Dissolving sugar

I will be making a triple tomorrow, and I want to add the sugar after the wort has almost fermented out. This batch requires a lot of sugar, 4.6 lbs, but I don't want to add a lot of fluid if I can help it. How small a quantity of water can I get the sugar to dissolve into? What's your technique?

How big a batch are you making? 4.6 lbs of sugar adds about 200 gravity points according to my calculations.

I would start mixing sugar and water in a large pot - add just enough water to dissolve all the sugar. Then boil for 15 minutes - cool and add to the fermenter.

It takes very little water to make a syrup, however, the less water the thicker the syrup and the easier it is to caramelize or burn. I would start with a cup a water and medium heat. Add more water a tiny bit at a time if you think you need more but I don't think you'll need much more than that. In order to not change your volume significantly, it is going to be a thick syrup.

Once you get the sugar dissolved you can crank up the heat to simmer but don't leave it and continue stirring the whole time.

desertbronze said:

How big a batch are you making? 4.6 lbs of sugar adds about 200 gravity points according to my calculations

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This is for 11 gallons.