Problem: Forgot to add this to my boil...

I brewed an AG cream ale yesterday, with the following, but forgot 1 ingredient:

5 lb German Pilsen
5 lb 2 Row
1 lb flaked Rice

90 min mash at 150-151F
No mash out, double batch sparge

75 min boil, Liberty 4.1%a pellets, 1 oz 75 min, 0.5 oz 1 min.

OG around 1.050 (also broke my hydrometer just as I was about to take the official OG reading).

Pitched 1L starter WLP080, was already going after 3 hrs at 67F.

BUT, I forgot to add 1 lb cane sugar to the boil as my recipe called for. Found it on my kitchen counter this am, bummed me out.

I've never brewed a cream ale before. For those that have, what will this oversight do to it? I am so pissed. Please tell me it will be fine. But don't lie to me.

Boil the sugar in a little water, cool; and add to your primary.

It'll be fine. You're early enough into fermentation that the yeast won't mind...

You can add it to the fermenter. You will have lower ABV, more body and slightly better hop utilization. It's fine without it.

Thanks AZ IPA and Malticulous.

I went ahead and boiled the 1lb cane sugar in about 2 cups water, cooled, and added to the fermenter (18 hrs after yeast pitched). I had too much free time yesterday or otherwise would have just left it out and hoped for the best.

Something to consider...

The yeast will eat the available sugars in your wort based on how easy it is for them to digest. If you add simple sugars to an early primary fermentation, the yeast will digest them first and may never work on the more complex sugars in your wort. Consider letting the yeast work on the primary until fermentation slows way down (3-4 days) and then adding your boiled sugar to the fermenter.

On the otehr hand, I'd not even worry about the ABV on this beer, it sounds like a really nice, clean beer.

thepearsonfam said:

something to consider...

The yeast will eat the available sugars in your wort based on how easy it is for them to digest. If you add simple sugars to an early primary fermentation, the yeast will digest them first and may never work on the more complex sugars in your wort. Consider letting the yeast work on the primary until fermentation slows way down (3-4 days) and then adding your boiled sugar to the fermenter.

On the otehr hand, i'd not even worry about the abv on this beer, it sounds like a really nice, clean beer.

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+1

Consider letting the yeast work on the primary until fermentation slows way down (3-4 days) and then adding your boiled sugar to the fermenter.

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Yeah, a lot of the Belgian recipes that call for sugar additions suggest doing exactly what you did to allow the yeast to eat up the more complex sugars first. Who knows, you may have improved your beer

erikpete18 said:

Yeah, a lot of the Belgian recipes that call for sugar additions suggest doing exactly what you did to allow the yeast to eat up the more complex sugars first. Who knows, you may have improved your beer

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But on the other hand, lots of Belgian beers (big ones at that), British beers, and homebrew have sugar added to the boil and the yeast ferment them just fine.

Out of curiosity, why did the recipe call for both rice and sugar? Either one would have provided dryness and increased gravity to the recipe.

AiredAle said:

Out of curiosity, why did the recipe call for both rice and sugar? Either one would have provided dryness and increased gravity to the recipe.

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It's Jamil's cream ale recipe

Sent from Spreadhead's iPhone.