Anyone use Brown Sugar instead of other sugars??

[cowstick]

I want to use brown sugar in my next batch of beer (second batch ever) and would like to know if any one has done it and any pointers you could give will be much appreciated.

 

[bsay]

I've only ever heard of it being used instead of priming sugar. I believe the substitution is 1:1. A friend of mine primed an Old Ale with 2/3 cup of brown sugar. As for using it instead of other ingredients while brewing, I'm not so sure. Brown sugar is just sugar and molasses, so maybe adding molasses would be a better idea? (watch out for preservatives, you don't want those ruining your yeast).

 

[malkore]

second batch ever...gonna give you a little tip: adding raw sugar to beer is not required.

nay...in most cases you'll be bashed for doing such a thing. sugar thins out the beer...lowers the body, mouthfeel, and flavor....simply boosts alcohol.
there's better ways to do that.

Only certain beers should have much in the way of straight sugar (including brown sugar and honey).

 

[carnevoodoo]

in most cases you'll be bashed for doing such a thing.

Why? I'd say f you want to give it a shot you should do so. I think the more appropriate response would be to talk about how MUCH sugar is appropriate.

If you go too high on the percentage of fermentable sugar, it will just start making more alcohol and the alcohol being produced will be out of balance with the malt being used. Brown sugar is much like table sugar in that it is highly fermentable and you will not get much of a flavor difference, but there are differences there. I wouldn't make it more than 10% of your overall fermentable sugar and see how that works for you. Much more and you're risking throwing everything else out of balance.

I've used brown sugar twice and while I could detect a difference, I'd much rather try something like dark candi syrup. The belgian candi syrup is supposed to do wonderful things and will actually make a noticeable difference in your beer. The D2 is supposed to be the best now.

What style were you considering making using brown sugar? Are you looking for the molasses type taste from it? Have you also considered low grade maple syrup?

 

[cowstick]

Well my roomate has this brew kit which only makes one gallon of beer. So I followed the instuctions and am now waiting for the beer to carbonate in the bottles. So I figured I would try out something different since Im only making one gallon(6.5 beers). And we have some brown sugar in the house. So I thought that the carmelly taste from the molasses could be interesting. I knew that the alcohol content would be higher But I didnt want to sacrifice flavor even though Im only doing one gallon(that would be alcohol abuse). Ill try it at a 1:3 ratio(one part brown sugar to two parts white dextrose) and let ya know how it goes.

 

[Beards Brews]

I've used it in a Brown Ale before, but it was only a small amount. It didn't mess up my beer at all. In fact, it is pretty dang close to Newcastle. Like others have said though, I wouldn't use it for more than 10% of the fermentable sugars.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I used it in a lager once (5 gallon batch) at a rate of 8 ounces, packed. I really liked the taste, kinda like a faintly noticeable rum-like affect. I have used it since at the same rate and add it to darker beers. I would recommend adding it, at least for an experiment to see if you like it. That's what homebrewing is about-making beer YOU like.

 

[ajf]

I sometimes use a small amount of brown sugar (about 5% of the fermentable sugars), and I like it.
I recommend that you try it at least once, and then brew a similar brew using the same amount of DME instead of sugar and compare samples of the two brews. You can then make your own judgment as to how good or bad it is.

-a.

 

[Mosa]

I've used brown sugar in a sweet stout recipe. In my case, it needed time for the brown sugar flavor to mellow out.

Good luck with it! :rockin:

 

[Loup]

I used brown sugar in a hard ginger ale I've got fermenting right now, don't know how it's going to turn out, but figured it was worth a shot.

My advice, no one knows everything, experiment to figure out what works for you. The worst that could happen is that you would end up with bad tasting beer.

 

[McGarnigle]

I made the True Brew Nut Brown Ale kit, which uses brown sugar. I think it was 1/2 or 1 pound for 5 gallons (along with about 5 pounds malt extract). It adds alcohol and a little flavor while maintaining lightness of body. You have to be careful with adding too much sugar, but anti-sugar feelings are overstated, I think.

