Truebrew Nut Brown- Forgot to add Brown Sugar?

[tmccabe25]

I just recently moved up to making my first 5 gallon batch, and decided to start off my journey with a BSG Handcraft Truebrew Ingredient Kit Nut Brown Ale. The instructions are very vague with this kit with phrasing such as "if your kit doesn't include X then do Y." I followed them as I saw fit and definitely had signs of fermentation for 2-3 days solid. I had an extremely high OG going into the fermenter, and now that I open the ingredient kit box and see both 1 lb. of Brown Sugar and 5 oz of Priming sugar left I am starting to assume that I was supposed to add the Brown sugar during the boil. Am I correct in this assumption and is there any way I can add it in at this point (7 days in the fermenter) without compromising the whole brew or do I just ride it out minus the brown sugar and see where it takes me? Thanks everyone!

 

[sptaylor70]

You were supposed to add the brown sugar during the boil (I prefer near the end). When you say "extremely high OG", what exactly do you mean? There is a limit to how high an extract kit can get without doing something off-instructions. Example: Did you add the priming sugar (meant for bottling) to the boil?

 

[beergolf]

Take the brown sugar and boil it up with a litttle water. Cool to the temp you brew is at and add it. They yeast will find it and go crazy.

 

[JimRausch]

Adding sugar after a day or two, or maybe even 3 is somewhat common especially in Belgians, but after a week, your fermentation is probably about finished. You could boil it up in a little water and add it(after cooling), but I would probably leave it.
Early in my brewing career(?) I did that kit, and it didn't have any added sugar then. It turned out pretty nice. The 1 lb of sugar would have increased your OG about 8 points in a 5G batch, so your ABV will be about 1% less, but the flavor won't be much different.
By the way, welcome to the forum, and your 1st post!

 

[FatDragon]

Do what beergolf suggested - boil it a bit to sanitize, let it cool down, and toss it into the fermenter. If your fermentation is done it will start up and you'll want to give it another several days, but it should come out pretty much the same as if you had added the brown sugar to the end of the boil.

 

[tmccabe25]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I had already started to sanitize and get everything setup by the time I started to get responses and decided to just go with what JimRausch said and not add it, however I did use the brown sugar as my priming sugar to see if I could get at least a little of the flavor over to the brew. May be a rookie mistake but I hope not! I went with NorthernBrewer's calculator on how much to use so hopefully it's pretty accurate. Thanks everyone for their suggestions and let's hope it turns out halfway decent. Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[GHBWNY]

I did that kit, and it didn't have any added sugar then. It turned out pretty nice. The 1 lb of sugar would have increased your OG about 8 points in a 5G batch, so your ABV will be about 1% less, but the flavor won't be much different.

Same here. With the added sugar, the ABV would have been higher, but the beer drier. Yours will be a little maltier without it, but not a horrible thing in a nut brown.