Dextrose priming alternatives

[boodyrischous]

What are some recommendations for alternatives to dextrose? We don't have any undermented wort, so krausening is out. Does candi sugar work for priming, and how much should I use for a 5 gal batch? Thanks.

 

[Evan!]

candi sugar would work, but would be a huge waste of $$ considering how expensive it is. I'm not sure how much though...I measure my dextrose by volume - 3/4 cup per 5 gallons - but measure candi sugar by weight. Their PPPG is identical (if ProMash is right), so if you could figure out how much 3/4 of a cup of dextrose weighs, then you'd just use that much candi sugar and probably be okay.

Why don't you wanna use dextrose?

 

[cheezydemon]

You can use anything fermentable. I used hershey's kisses once. Amazingly it worked.

 

[Ryanh1801]

You could use Raw Sugar.. Im planing on doing that with some of my Belgian beers im about to bottle.

 

[steve123]

http://hbd.org/brewery/library/YPrimerMH.html

Link to an article written a few years back. Gives you idea on how much CO2 your beer should have and how much fermentable you need to get to that point from where you are depending on what you are planning on using.

I've used DME according to the article 70% fermentable so if you use 5oz of dextose, you need 6.5oz, honey is 90% so 5.5oz etc etc

Worth the read at least to learn what you are actually doing when carbonating you beer.

 

[boodyrischous]

You can use anything fermentable. I used hershey's kisses once. Amazingly it worked.

Did you just add them to the bottling bucket? How much did you use?

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

Just use plain sugar, and invert it. (boil with lemon juice/etc). This converts the cane sugar to the equivalent of dextrose.

The main benefit of dextrose is its an easily fermented sugar, meaning it carbonates fast. Pure cane sugar, honey, malt, etc, all work just fine, but work slower.

 

[PseudoChef]

Just use plain sugar, and invert it. (boil with lemon juice/etc). This converts the cane sugar to the equivalent of dextrose.

Hate to burst your bubble, but this isn't true. Plain sugar (what I suppose you're calling cane or beet sugar) is a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. Inverting this merely breaks the saccharide bond leaving free molecules of fructose and glucose which ferment easier than a disaccharide. You aren't turning table sugar into dextrose.

 

[steve123]

I forget my O-Chem, how is the Fructose Sucrose blend for fermentation? Always looking for something new to try, Brown Sugar could make a tasty addition to a bottle.

 

[Revvy]

You can use anything fermentable. I used hershey's kisses once. Amazingly it worked.

Was that for a choc. Stout? It sounds like a great idea!

 

[boodyrischous]

We just bottled out chocolate truffle stout, and primed it with a mix of our hot cocoa mix (made only of cocoa and evaporated cane juice) and additional evaporated cane juice. It produced one of the best smells known to my kitchen when we boiled it. Hopefully it will prime effectively.

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

Inverting this merely breaks the saccharide bond leaving free molecules of fructose and glucose which ferment easier than a disaccharide. You aren't turning table sugar into dextrose.

If you read my post, I did not say you are converting Cane sugar into Dextrose.
I said the "Equivalent of Dextrose", which I then explained that dextrose is preferred because it carbonates faster then cane sugar, but are otherwise identical.

Inverting the cane sugar will allow you to carbonate just as fast as dextrose, since you are reducing the Sucrose into Glucose and Fructose, which are the same sugars found in Corn Sugar: Glucose and Fructose.

I'm just trying to be helpful, so no need to burst non-existant bubbles.

nick

 

[PseudoChef]

Corn sugar is just glucose, though. No fructose. So it's not equivalent.

 

[steve123]

oh and we also used Godiva Chocolate Liquor to put some more chocolate in our Chocolate stout, primed with 5 oz of that and 2 of dextrose. Figured out the math on the sugar content of the Godiva, boiled off the alcohol, should have used more and dropped the priming sugar needed a little more flavor, then again won't waste expensive booze like that again was purely for experimental purposes.

And yes that worked well.

 

[solidghost]

how about using fructose for priming? will there be a sweet taste?