 

[cowstick]

I got done with everything about an hour ago. I decided to go with a 1:1 ratio(.25 cup brown to .25 cup dextrose) used that in the wort. It added a nice aroma to it. Ill tell ya how it tastes in two weeks after I bottle it. I also added some hops to the fermenter after I put the beer in. Lets see how this baby tastes.

P.S. I think Surly Bender is the best beer in the world.

 

[david_42]

The molasses in brown sugar can be really invasive. Used in small quantities, brown sugar can be good in porters and stouts.

 

[dcott]

I used light brown sugar in the Amber that I brewed last night. I used about 4oz and boiled the heck out of it so that it would produce some caramelization. I then added this syrup when I added my extracts and let it boil for the full 60 min.

Hoping it will add some good color, and the fact that it started to caramelize will make it less fermentable and hopefully add some nice flavor. We'll see!

 

[dcott]

Also, in his book "Extreme Brewing" Sam Calgione (of Dogfishhead) touts the benefits of using different kinds of sugars, including brown sugar.

I'm positive they use brown sugar in several of their beers, and personally, I love them. Of course, I happen to subscribe to the whole "Off centered ales for off centered people" philosophy of brewing that dogfish uses as their motto.

At the end of the day, I think the most important thing is having fun. If you like experimenting with sugars and like the product that you get, GO FOR IT!

 

[ChuckMoney]

About 2 months ago, I used about 2 lbs of domino dark brown in my makeshift imperial stout pm recipe that mashed about 5 lbs of malt and 6 lbs of malt extract, came out in the low 1.080's for a SG, and fermented down to about 1.012 (yes 85% attenuation, I figure this is from all the extra sugar). It was exactly what the beer needed to balance the overwhelming hoppy-ness from 3 ounces of centennial hops combined with 1 ounce of cascades that I added on accident (I had already brewed an AG batch with a friend earlier in the day so I was tired and kinda druck).
originally it was just going to be another partial mash stout, then I toyed with the fact that I had a stout yeast cake sitting in my primary from my guinness clone batch, figured I had some extra malt extract and tried to make it a big beer. (I have a huge pile of cascade and centennial whole leaf hops from last season that i've been trying to use up, so I figured a big beer was in the works anyways for about a month before this). Started out by adding what I thought were 1.5 ounces of cascades aa 5.0% and .5 ounce off centennials 10.3% and was going to add the same amount of each at 5 minutes. Well about half way through the boil I realize that I apparantly switched around my hops and my beer was going to turn out waaaay too bitter for what I wanted (at this point I came to grips that my beer wasn't going to fit in to any general style) and added 2lbs of dark brown sugar to the mix and the last hop addition (1.5 centennial & .5 cascade) chilled it, and tossed it in the fermentor.

Fermentation takes off like 6 hrs later and nearly blows the lid right off my bucket. After letting it sit 3 weeks in the primary I tasted it, and while it was still green it had that somewhat cidery taste, so I racked to primary and let it sit for another 3 weeks. Bottled about 16 days ago, and tasted the first beer out of the batch on monday night, and man was that beer phenominal. Honestly one of my favorite beers.

So after my rambling rant, I'd like to tell you to not be afraid of sugars, just don't do it with the intent of making hooch. Use it to balance your beer and try to stay under 20% of overall fermentables to avoid a beer thats way too thin, with no mouthfeel.

 

[bradsul]

I used 500G of demerara in a Throwback Mild recipe and it turned out really well. It gives a really interesting twist on the aftertaste and keeps the mouthfeel from being overly heavy.

I combined it with 500G of flaked maize to get a light mouthfeel but with a nice full flavour. I'll definitely be making it again (this was a 25L recipe btw, not a 5 US Gallon).

 

[carnevoodoo]

I think I should add that you should use REAL brown sugar for this. Some brown sugar is just refined white with molasses added. You want the partially unrefined kind. The other kind is bunk.

