Molasses as priming sugar.

Hey, I am currently brewing an oatmeal stout. The recipie said to use 1 cup of molasses as the priming sugar (its a 5 gal. batch). A good friend of mine expresssed some concern about using molasses due to its high sulfer content. Has anyone ever bottled with molasses or have any clue effect molasses might have on the final product? (the recipie called for specifically blackstrap molasses if that makes a difference)

thanks
Joe

You can get unsulphured molasses so I don't see an issue there. What I do see an issue with is that regular molasses is about 90% fermentable while blackstrap is only 50% fermentable.

That said, I think you'd get a very strong taste of molasses that would need to be mellowed out if you bottled with it. I think the 1 cup per 5 gallons is correct though.

Don't do it. Priming is not the time to introduce flavour.

Yeah, I agree with dobberson. I wouldn't add flavor during priming. I think some Boston Baked Bean lover came up with that recipe!

dobberson24 said:

Don't do it. Priming is not the time to introduce flavour.

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I beg to differ, it's actually a GREAT time. Especially with something that contains some maillard reaction/carmelization like mollases or brown sugar, maple syrup, or even dark honey, something that will leave a level of unfermentables behind which will impart a nice subtle flavor. There are at least 2 bottle conditioned commercial pumpkin ales that are primed with brown sugar. Which impart a noticeable brown sugar flavor to the lips and tongue when drinking it.

It's also a good time to introduce other things like lactose (for some extra sweetness) or even some spices, if they haven't come through in by bottling time. I have steeped some extra dried peppers in the priming solution for more spiciness in my chocolate mole porter, even added some citrus peel while boiling it for more orange in a wit.

It is a great last minute point to fix stuff...since you are boiling, you are sterilzing whatever you are adding so there's little risk of infection. And since it is your priming solution it is going ti distribute to all the beer.

Now if you are looking for the correct amount to prime with, look here, I have some info in my bottling thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/index3.html#post1114892

Heck, if someone wanted to do a chocolate peppermint stout, melting hard peppermint candies in a double boiler with 2 cups of water and priming with it, may be a great way to impart flavor. Heck any hard candies, like butterscotch, or cinnamin or rootbeer even could potentially be the priming solution. The difficulty would be in figuring out the sugar content. But I bet since hard candies are pure sucrose with flavoring and color...just weighing it would be close enough.

Hmm I might be on to something.

Revvy said:

Heck, if someone wanted to do a chocolate peppermint stout, melting hard peppermint candies in a double boiler with 2 cups of water and priming with it, may be a great way to impart flavor. Heck any hard candies, like butterscotch, or cinnamin or rootbeer even could potentially be the priming solution. The difficulty would be in figuring out the sugar content. But I bet since hard candies are pure sucrose with flavoring and color...just weighing it would be close enough.

Hmm I might be on to something.

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I did exactly that with carb tabs. I was in a bind and didn't want to open up a brand new package of corn sugar for a small experimental 1 gallon batch. With the carb tabs I felt like it gave me too much carbonation, or at least to my liking. So I figured out how much sugar I would need to get to the volume I wanted and weighed the carb tabs out just like that. Melted them in the boiling water and went from there. Now whether or not it worked is a different story :cross:, next weekend will be week 3 in bottle conditioning so I'll take a crack at one then and let you know.

Now with the hard candy idea (I'm thinking peppermint sticks for a Christmas brown)

Could you look at the sugar content on the packaging and if it's 1 stick has this much sugar it would be very safe to assume that almost all of that sugar is fermentable no?

kunstler said:

Now with the hard candy idea (I'm thinking peppermint sticks for a Christmas brown)

Could you look at the sugar content on the packaging and if it's 1 stick has this much sugar it would be very safe to assume that almost all of that sugar is fermentable no?

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I haven't played around, I THINK the by weight measurement of pure hard candy would be comparable to table sugar. But I'm not sure, however, Last month's basic brewing radio was all about alternative priming methods, and the guest (who btw, although he is a minister, from michigan, and is an expert on bottling, is NOT ME, but the coincidence is freaky) offers info on calculating how to prime with strange things.

October 28, 2010 - Alternate Priming Sugars
Home brewer Drew Filkins shares his technique of using alternative ingredients to put the bubbles in his brew.

Click to Listen-Mp3

Hydrometer readings and sugar content charts from HomeWinemaking.com http://www.home-winemaking.com/winemaking-2b.html

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Priming with honey or maple syrup would be cool hae you done any beers like this Revvy?

I've used regular blackstrap molasses. The sulfur wasn't an issue.

I've never primed with any ingredients other that Cornsugar, brown sugar and DME, yet. Though I have "Flavored" the priming solution with dried chillies tossed in the boil for one of the versions of my chocolate mole porter. And I plan on attempting to use hard candies boiled instead of sugars in some beers down the road. I'm thinking of butterscotch for something.

Using DME? Hmmm that seems interesting.

akthor said:

Using DME? Hmmm that seems interesting.

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That's one of the oldest ways to prime. Nothing fancy. People say it takes a little longer and you are more than likely going to see bottle krausen so don't panic, but I really didn't notice much difference from corn sugar.

If the recipe calls for it I'd say go for it. Depending on the origin of the recipe and how proven it is, this could be a major component causing the beer to be just what it is. I too would be interested on whay you find out about using hard candies to prime...could be a simple way to make some holiday brews.

when I first started brewing I came across a guy in a bar at which I was a regular. we brought in some beers to trade and he had made an american pale with jolly ranchers. He put one candy in each bottle and let it condition/carb. Some were good, some aweful. The lemon/orange citrusy candies tasted horrible. Watermelon and grape were my favorites. All produced carbonation that seemed to be about normal for an american pale. It can be done!

Well, I went and bottled with molasses (and some sarsparilla too) as planned. The stout turned out great. The taste of the molasses comes through lightly on the aftertaste. Its really good. in retrospect i wish i had done a few with regular corn sugar so I could have compared. But i am happy with the results.

I assume you boil the molasses first like you would with corn sugar no? I want to try this in a pecan porter.

I would, that stuff is thick and needs to be dissolved in hot water at the very least.

I did boil it, for my 5 gal batch i boiled 1 cup molasses in 1 quart of water for 20 min. Let me know how the pecan porter turns out, that sounds delicious.

Thanks Joe!

I am considering using 1 cup of molasses to prime a 5 gallon Scoth Ale kit of which i have never brewed. Any objections? P.S.Revvy, i am an echo tech. hows the valve?

HartlandAaron said:

I am considering using 1 cup of molasses to prime a 5 gallon Scoth Ale kit of which i have never brewed. Any objections? P.S.Revvy, i am an echo tech. hows the valve?

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I'm due for my first echo since the surgery in a month or so...I'll let you know.

HartlandAaron said:

I am considering using 1 cup of molasses to prime a 5 gallon Scoth Ale kit of which i have never brewed. Any objections? P.S.Revvy, i am an echo tech. hows the valve?

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I would recommend using less than one cup (maybe 3/4 cup). When I used one cup it over-carbonated. But it did taste great. When I used molasses as priming sugar the flavor was overbearing at first but mellowed out really nicely as I aged it. I don't know how well scotch ale's age but it something worth considering.

I used 1 cup of unsulphured blackstrap molasses. lightly boiled with 16oz of water. about 10 minutes. Got a little curious and tried one after a week. It was a volcano. Lesson learned. This past weekend tried more and thought it to be pleasantly carbonated and just a faint hint of molasses. The beer itself tasted smooth but smokey. A characteristic of the kits specialty grains I imagine. Will have been bottled 1 month this weekend. I'll try one when sober and hope i still think the same way.