Priming

[Potsy]

Can anyone tell me if there is any benefit to using say, light spray malt instead of household sugar when priming? Or does it not really make a difference at this stage?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Household sugar is the wrong type of sugar for brewing...it's processed...

Don't take shortcuts with your brew because it will NEVER come out the way you want it to if you don't use the RIGHT ingredients.

 

[catnip1970]

The right ingredient for priming doesn't always have to be corn sugar though, right? If I were to use something else, like honey, how would I figure out how much to use? A five gallon batch uses 5 oz of corn sugar for priming...how does that five ounces of sugar translate for other types of sugars?

 

[RichBrewer]

Most folks use corn sugar to prime their beer but you can certainly use Dried Malt Extract. Papazian recommends 1 1/4 cup of DME for a 5 gallon batch. I don't know if you can tell the difference between the two methods but if you use DME you are ensuring that the beer is all malt.

 

[Kaiser]

The right ingredient for priming doesn't always have to be corn sugar though, right? If I were to use something else, like honey, how would I figure out how much to use? A five gallon batch uses 5 oz of corn sugar for priming...how does that five ounces of sugar translate for other types of sugars?

You need about 5oz of fermentable sugar per 5 gal of beer. If the priming agent is less fermentable than 100%, you will have to use more. DME is about 65-68% fermentable.

I also did an experiment with various priming agents, including table sugar, and I couldn't tell a difference.

Kai