can i use normal white sugar for australian pale ale?

[tommo9669]

Hi guys
I am new to brewing and have got a coopers Australian pale ale kit. In the instructions it says to add a coopers brew enhancer to the malt syrup I am from the channel islands and have no brew shops on the Internet it's expensive to post it to me. The alternative on the instructions is 500g of dry malt extract and 250g of sugar. I cannot find dry malt extract anywhere over here the only thing I can find is barley malt extract which is a syrup. Is this ok to use? Also could I not just use a kilo of whit sugar as I have done when I made a larger kit?
Many thanks

 

[Eckythump]

You can use the syrup instead of dry malt extract. The "light" version would be best.

The proportion is different through. Use 0.75g of liquid for 0.6g of dry.

Oh and you can use regular sugar, but it'll probably water it down. The liquid malt extract should make a better beer

 

[jmprdood]

Welcome to the board! White sugar will work, it just has less body and tastes "thinner". I would use the liquid malt extract about a kilo of it, or 500g liquid malt and about 300g sugar.

Cheers!

 

[tommo9669]

In the instructions it says 500g of dry malt extract and 250g of sugar? You say only 0.75g of the syrup and 0.6g dry? That's not even a gram did you mean to type that? thanks for the fast reply

 

[tommo9669]

Hi dood thank you for the welcome there s some good advice on here. So the barley malt extract will be fine then does it matter too much if it's not the light one as this is all I can find?

 

[tommo9669]

Sorry and is barley malt extract the right stuff?

 

[ACarver]

In the instructions it says 500g of dry malt extract and 250g of sugar? You say only 0.75g of the syrup and 0.6g dry? That's not even a gram did you mean to type that? thanks for the fast reply

It is a conversion so if you need a certain amount of dry malt, say 500 grams, you would actually need a little more than that if substituting liquid malt which would be 625 grams.

.75 liquid g / .6 dry g = 1.25

500 dry needed * 1.25 = 625 liquid grams

Hope that helps.

 

[tommo9669]

After first fermentation I m going to put the ale into a pressure barrel how much sugar would I then add to that? Sorry for all the stupid questions don't want to mess it up

 

[jmprdood]

Shouldn't be a big deal. With the "kit and kilo" brews you have some flexibility with how you put it together. Darker extract will give it a little deeper color and maybe a slightly "heavier" feel, but nothing super dramatic.

 

[amandabab]

In the instructions it says 500g of dry malt extract and 250g of sugar? You say only 0.75g of the syrup and 0.6g dry? That's not even a gram did you mean to type that? thanks for the fast reply

its the conversion per gram.
the conversion for DME/LME just has to be close.
I use 1.2g LME per 1g DME
or .8g DME per 1g LME

 

[jessup]

Adding table sugar will result in lower gravity at the end which means thinner body. Compensate by adding crystal malts or doing partial mash with high mash temps to add residual sweetness. Also consider adding the sugar after primary is almost complete so you dont spoil the yeast & make them lazy. The yeast will prefer the table sugar so will prob eat that first & get lazy when the more complex sugars are left.

 

[tommo9669]

Ok thanks a lot for all your help so if I were to use sugar would I start primary with a kilo?

 

[mr_bell]

I believe your original question was can you use sugar (assuming white table sugar) for your brew, and the answer is yes, you can. However, using table sugar generally produces a product that's not very good--thin and cidery.

IMO, you would be better off getting a liquid (barley) malt extract, ideally a light extract. This alone, or with some table sugar (as jmprdood suggests) should produce a better result than just table sugar alone.

I suppose it depends on the difficulty of getting the liquid malt extract. Also, even if you got it perhaps it's not that fresh, which could negatively impact the end result.

It seems like you want to go with the table sugar. I say try it, see how it turns out. It may not be the best beer ever, realize that, and don't let it turn you off to the hobby. You will (hopefully) enjoy the process, and the end result and (hopefully) want to do it again, with more knowledge and experience each and every time you brew.

 

[tommo9669]

Just bought 2 jars of barley extract how much of this should I add and how much sugar? Many thanks

 

[tommo9669]

.?

 

[jmprdood]

How much does it weigh? what is on the label for ingredients?

 

[tommo9669]

1.7kg is the weight 1.25 litres ingredients malted barley hops and yeast?

 

[tommo9669]

That any help dood?