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Rounder999 · 10-20-2008, 09:12 PM

Last week I started my very first brew, A True Brew Amber Ale and transferred it to my secondary today.

1 can Muntons Hopped Lme
2# Muntons LDME
1 oz UK First Gold Hops
30 min boil
1/2 tsp Irish Moss last 10 minutes
6gr Muntons standard Yeast
OG 1044
FG 1014 (Currently in Secondary)
Target FG 1006 ( wil it make it in the secondary?)
8 days in Primary
Bubbling at the rate of 1 BPM in secondary

I had very good yeast floculation, and I don't think I lost more than a quart.

Today I made the exact same recipe but added 1 # dextrose. OG is 1045

Can I expect a better attennuation from the 1# of Dex? Does Extra Sugar mean extra ALCOHOL? More important will this damage my beer?

Malticulous · 10-20-2008, 09:27 PM

The sugar will attenuate better because there is not much else in it. It will add alcohol and lighten the body of the beer (because there is not much else left after fermentation.) Too much and it will add off flavors.

Hagen · 10-20-2008, 09:31 PM

For your first batch, you should have waited until your gravity leveled out IE: stayed the same over 3 days. It'll finish in secondary, but will take longet than you expected. Leave the second batch in primary at least 2 weeks. Don't go by the airlock, go by the hydrometer reading. 1.006 is low to expect from LME, I'd expect it to finish closer to 1.010

For your second batch, the dextrose will will bump up the ABV and let the beer finish drier (lower FG). 1# of dextrose is the most I'd add without expecting it to damage the final product's flavor/body. Then again, I wouldn't add dextrose, light DME is a much better option. Of course, you'll have to recalculate the color and IBU from the change.

Tenchiro · 10-20-2008, 09:33 PM

Personally I would add more malt extract before adding any sugar, especially if you are just looking for an alcohol boost. Too much dextrose will add a cidery flavor that isn't very pleasant in beer.

Cpt_Kirks · 10-20-2008, 09:48 PM

If 1LB of Dex will add about 1% ABV, what effect does adding 1LB of light DME have on the ABV?

***Yooper*** · 10-20-2008, 10:06 PM

One pound of corn sugar will give you around 1% ABV boost, DME will give you approx .85% of a boost.

One pound won't matter much, but good beer is all about balance. You want to balance the ABV, the hops, and the malt to give a nice tasting beer.
One pound of corn sugar may just thin the body a bit and make it a bit drier, so it won't be much out of balance. As the others said, too much will cause it to be dry and cidery. A pound of DME won't make much difference either, but it would have more body and not finish as dry. Any more than a pound of either might require some tweaking of the entire recipe, so you can acheive a good balance.

Rounder999 · 10-20-2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hagen

For your first batch, you should have waited until your gravity leveled out IE: stayed the same over 3 days. It'll finish in secondary, but will take longet than you expected. Leave the second batch in primary at least 2 weeks. Don't go by the airlock, go by the hydrometer reading. 1.006 is low to expect from LME, I'd expect it to finish closer to 1.010

For your second batch, the dextrose will will bump up the ABV and let the beer finish drier (lower FG). 1# of dextrose is the most I'd add without expecting it to damage the final product's flavor/body. Then again, I wouldn't add dextrose, light DME is a much better option. Of course, you'll have to recalculate the color and IBU from the change.

SG had not changed in the past three days which is why i racked it to the secondary

ifishsum · 10-20-2008, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rounder999

SG had not changed in the past three days which is why i racked it to the secondary

That being the case, I wouldn't expect it to drop much more (if at all) in secondary.

The extra sugar in the second batch will raise your total attenuation a little bit, but with 1 lb it won't make a huge difference because it's not a large part of your total fermentable sugars. Using a different yeast like S-05 would make more of a difference I think, low attenuation seems to be pretty common with Munton's yeast.

Hagen · 10-20-2008, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rounder999

SG had not changed in the past three days which is why i racked it to the secondary

Sorry I missed that tidbit...

I've never used the Munton's yeast so I couldn't tell you what to expect.

**fat x nub** · 10-21-2008, 12:12 AM

Yes, but don't go overboard or it will just taste bad