Ok to Substitute Sucrose (table sugar) for Some LME in Recipe?

[landmissle]

Hi all,

I have a recipe that calls for 7 lbs of ultra light LME. I purchased all my ingredients from a local home brew store but failed to double check the amount of LME they provided me. When I got home I discovered I was only given two (2) containers of 3.3 lbs of LME. So I have a total of 6.6 lbs of LME and therefor .4 lbs short according to the recipe.

Is it possible to substitute an amount of granulated table sugar (sucrose) for the missing LME? How much would I need? Will this significantly alter the taste profile of the beer? If I do this substitution, is there anything else I need to be aware of?

Thanks again for any information you can provide

 

[DBhomebrew]

Absolutely. Table sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, molasses, invert sugar, candi sugar, etc, etc.

The table sugar will ferment 100% leading to a lower FG, but malt extract tends to finish high so your net might be perfectly normal. British beers often have up to 10% invert sugar.

In other words, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[dmtaylor]

Not only is subbing some LME for table sugar OK to do... I would in fact recommend it for just about any/all recipes. Here is something I wrote about a decade ago saying just that.

 

[Steveruch]

What are you brewing? Being .4 of a pound short won't make that much of a difference.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Is it possible to substitute an amount of granulated table sugar (sucrose) for the missing LME? How much would I need?

6 oz table sugar.

Will this significantly alter the taste profile of the beer? If I do this substitution, is there anything else I need to be aware of?

Replacing 6 oz LME with 6 oz sugar (roughly 5% by weight) will not impact the favor or body of the beer.

---

FWIW, at the local / regional craft brewing level, I'm starting to see some hybrid wort (50% barley, 50% honey) beverages. From my limited experiences with these beverages, 50% simple sugars will result in a flavor / body that is different from a similar 100% malted barley wort. If you choose to try them, set aside those competition brewing guidelines and enjoy the moment.

 

[Somesaymybeerisdrinkable]

Some homebrew math. LME has a PPG of 36 and table sugar is 46. So for a 5 gallon batch you should have an O.G. of

7 lbs LME: (36*7/5)/1000+1= 1.050
6.6 lbs LME: (36*6.6/5)/1000+1= 1.047
6.6 lbs LME: ((36*6.6+46*.4)/5)/1000+1= 1.051

 

[landmissle]

What are you brewing? Being .4 of a pound short won't make that much of a difference.

I'm recreating this recipe of MoreBeer's Irish Red Ale. The LHBS sourced the ingredients for me, but only provided 6.6 lbs of LME instead of the listed 7lbs. Not sure why, perhaps a misread? I should have double checked before leaving the store. That said, this is a learning moment right?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

only provided 6.6 lbs of LME

3.3# appears to be a common size container for pre-packaged LME (e.g. Briess LME).

Online stores that use oxygen barrier bags seem to package it in 1# increments (e.g. Morebeer offers LME in sizes from 3# to 9#; Williams offers 4#, 6#, 8#, and maybe other sizes).

Northern Brewer offers 1.5#, 3.15#, 4.65#, 6#, 7.5#, and 9.15#. It may be that these container sizes work well for minimizing the number of containers they need to include in the various kit sizes they sell (e.g. 1.5# works well in a 1 gal kit; 9# is roughly OG 65 in a 5 gal kit , ...)

 

[landmissle]

Hi all,

Thank you for all the advice. Brewed the batch today and added .45 lbs (7 oz) of sugar after adding the LME. Cook went fine and hit a final gravity of 1.051. Used Nothingham yeast for the first time so it'll be interesting to see how this all works out.

 

[brewSJ]

3.3 pounds LME is just a hair shy of 1.5 kilograms. No doubt that's the reason Briess uses it: it's an ordinary size everywhere but the US.