KyleWolf
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone,
So I am planning a belgian tripel tomorrow and looking to add some either candi syrup or candi sugar to the beer, about 3lbs of sugar with 11.5lbs of grain.
I know there is a lot of talk about when to add the sugar, whether it is at the end of the boil to sterilize, ensure the sugar goes into solution, etc, or during the end of primary to let the yeast eat up the more complex sugars first to avoid the "lazy yeast syndrome".
I figure there are strengths and weaknesses to each technique. Most of which are the strengths of the other. Adding sugar into the boil will do everything I mentioned above, and maybe even give it a chance to darken/caramelize/invert if it hasn't already (that last one I am unsure about as I have not made this candi syrup/sugar yet).
Adding sugar to the fermentation will make sure you have a strong fermentation that lets the yeasts do the job they are meant to do, and you get a drier beer which is important in atleast some belgians.
Now a few questions I have about these techniques, mostly pertaining to adding sugar during primary.
1) Are you limited to using candi syrup? Would candi sugar (aka hard crack/rock candy) not go into solution well without heat? and I guess that could be said about the syrup too, would it just fall out of solution and sit on the bottom (in some thoughts that wouldn't be bad as it is just sitting with the flocculated yeast)
2) I am sure you have to be much more careful about how you store the syrup/candi into order to ensure it is sterlized properly since it doesn't have the chance to be sterilized during the boil. Is that right?
3) I understand the concept that the yeast may not chew through all of the maltose, however, with so many simple sugars already digested, is it possible you would want some of the maltose to remain undigested, that way you could get a fuller mouthfeel while sacrificing fewer gravity points. (that is assuming pure sugar + water + yeast= gravity below 1.000 since pure alcohol is less dense than water).
and my final question 4) Is deciding how you are going to add your simple sugars going to change at what temp you mash at? (these are my assumptions) If you are adding it to the boil, assuming less maltose is going to be fermented due to lazy yeast, you would mash lower to ensure as many sugars are fermentable as possible. That is compared to if you add during primary, where you know a majority of the malts will be digested, you may mash higher to ensure the beer maintains atleast some body.
I would love to hear some thoughts on this. I know each works and why, I just want to know the finer points of the rationale. Thanks everyone.
-Kyle
So I am planning a belgian tripel tomorrow and looking to add some either candi syrup or candi sugar to the beer, about 3lbs of sugar with 11.5lbs of grain.
I know there is a lot of talk about when to add the sugar, whether it is at the end of the boil to sterilize, ensure the sugar goes into solution, etc, or during the end of primary to let the yeast eat up the more complex sugars first to avoid the "lazy yeast syndrome".
I figure there are strengths and weaknesses to each technique. Most of which are the strengths of the other. Adding sugar into the boil will do everything I mentioned above, and maybe even give it a chance to darken/caramelize/invert if it hasn't already (that last one I am unsure about as I have not made this candi syrup/sugar yet).
Adding sugar to the fermentation will make sure you have a strong fermentation that lets the yeasts do the job they are meant to do, and you get a drier beer which is important in atleast some belgians.
Now a few questions I have about these techniques, mostly pertaining to adding sugar during primary.
1) Are you limited to using candi syrup? Would candi sugar (aka hard crack/rock candy) not go into solution well without heat? and I guess that could be said about the syrup too, would it just fall out of solution and sit on the bottom (in some thoughts that wouldn't be bad as it is just sitting with the flocculated yeast)
2) I am sure you have to be much more careful about how you store the syrup/candi into order to ensure it is sterlized properly since it doesn't have the chance to be sterilized during the boil. Is that right?
3) I understand the concept that the yeast may not chew through all of the maltose, however, with so many simple sugars already digested, is it possible you would want some of the maltose to remain undigested, that way you could get a fuller mouthfeel while sacrificing fewer gravity points. (that is assuming pure sugar + water + yeast= gravity below 1.000 since pure alcohol is less dense than water).
and my final question 4) Is deciding how you are going to add your simple sugars going to change at what temp you mash at? (these are my assumptions) If you are adding it to the boil, assuming less maltose is going to be fermented due to lazy yeast, you would mash lower to ensure as many sugars are fermentable as possible. That is compared to if you add during primary, where you know a majority of the malts will be digested, you may mash higher to ensure the beer maintains atleast some body.
I would love to hear some thoughts on this. I know each works and why, I just want to know the finer points of the rationale. Thanks everyone.
-Kyle