Brewing with Molasses

[StoliDude]

Hey all of you lovely brew people out there, I've got a question for ya. I've had an idea for a beer floating around in my head, using Molasses to give a sweet, even Rum like character to the brew. Sadly I personally have never used molasses for brewing, and have seen people from one extreme to the other on whether to use it or not. So I bring the questions to some of you who may have had more experience with using it. Good ?Bad? am I crazy on thinking this would work (Hopefully you are all just as crazy as me )? And if it works, how much haha. Cheers!

 

[alane1]

I brewed with it years ago, I used too much maybe an entire container. This was one of my first dumpers, been a little gun shy ever since. I want to try it again but I think I'll go with a higher end brand like Lyle's Treacle and use maybe 2 oz. insted of 16. Cheers

 

[davek]

I've used both molasses and brown sugar as my priming sugar with great success! But I've never used it in the brew process


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[StoliDude]

I brewed with it years ago, I used too much maybe an entire container. This was one of my first dumpers, been a little gun shy ever since. I want to try it again but I think I'll go with a higher end brand like Lyle's Treacle and use maybe 2 oz. insted of 16. Cheers

I have heard that using a higher end brand tends to help avoid the metallic flavor cheaper molasses can give. Sadly I can not say from experience haha.

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

I have used it before in a couple rather huge beers to add some character. Difficult to tell what the impact to the flavor was. I believe it also ferments rather slowly as well so be prepared to wait. Pretty sure Black treacle is molasses in Britain and it appears in a few recipes that I have seen...

 

[BridgewaterBrewer]

There's a little info on molasses in Palmer's book and Papazian's book. Consensus is that it will vary based on brand and purity and to be careful with large amounts. I've done small amounts in dark beers and not noticed it. Papazian says that a cup per 5 gal batch will be noticeable to most people so I would start with that. You could also use molasses as the bottling sugar but the amount needed for bottling is small so might not add much. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419600709.226144.jpg


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[BHebert]

I have used it. A better option might be cane syrup. Has less impurities.

 

[JayB68]

I used it in an amber ale just recently. I added a cup as a late boil addition. The molasses I used was home made on a local farm during a molasses festival so it doesn't get fresher or higher quality. Beer turned out great. Hints of raisen and spice and a bit drier than it would have been without it.

 

[StoliDude]

I have actually not seen that chart (Or I just don't remember when I read that book ), but that is quite handy. Thanks BridgewaterBrewer.

I have thought about using Cane Syrup, but i'm not sure i'll get the same exact characteristics i'm after.

Guess I'll have to throw caution to the wind and give it a try, then hopefully come back and have a better idea of what i'm doing haha. Wish me luck people