 

[brrman]

I use 1/2 lb of Light Brown sugar in an American Amber recipe that always turns out great. I can notice the difference, and it is nice and mellow, but it has to be "Light" brown sugar.

 

[GloHoppa]

I like using brown sugar in my Apfelwein. Instead of using 2lbs of corn sugar in Apfelwein that EdWort reccomends, I sub it with the brown. It adds a light molasses flavor that comes forward as it matures. That being said, I would only use it in small amounts in a beer, there are plenty other adjuncts out there that would be better for body and mouthfeel.

 

[Eastside Brewer]

I am planning on using 1 lb. of dark brown sugar in a 6 gallon batch of imperial brown ale. I am hoping it will add subtle hints of molasses but not be overpowering. I am just not sure where to add it in the boil, last 15 min., 10 min., 5 min.??? What are you guys doing?

Eastside

 

[bradsul]

I am planning on using 1 lb. of dark brown sugar in a 6 gallon batch of imperial brown ale. I am hoping it will add subtle hints of molasses but not be overpowering. I am just not sure where to add it in the boil, last 15 min., 10 min., 5 min.??? What are you guys doing?

I add mine after my sparge is done since my brewing software takes that gravity into consideration for calculating IBU's.

 

[JoMarky]

I am planning on using 1 lb. of dark brown sugar in a 6 gallon batch of imperial brown ale. I am hoping it will add subtle hints of molasses but not be overpowering. I am just not sure where to add it in the boil, last 15 min., 10 min., 5 min.??? What are you guys doing?

Eastside

I added 1lb to secondary (after boiling to pasteurize/caramelize), then racked from primary on top it to create a true secondary fermentation. This was with a brown ale. Was pleasantly surprised with the result.

 

[Eastside Brewer]

Good point, I am using beersmith and the only option that I get is boil or add after boil and it does change the IBU's. I guess I'll boil for 90 min. and see what happens.

Eastside

 

[Eastside Brewer]

I added 1lb to secondary (after boiling to pasteurize/caramelize), then racked from primary on top it to create a true secondary fermentation. This was with a brown ale. Was pleasantly surprised with the result.

Interesting, so you boiled the 1 lb. seperate, let it cool down, then put into a secondary vessel when it was time to rack out of primary? Did you add a little water to boil it?

Thanks for your response.

Eastside

 

[JoMarky]

Interesting, so you boiled the 1 lb. seperate, let it cool down, then put into a secondary vessel when it was time to rack out of primary? Did you add a little water to boil it?

Thanks for your response.

Eastside

Yah I boiled in water, perhaps a quart or two but I forget how much, I kind of just eye balled it. It smelled heavenly ( I forgot to mention I also added 2 jars of pure maple syrup to it). However, if you don't plan on racking to a secondary anyways, I would just throw it in the last 10-15 minutes of your wort boil. If you're gonna use a secondary, maybe it helps preserve the flavors to add it when you rack?

Edit: This will affect your gravity readings, I forget exactly how I compensated for it lol. If you choose to add the sugar when you rack to secondary, take a reading before you add the sugar, then take a second reading after you add the sugars. You can add the difference between the two readings, (i.e. second reading-first reading) to your initial SG reading and get your overall SG. Just for comparisons sake, the addition of the sugar and syrup gave me about a .012 boost to my SG.

 

[homemadebeer]

by all means experiment, i reckon it'd go well in an imperial brown ale

but be aware brown sugar can taste a bit cidery or medicinal in lighter/paler beers.. and i would avoid it for most lagers, it would "stick out like dog's balls" as we say here in australia

 

[cowstick]

Ok so here are the steps that I took to make it. I used 1 to 1 white dextrose and light cane brown sugar. In my starter same deal with the yeast. That got active real quick. After I added everything together in the primary I then added another part of brown sugar then dry hopped it. After 6 hours it all started to churn violently...... It was beautiful. Now I wait one more week untill I bottle.