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cuse88 · 01-31-2011, 02:45 PM

How's it going everyone? Been doing a lot of reading on here the past few days as I finally brewed my first batch of brew yesterday. I brewed Brewers Best IPA kit and the fermentation has been going nuts so far today! Really happy to see it and hope all turns out well. I was also happy I was able to do a full boil

.

My question is though, thinking down the line a bit to bottling, I'd like to switch the priming sugar with a nice Brown Sugar (planning on getting one from the international market near me) for my IPA.

So, is this possible to do and if so what is the amount I'd need? I brewed around 4.5 gallons once it was all said it done.

Finally, what kind of flavoring notes would this add to my brew?

Thanks!!

pricej16 · 01-31-2011, 02:51 PM

I too am brewing an IPA (coopers) and approaching bottling time, I was wondering the same.

frazier · 01-31-2011, 03:28 PM

Molasses. That's the difference between white and brown sugar. Do you want molasses in an IPA? If so, go for it. To me, it seems more like a porter or stout type flavor, but it's your beer not mine.

I think that if you compare the nutrition labels on white and brown sugar, you will get a figure for grams of sugar per unit. Use that to scale up or down (probably up).

frazier · 01-31-2011, 03:36 PM

Hold on, let me back up a step or two:

Can you? Yes. Should you? I suggest no. If this is really your first batch, I strongly recommend just following the recipe and see what you get. Later on, after you know what you're doing and what "normal" recipes taste like, you can start flinging different ingredients into the mix. If you do that now, and end up with a weird unexpected result or flavor, how will you know what caused it? The beer gods will be punishing you and you won't know why.

There are a ton of "What went wrong with my brew?" threads here, and the first question we ask is always "What was your recipe?" At this stage of your brewing career, finding your own path is just asking for trouble.

IMHO.

cuse88 · 01-31-2011, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the advice. I'll just stick to the recipe for now.

On a side note, the lid just blew off of my fermenter

. Re-sanitized the lid, top of the fermentor, and blow off valve to hopefully avoid any issues. All looks like it's going well though, just have to make sure the blow off top stays clean.

**cheezydemon3** · 01-31-2011, 04:35 PM

IT WILL BE FINE.

That little in 5 gallons will make NO flavor difference.

You need a little more brown sugar I believe, but I have used it no problem.

Goosta · 01-31-2011, 05:42 PM

You can prime with brown sugar if you want to. It will not lend any noticeable flavors to the end result. I do all of my priming with turbinado sugar...It doesn't change the flavor but the bubbles end up being "smaller" which changes the mouthfeel IMO.

**cheezydemon3** · 01-31-2011, 05:46 PM

Nice point Goosta!