Experiment i want to do, any thoughts?

Its an experiement i would like to try when i have some free time and cash to spare. For example i would pick a good recipe(Jamils Robust porter Extract in this example)
8 lbs. Extra Pale LME
1 lbs. Munich LME
Grains:
1.50 lbs. Crystal 40L
0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt
0.75 lbs. Chocolate Malt
Hops
1.65oz EK Golding 60min
.75oz EK Golding 0 Min
yeast: WLP001

Then also:
6 lbs. Corn Sugar(or however much to equal the same gravity as ^)
1 lbs. Munich LME
+ 8oz Malto Dextrin(largely unfermentable carbohydrate; add to the boil to increase body and mouthfeel in low-gravity beers. $1.50)
Grains:
1.50 lbs. Crystal 40L
0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt
0.75 lbs. Chocolate Malt
Hops:
1.65oz EK Golding 60min
.75oz EK Golding 0 Min
yeast: WLP001


Brew both then compare the two. Corn Sugar is a lot cheaper then light DME/LME and interested how much of a difference it would produce in final outcome. I know a lot of people claim sugar will give off-flavors like a cidery taste but this has been proven as just a myth. Most people look down as sugar in a recipe as evil but never even tried it much in brews

My thoughts are that the second brew will probably not have as much 'beer' flavor, and while the malto dextrine will give you more body, it will also make your beer very, very sweet. I personally would recommend dropping the malto dextrine down to about 2oz. Good luck with your experiment though.

[edit for more information]I've actually been reading up on making a better extract beer, and after weeding through a lot of information, the info that makes the most sense to me is that if you're finding your extract beer to be too sweet (which some of my darker beers are) then you can substitute up to around 10% of your extract with other sugar. After that 10% level, you start to get a cidery taste to your beer. I actually unknowingly did this with my first batch because I spilled about a cup of my dme and I just threw in some sugar to make up the difference. My subsequent few brews have been a bit more sweet than my first brew, and I've been a little disappointed by how sweet they've been.

bkov said:

. I know a lot of people claim sugar will give off-flavors like a cidery taste but this has been proven as just a myth. Most people look down as sugar in a recipe as evil but never even tried it much in brews

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Who has proven it a myth? While I agree that some who look down on it probably haven't tried it, I can tell you that I've tried it and for me it's been proven to be true - I have made several brews with sugar/corn sugar/booster and if I use a lot of sugars in the recipe, the beer will have a cider taste to some degree. How much depends on the recipe and how much sugar. From my experience, the cider taste was most noticeable in lighter bodied beers that used more than 25% simple sugars in the recipe, in a stronger flavored beer it was less noticeable. I don't believe that any amount of sugar will make beer taste bad, but I know that I can taste it above a certain level.

I encourage you to go ahead with your experiment, because first hand knowledge will be more valuable to you than other people's opinions. I would be interested to see what you come up with.

ifishsum said:

Who has proven it a myth? While I agree that some who look down on it probably haven't tried it, I can tell you that I've tried it and for me it's been proven to be true - I have made several brews with sugar/corn sugar/booster and if I use a lot of sugars in the recipe, the beer will have a cider taste to some degree. How much depends on the recipe and how much sugar. From my experience, the cider taste was most noticeable in lighter bodied beers that used more than 25% simple sugars in the recipe, in a stronger flavored beer it was less noticeable. I don't believe that any amount of sugar will make beer taste bad, but I know that I can taste it above a certain level.

I encourage you to go ahead with your experiment, because first hand knowledge will be more valuable to you than other people's opinions. I would be interested to see what you come up with.

Click to expand...

I haven't tried adding corn sugar to a recipe and I don't think I ever will. I did my first beer with simple sugar with a lb. of candi in a recent (1.090 OG)tripel I brewed. I found some pinocillo (sp) at a local store and will be trying that soon, but in very small percentages. For me it's a matter of not wanting to gamble 30-40$ worth of ingredients when I KNOW that if I use only proven ingredients I will have something delightful. If someone swears they've made a great beer with 6 or 7 lbs. of corn sugar, I probably still won't brew it.:cross: