Adding light crystals to the secondary?

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BFry86

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This may seem like a stupid question, but I was curious what would happen if I added some light crystals at the begining of the secondary on my IPA? Would it bump the SG or totally ruin the brew?
Thanks
 
I assume you mean light crystal malt...and I don't seeing it making much of a difference generally it takes heats for the grain to release sugars and enzymes..hence the reason for mashing
 
Yes, It is exactly like lightsabers!!! ha Sorry I thought Light candy sugar was know as crystal sugar. Anyway... Ideas?
 
Yes, It is exactly like lightsabers!!! ha Sorry I thought Light candy sugar was know as crystal sugar. Anyway... Ideas?

You CAN add candy sugar later in fermentation, and it will bump up the abv, but keep in mind it will also dry it out. I like my IPA's with a little bit of simple sugar to dry them out, but too much could easily make it not so good, it depends on your recipe. If you wanna post the recipe you could get some opinions.
If you do add it, boil the crystals in a small amount of water to dissolve them, let it cool, and if it were me I'd just add it straight to the primary, not in the secondary. You can still use a secondary to dry hop or whatever, but I'd let the fermentation finish in the primary before you do that.
 
LOL, when I saw the title I thought of Napoleon Dynamite...

Kip: So are you ready?
Napoleon: Yeah, hold on... I forgot to put in the crystals.

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But on a serious note. I'd say we're all still learning-- go for it and add some sugar. Or, you could split the batch at secondary and add sugar to one and not to the other.
 
FYI, light candy sugar you find in they brew store is the same as table sugar. Save yourself some money if you do plan to do it.
 
Crystal Light came to my mind when I read the title to this thread. The other day I was wondering about using Nesquik.....

I have heard of people using crystal light for shandys... Never tried it myself though. I like the idea of some Nesquik and coffee in a Porter. Time to go to the store to read some labels and see if there are fats/oils that will impede head retention!
 
Did you ever see this thread? I think it's ridiculous, but to each their own. I've wondered about fermenting some strange $hit too. :mug:

Yeah, I've seen that thread. I'm really not sure how Nesquik compares to Ovaltine, but my gut tells me that Ovaltine has more additives in it. I love me a chocolate stout, so if using Nesquik only added chocolate flavor, a little bit of suger (be-it fermentable or not) and maybe some vitamins I'd be ok with that. I read the ingredients yesterday, but I don't know enough about all those additives to know what's good or bad.. Gonna have to research it a bit! :tank:
 
I probably should have done better research before throwing the sugar in, but like you said, It's a learning experience. I dry hop'd with 2 ounces of centennial and added 4 oz of light candi sugar to my 5.5 gal batch. The og is staying at a steady 1.03. It was a red ale extract kit that is slowing turning into an Ipa with some reciepe changes. Anyway, I'm thinking of throwing it into a carboy for a tertiary fermentation next week. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the advice
 
Yeah, I've seen that thread. I'm really not sure how Nesquik compares to Ovaltine, but my gut tells me that Ovaltine has more additives in it. I love me a chocolate stout, so if using Nesquik only added chocolate flavor, a little bit of suger (be-it fermentable or not) and maybe some vitamins I'd be ok with that. I read the ingredients yesterday, but I don't know enough about all those additives to know what's good or bad.. Gonna have to research it a bit! :tank:

Hmmm, sounds interesting. I've only used regular baking cocoa (Nestle, I think), it worked well. I'd guess as long as Quick doesn't have preservatives that'll effect the yeast, it'd work... probably taste good too.
Choco stouts this fall? I'm thinking "fo sho!!"

:tank:
 
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