What would happen if I did this? (caramelized sugar)

Am thinking of making a wheat beer soon and was thinking about what would happen if I cooked sugar in a frying pan with some water (just enough to caramelize it a little, like I do when I make caramel carrots) and threw it in the primary.

What would it do to the beer?

It would change the body slightly (depeding on how much you add) and would give it a slight caramel flavor and color, and up your abv a bit (again all depending on how much you use). It seems to take some time for the sugar to taste 'right' though, and if you are shooting for a good deal of phenolics (banana, clove) in your Wheat these may be diminished by the time the sugar has mellowed. Just food for thought.

If you go that far, might as well take some cream of tartar and add it to the heat process to help inversion along.

hmmmm, think I'll do a pretty standard Hoegaarten clone first and then pitch a funky/experimental Dunkelweizen on the first one's yeast cake.

Maybe a sweet/mellow caramel Duneklweizen with a little saaz hops. Both my beers so far have been very much by the book, so am thinking of doing something funky...

Khunhenns microbrewery, (warren MI) somehow used caramelized sugar in a java stout. Amazing flavor.

The carmalized sugar is carmelized with a different method. Some one on here can probably explain why and how.

Inverted and then caramelized about a pound of sugar in the frying pan and threw it in at flameout. After two days the taste of the (very) green beer is overpoweringly massively caramel. I assume as it ferments that taste will decrease into something tasty...

Yeah, time will tell. I don't bother tasting my beers early on anymore. It was too easy for me to draw incorrect conclusions. It is certainly possible the caramel flavor will dominate even in the finished product, but you never know. I have a beer that for the longest time it tasted very balanced. My wife and I had one the other day (it's about 5 months old or so now) and we both were amazed at how malty it now tastes. With a pound of carmelized sugar, I am guessing it will take at least a few months for the beer to 'level off'. Also, it depends on how much you caramelized the sugar.

IIRC, DFH's Indian Brown uses some caramalized brown sugar.

Hmmm, still tastes fairly funky but now it tastes like funky beer instead of funky cough syrup so the flavor is heading in the right direction as expected.

Right now is has kind of a sour caramel taste. I don't think its infected since the sourness is getting less (so hopefully won't be a problem). Any idea what could make beer sour besides bacteria? Its kind of a tart sour a bit like my apple/peach wine when it was green. Maybe the sugar?

Bosh said:

Hmmm, still tastes fairly funky but now it tastes like funky beer instead of funky cough syrup so the flavor is heading in the right direction as expected.

Right now is has kind of a sour caramel taste. I don't think its infected since the sourness is getting less (so hopefully won't be a problem). Any idea what could make beer sour besides bacteria? Its kind of a tart sour a bit like my apple/peach wine when it was green. Maybe the sugar?

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Who knows, but like I (and others) always say, just let it go and don't worry about it until it is finished. The flavors may (and most likely will) change so dramatically from here to there that it isn't worth a second though imho. Sugar seems to me anyways, taste not all that good until the beer has gone close to 8 weeks (at least).