Corn Sugar in IIPA

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Michael311

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I'm brewing an AG Imperial IPA tomorrow and the recipe says 3 lbs of corn sugar as a mash addition. Seems really odd. I'm a new brewer but I've added corn sugar as an "alcohol boost" before but always with 15 minutes left in the boil. I've searched and searched and can't find anything about dropping corn sugar in the mash tun. Is the recipe wrong or is this an unconventional technique? The recipe also calls for mash hopping but that's another thread.

At this point I'm leaning towards adding the sugar with 15 minutes left in the boil.
 
I'm not saying adding to the mash is a bad idea, I've just never heard of it. It doesn't really make sense to me as it seems it could only reduce the total amount of sugar you get from sparging. If you added it to the beginning of the boil, you'd be sure to get all of it. Also, it starts off fully fermentable, so it's not like the mash would help it there at all...

The addition that makes the most sense to me personally is adding to primary when fermentation starts to slow. On high ABV beers (for instance, a IIPA) it can encourage better attenuation by allowing the yeast to eat some of the more difficult sugar before attacking the simpler sugars. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

In the end it's up to the brewer, but I wouldn't do something that doesn't make any sense to me unless someone could give me some explanation. Even if it wasn't a good explanation.
 
3 lbs also seems like a lot to me. What's the size of the batch and what's the rest of the grain bill?

Perhaps you should post the full recipe, including these unusual mash instructions and the community here can assess possibly why it recommends adding so much corn sugar to the mash.
 
3 lbs also seems like a lot to me. What's the size of the batch and what's the rest of the grain bill?

Perhaps you should post the full recipe, including these unusual mash instructions and the community here can assess possibly why it recommends adding so much corn sugar to the mash.
lupus salictarius (60)
Imperial IPA
All Grain (5.50 gal) ABV: 11.58 %
OG: 1.095 SG FG: 1.008 SG
IBUs: 170.6 IBUs Color: 6.0 SRM
By: Fred Bonjour
Ingredients

1.50 oz - Chinook

Mash Hop Addition (8.6 IBUs)



12 lb 4.0 oz - Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess)

Mash addition (70.8%) - 1.8 SRM



1 lb - Munich 10L (Briess)

Mash addition (5.8%) - 10.0 SRM



12.0 oz - Carapils (Briess)

Mash addition (4.3%) - 1.5 SRM



5.0 oz - Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess)

Mash addition (1.8%) - 40.0 SRM



3.00 oz - Nugget

First Wort Addition (91.3 IBUs)



1.00 oz - Chinook

First Wort Addition (31.5 IBUs)



3 lb - Corn Sugar (Dextrose)

Mash addition (17.3%) - 0.0 SRM



1.00 oz - Simcoe

Boil 45 min (24.6 IBUs)



2.00 oz - Centennial

Boil 5 min (9.2 IBUs)



1.00 oz - Simcoe

Boil 5 min (5.3 IBUs)



2 pkg - SafAle US-56

Fermentis #US-56



3.25 oz - Columbus (Tomahawk)

Dry Hop 3 days



1.75 oz - Centennial

Dry Hop 3 days



1.75 oz - Simcoe

Dry Hop 3 days


Profiles for Recipe

Brew Pot (30 Qt) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)

View Equipment Profile



Infusion 148

View Mash Profile



My Aging Profile

View Fermentation profile



My Carbonation Profile

View Carbonation profile


Taste Rating: 35.0
Taste Notes:

Notes:
22.5 b OG 1.005 FG I didn't believe the FG 95% attenuation, Gotta love theis US-56 (US-05)
This is an awesome IIPA hat was modeled after a Pliney the Elder Clone in the 150 clones BYO magazine. Changes were hop substitutions due to availability and my corn sugar bag was 2 pounds heavy ;-) This is a keeper.
 
I'm not saying adding to the mash is a bad idea, I've just never heard of it. It doesn't really make sense to me as it seems it could only reduce the total amount of sugar you get from sparging. If you added it to the beginning of the boil, you'd be sure to get all of it. Also, it starts off fully fermentable, so it's not like the mash would help it there at all...

The addition that makes the most sense to me personally is adding to primary when fermentation starts to slow. On high ABV beers (for instance, a IIPA) it can encourage better attenuation by allowing the yeast to eat some of the more difficult sugar before attacking the simpler sugars. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

In the end it's up to the brewer, but I wouldn't do something that doesn't make any sense to me unless someone could give me some explanation. Even if it wasn't a good explanation.

