Priming sugar for boosting alcohol

[musiqluv]

I started out brewing with kits but I happened to have access to a kegerator so I never used the included bottling sugar for priming. I have a couple pounds of it left over and was thinking about adding it to the end of the boil in hopes of boosting alcohol in like a belgian golden. Would this type of sugar work and is adding it at the end of the boil a good idea?

 

[bob1852]

It will work - you just don't want to add too much.

Dextrose ferments completely, and can lead to a cider taste if you over do it.

 

[musiqluv]

Great, thank you for the quick reply, I will research some appropriate amounts to use for my 2.5 gallon "system". Thanks.

 

[bob1852]

It depends on the style of beer as well. Often, some IPAs that want to get to a dry finish will add 1lb of dextrose to a 5-gallon batch.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Belgian beers rely on invert sugar to get flavor and character. Corn sugar will result in a very dry tasteless finish. Very different roads, but both well traveled. I use dextrose to leave my DIPA dry like a witches teat. My house special reserve relies on invert sugar and lots of light DME to boost gravity.