Cane Sugar Substitute?

[pshankstar]

Hi everyone! I went to my LHBS yesterday to buy the ingredients to make the New Belgium Ranger IPA clone found in a BYO Magazine. Recipe pasted below.

Well the LHBS didn't have "Corn Sugar" in stock, instead they had "Candi" and "Cane" sugar. The girl there said I could probably use the "Cane Sugar" instead or regular table sugar. So I held off on buying any sugar and thought I would check here, since I'm still a newbie... So with that being said, is she right? Is one better to use than the other (Cane Sugar vs Table Sugar)? Should I stick with the "Corn Sugar" as the recipe calls for? Any thoughts, suggestions and input is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

PS - I tried searching the forum to see if this question or similar was posted in the past and I could not locate one. If its a repeat I'm sorry and please provide a link to the thread. Thanks!

New Belgium Ranger IPA Clone (BYO Magazine)

Batch Details:
5 gallons/19 L, Extract with grains
OG = 1.059 FG = 1.009 IBU = 70 SRM = 7 ABV = 6.5%

Ingredients:
4.5 lbs. (2 kg) Briess light dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) cane sugar (15 min.)
1 lb. 13 oz. (0.82 kg) pale malt
4 oz. (113 g) crystal malt (120 L)
12 AAU Chinook hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 12% alpha acids)
6.5 AAU Simcoe hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz/14 g at 13% alpha acids)
3.8 AAU Cascade hops (15 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 5% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14g) Chinook hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14g) Simcoe hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
2.5 oz. (71g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1792 (Fat Tire Ale), Wyeast 1272 (American Ale II), or White Labs WLP051 (California Ale V) yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step:
Steep grains in 3 qts. (2.8 L) of water at 148 F (64 C) for 45 minutes. Add water to make 4 gallons (15 L) of wort and bring to a boil. Stir in roughly half of the dried malt extract and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add remaining malt extract and cane sugar for final 15 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with cool water, aerated and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68 F (20 C). Dry hop in secondary or keg for one week.

 

[mkyl428]

It can be used instead of corn sugar, I use table sugar I get at the grocery store, and I buy the cheapest brand available to me at the time.

It looks like it is for priming and nothing more in your recipe so it will definitely be fine, just don't forget to take into account that sucrose (table sugar) is more fermentable than Dextrose (Corn Sugar) and you should be fine.

I would use a priming calculator, like this one and measure priming sugar by weight as opposed to volume it is much more accurate.

 

[z-bob]

A long time ago, I thought you had to use corn sugar (or malt) for priming to avoid the dreaded "cidery" taste. Table sugar works just fine for priming, and it's easier to measure (I prime the individual bottles)

3/4 cup of table sugar sounds like too much for priming 5 gallons, you might want to look up the right amount; I think northernbrewer.com has a priming sugar calculator.

 

[pshankstar]

I'm sorry @z-bob and @mkyl428, I was looking at the priming sugar when I wrote this message and not the second ingredient which is "Cane Sugar", one full pound. I will not be bottling this brew, but instead kegging it.

So I meant to say, the LHBS didn't have "Cane Sugar" and the girl there said the "Corn Sugar" or "Table Sugar" would be fine. I have heard either is fine for priming, but again this isn't for priming. So, can I substitute some other sugar for the wort? I may need to go to the grocery store and get some "Cane Sugar" if it will make a difference.

Sorry for any confusion and thank you all!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I've always used cane, corn, and beet sugar interchangeably. I can't think of a beer situation where it wouldn't be.

 

[m00ps]

Cane and Corn sugar are not entirely interchangeable. If you notice on priming calculators it takes more corn sugar to get the same carb volume than with cane sugar.

Corn sugar is used for priming because it is supposedly the easiest for yeast to digest, resulting in faster carbing

 

[z-bob]

The 1 pound of cane sugar in that recipe is just plain old table sugar. Makes no difference whether it is cane or beet sugar or expensive Belgian white candi sugar. (Belgian dark candi sugar is something quite different)

 

[unionrdr]

I use a pound of demerara sugar (aka raw cane sugar) in my Cougar Country IPA. It lends a little bit to the color & flavor complexity, but just a hair. It's in the baking needs isle of the grocery store.

 

[Shooter]

Granulated table sugar is cane sugar. Just use that.

 

[mkyl428]

I'm sorry @z-bob and @mkyl428, I was looking at the priming sugar when I wrote this message and not the second ingredient which is "Cane Sugar", one full pound. I will not be bottling this brew, but instead kegging it.

So I meant to say, the LHBS didn't have "Cane Sugar" and the girl there said the "Corn Sugar" or "Table Sugar" would be fine. I have heard either is fine for priming, but again this isn't for priming. So, can I substitute some other sugar for the wort? I may need to go to the grocery store and get some "Cane Sugar" if it will make a difference.

Sorry for any confusion and thank you all!

As someone else said table sugar and cane sugar are the same thing...

I don't think it will make a discernible difference, I would go with table sugar just because it is a lot cheaper, however if you already have the corn sugar just go with that i doubt you will notice a difference

 

[pshankstar]

Thank you all for the quick responses! So I am good with using table sugar (AKA granulated sugar) in place of cane sugar. I am going to try and brew this batch tonight or this weekend at some point. I'm excited b/c the Ranger IPA from New Belgium is one of my favorites and I cannot buy it in New York.

Thanks again everyone and brew on!!! Also, have an awesome Labor Day weekend!