How added sugars flavor the finished product

[placervilledan]

I was reading around, and I saw the dextrose will not flavor/or change the finished product beyond adding some alcohol. How is this? I have seen lots of other posts about how brown sugar, or honey, or ?????? does change the flavor. What is the difference with Dextrose?

 

[Iordz]

Most brewers talking about dextrose are referring to corn or table sugar. It's a very simple sugar that the yeast will consume first and it does not seem to affect flavor. Sugars like honey, brown and molasses have other types of sugars and aromatics that affect flavor. If you taste regular sugar it doesn't have too much of a "flavor," it's just sweet. But when you taste honey or brown sugar you get a flavor, mainly from other compounds. Also, different types of sugar have different degrees of fermentability, if it is less fermentable it will lend more flavor. Something like brown sugar has unprocessed sugars and molasses in it so it gives the beer more flavors.

 

[bradsul]

Just wanted to jump in here, corn sugar and table sugar are not the same thing. If you use straight table sugar you'll get a cidery taste (not the desirable kind) in your finished product depending upon how much you use. Dextrose is sugar made from corn starches and is almost completely fermentable so will leave no perceptible flavours behind. If you just want to bump your gravity with no flavour change, go with dextrose.

 

[Iordz]

I agree, some table sugar does add a cidery flavor, probably the cheaper stuff.

 

[macs]

Remember, Corn Sugar is Dextrose and Table sugar is Sucrose.