adding sugar with dry hops

[dawn_kiebawls]

As i'm getting ready to dry hop a saison I have fermenting right now (going on 20 days, so it's finished by now. Just cleaning up) a quick thought came into my head: should I add a small amount of sugar into the fermentor at the same time I add my dry hops? My reasoning is that if I add a small amount of sugar it will give the yeast something to nom on and create enough CO2 to build a positive pressure and hopefully minimize oxidation. I've never done this but it seems like a decent idea since it is a Saison and finishing dry isnt a bad thing. Way over kill? Worth while? Anyone else do something similar? Cheers!

edit: been in primary for 20 days, not 10

 

[day_trippr]

I don't know if it'll help, but a cup of CS can't hurt.
While I don't do that for dry-hopping, I do it when I add fruit, although tbh it's more voodoo than rational...

Cheers!

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

I don't know if it'll help, but a cup of CS can't hurt.
While I don't do that for dry-hopping, I do it when I add fruit, although tbh it's more voodoo than rational...

Cheers!

A cup seems like quite a bit, do you know how much ABV that adds (to a 5g batch)? Also, I have to ask what the voodoo behind adding CS with fruit addition is as I have quite a few batches coming up that will get fruited later this season when local fruit ripens up. Thanks for the reply!

 

[day_trippr]

Well, let's see, a cup of CS weighs around 5-1/4 ounces or ~.32 pounds. Added to a 5 gallon batch that'd add around 3 gravity points (0.003) to the "OG", and assuming 100% fermentation would add ~ 0.5% to the ABV. I'm actually surprised it's that much of a bump. So, maybe use half a cup?

Fruit additions generally dilute (significantly) rather than boost ABV, and take more time to do than adding dry hops, with attendant greater O2 exposure. So I add a cup of CS just to "do something" rather than remain passive. It does immediately get the yeast excited and within hours the headspace is usually filled with fluffy krausen so at least something positive happens

Cheers!

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

Thanks for the calculations, I'll probably try it with about 1/4C of CS, as you said just to 'do something'. As it is this was meant to be a table saison but am already pushing close to 6% somehow so i would like to keep any extra additions as minimal as possible.

The fact that fruit dilutes more than boosts is very interesting, though it makes perfect sense, as does the fact that it takes longer to add fruit than dry hops. Thankyou for brining that tom my attention! The batches I'm going to be fruiting are sours so I'm especially interested in keeping O2 out of those carboys once I add fruit. Thanks again for your help. Cheers!

 

[VikeMan]

The fact that fruit dilutes more than boosts is very interesting, though it makes perfect sense, as does the fact that it takes longer to add fruit than dry hops.

Sometimes fruit reduces the effective OG and the ABV. Some times it increases them. It depends on the fruit and the base beer. But adding fruit always adds sugar. Even if it's a sugar solution that less dense than what was in the base beer's wort, the sugars from the fruit will still ferment, making alcohol and CO2. The more diced/shredded/puréed the fruit, the faster the sugars get into the beer (and the yeast). Freezing and thawing also helps, because it breaks down cell walls.

PSA: Approach any fruit gravity/ABV calculators with caution. If they don't take into account the water contribution of the fruit, they have no chance of producing the right answer.