluid ounce measuring cup, level, of Domino's cane sugar weighs 0.46 pounds.

So...a slightly heaping cup of cane sugar will roughly equal one-half of a pound, which tells me that four heaping measuring cups of cane sugar should yield at least two pounds.

FWIW,

Pogo
 
Am I the only one that is considering the moisture content in the room will change. Therefor 4 cups will weigh a different amount depending on the ambiant humidity of your house.
 
This is a funny thread. My scale reads 1 cup corn sugar = 5 ounces.

So from that:

1 lb. = 3.2 five ounces, or 3.2 cups (almost 3 & 1/4 cups)
 
I'd say 1lb = ~3 cups, though I get there a different way.

Wisdom says you bottle beer with 4oz of dextrose or 3/4 cup. If this is correct, then 16oz = 3 cups.
 
If you're making Apfelwein, I don't think a little extra dextrose is going to hurt it. I would just throw in the 4 cups and call it a day.

Cheers.
 
In most circumstances the conventional wisdom is 2 cups = 1 pound but obviously this is not always the case. Volumes to weights is not an easy conversion. I generally adopt a 2 to 2.4 cup rule per pound of corn sugar. A little under only weakens the ABV so it's not bad to be off.

Yes you could get a lower weight based on room temp.
 
I buy corn sugar in 1 lb. bags so I don't have to sweat this stuff. I have not found a place that sells it in bulk for less than $1.25 a pound, so I would rather just buy pre-measured 1 lb. bags and I can put them on a shelf and use them when I'm ready. No fuss, no muss.
 
In most circumstances the conventional wisdom is 2 cups = 1 pound but obviously this is not always the case. Volumes to weights is not an easy conversion. I generally adopt a 2 to 2.4 cup rule per pound of corn sugar. A little under only weakens the ABV so it's not bad to be off.

Yes you could get a lower weight based on room temp.


that makes me feel much better....I think it will turn out just fine. Thanks for all the responses!
 
If you're making Apfelwein, I don't think a little extra dextrose is going to hurt it. I would just throw in the 4 cups and call it a day.

Cheers.

+1 on that. I used 1.5 pounds in a 4 gallon patch and it was very good only thing that could happen is you would get a little higher or lower alcohol content.
 
I don't want to be obnoxious but

GET A SCALE!!!! NO more guessing, easier to duplicate recipes, etc.

If you took four different cups of the same sugar they will all weigh different. The fine powders of brewing sugars are hard to nail down by volume. If you are into this hobby at all you will eventually need a scale, it is the season, so go sit on Santa's lap and ask.
 
I know, I know....I just got ahead of myself a little bit. It was my first "all grain" batch!:D Since I decided to get back into brewing (last week) I have purchased an auto siphon, digital thermomter, two better bottles, three recipes, a thief, three airlocks, three stoppers, tubing and a funnel. So needless to say my wallet is hurting a little bit so I have to pick and choose what to buy to get myself through the holiday season...
 
I know, I know....I just got ahead of myself a little bit. It was my first "all grain" batch!:D Since I decided to get back into brewing (last week) I have purchased an auto siphon, digital thermomter, two better bottles, three recipes, a thief, three airlocks, three stoppers, tubing and a funnel. So needless to say my wallet is hurting a little bit so I have to pick and choose what to buy to get myself through the holiday season...

just go to the post office with a baggie filled up and ask how much to ship to Ca... wait maybe a small sealed box would be better .. Don't cost a dime
 
According to my scale, 1 cup of corn sugar weighs 4.65oz. The scale is pretty accurate too as the pre-measured 5oz. packages are spot on.
I got the same if not "packing" the sugar. If I tapped the bottom of the cup to pack it, I got as high as 5.3oz! Moral of the story for me, is to weigh the sugar, don't use the volume measuring cups!
 
I got the same if not "packing" the sugar. If I tapped the bottom of the cup to pack it, I got as high as 5.3oz! Moral of the story for me, is to weigh the sugar, don't use the volume measuring cups!
Thanks. You win the prize for resurrecting the oldest thread I have seen since I joined.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top