You've pretty much summed up my thoughts. And quoting Pink Floyd is a nice touch.

I've posted the recipe. I have all the ingredients and I'm ready to go.
 
Is the last part of post #6 your words or part of the recipe notes? Because if it's part of the recipe notes, the brewer makes the 3lb of sugar seem like a mistake...or at least a noted deviation.
 
Is the last part of post #6 your words or part of the recipe notes? Because if it's part of the recipe notes, the brewer makes the 3lb of sugar seem like a mistake...or at least a noted deviation.

Those were the brewer's notes.
I noticed that too but because he did a winky face, I assumed he was pleased with his decision. Not sure if that meant he originally had 1 lb of sugar.
 
I found the clone he was referencing and it calls for 1 lb of sugar. Add two more lbs must be how he bumped up the ABV.

Looking at this recipe, when does it call for the sugar to be added?

liny the Elder clone
(Russian River Brewing Co.)
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.074 FG = 1.014
IBU = 100+ SRM = 8 ABV = 8–8.5%

Ingredients
12.2 lbs. (5.5 kg) 2-row malt
0.28 lbs. (0.13 kg) crystal malt (45 °L)
0.86 lbs. (0.39 kg) CaraPils malt
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) dextrose(corn sugar)
19.5 AAU Chinook whole hops (mash hops) (1.5 oz./43 g of 13% alpha acids)
42.9 AAU Warrior hops (90 mins)
(2.75 oz./78 g of 15.6% alpha acids)
6.1 AAU Chinook hops (90 mins)
(0.5 oz./14 g of 12.2% alpha acids)
12 AAU Simcoe hops (45 mins)
(1.0 oz./28 g of 12% alpha acids)
14.3 AAU Columbus hops (30 mins)
(1.0 oz./28 g of 14.3% alpha acids)
20.5 AAU Centennial hops (0 min)
(2.25 oz./64 g of 9.1% alpha acids)
12 AAU Simcoe hops (0 min)
(1.0 oz./28 g of 12% alpha acids)
3.25 oz. Columbus hop (dry hop)
1.75 oz. Centennial hops (dry hop)
1.75 oz. Simcoe hops (dry hop)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)White Labs WLP001 (California
Ale) yeast
0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step
Mash at 150–152 °F (66–67 °C). Boil 90 minutes, adding hops at the time indicated in recipe. Ferment at
68 °F (20 °C). Dry hop two weeks.
 
I also think he/she just plugged it in the software and the default for fermentables is "mash addition". Doesn't actually say you add it to the mash. Like others said, add it to the boil sometime or during fermentation.
 
Let me explain rationale:

No, it does not make sense to add sugar to the mash. It also doesn't make sense to add sugar period, in my opinion, but I digress.

If it is indeed a recipe, rather than an ingredients list, then you follow the recipe. That's what a recipe is. I wouldn't ever use a recipe if I already knew how to make what I wanted, and if I didn't know how, I certainly wouldn't pick a recipe and then change it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
No, it does not make sense to add sugar to the mash. It also doesn't make sense to add sugar period, in my opinion, but I digress.

It might not make sense to you but in this instance it is there to dry out a big IPA, and is in the homebrew recipe that comes directly from Vinnie Cilurzo owner/brewer at Russian River.

OP, someone scaled that second recipe to their system although it's a touch off - there should be equal amounts C-45 and carapils. The original version is here.
 
You could add corn sugar to the mash, but I suspect the only reason they want you to do that is to keep your gravity numbers correct throughout the whole process. However, if you concern yourself with ensuring that your runnings don't drop below 1.015 and then take a preboil gravity reading WITH the dextrose, you should be very close if your efficiency is on point. Good luck!
 
It might not make sense to you but in this instance it is there to dry out a big IPA, and is in the homebrew recipe that comes directly from Vinnie Cilurzo owner/brewer at Russian River.

OP, someone scaled that second recipe to their system although it's a touch off - there should be equal amounts C-45 and carapils. The original version is here.

I'm going with your advice. I'm assuming Beersmith auto-catorigorized the sugar so I'll be adding it to the boil. Not sure why they adjusted the crystal malt and carapils but I've already committed to this version. I got the recipe from an experienced brewer who says it's a great recipe so we shall see.

Thanks for your help!

Heating the strike water now.
 
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