priming sugar substitute

[joe6pack]

I was planning on bottling my brown ale today, but my LHBS changed their hours and is not open today, and I have no priming sugar.

Is there anything I can sub for the priming sugar that they sell that I could get at the grocery store that won't cause off tastes?

 

[alpo]

You can sometimes find dextrose at health food/suppliment stores or bulk food stores that sell things like flour and seasonings by the pound. You'll probably have to call around.

 

[Yooper]

You could use table sugar (I've never done it) or honey, or malt extract if you have any laying around.

 

[Revvy]

If your doing a brown ale, you might want to consider brown sugar if you have any on hand.

 

[BigEd]

Just use white table sugar. There are no worries about flavor with the small quantities needed for priming.

 

[joe6pack]

I do have some brown sugar. How much would I need to use for my anticipated 4.25 gallon yield? Will it leave any off flavors?

 

[EdWort]

I know someone who uses plain white cane sugar for priming. It works fine, and he recently took 1st place BOS with his cane sugar primed American Pale Ale in St. Louis.

 

[Yooper]

It shouldn't- I'm not a fan of brown sugar but I don't think you'll even notice any flavor from it at all.

As far as the amount, I think it'd be the same by weight as corn sugar.

 

[joe6pack]

Awesome!

Thanks.

Now... how do I measure out 5 ounces of brown sugar? Any way to convert that to a volume? I don't have a scale.

 

[Revvy]

It shouldn't- I'm not a fan of brown sugar but I don't think you'll even notice any flavor from it at all.

As far as the amount, I think it'd be the same by weight as corn sugar.

Not corn...treat it as white table sugar in terms of how much you use.


The unfermentables that make up the brown sugar leave, to me, a nice taste of brown sugar behind. I've used it in dark pumpkin beers before and it was nice.

 

[brewt00l]

Just use white table sugar. There are no worries about flavor with the small quantities needed for priming.

Yup....and here's a nice graph to assist you in selecting the proper amount:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Priming Solutions

 

[earthad1]

If your doing a brown ale, you might want to consider brown sugar if you have any on hand.

That's interesting. I am making a brown ale. So why the brown sugar? What are the benefits? does it improve the taste? How much would you need to put for say 5 Gallons? Well, I'm not even sure how much I have because I forgot to mark my carboy.

I'm saying 4.75 - 5.0

 

[Revvy]

That's interesting. I am making a brown ale. So why the brown sugar? What are the benefits? does it improve the taste? How much would you need to put for say 5 Gallons? Well, I'm not even sure how much I have because I forgot to mark my carboy.

Becuse it's going to leave a lingering taste like brown sugar...

and sa to how much, look up the difference between using corn sugar vs white table sugar, and use the amount it says for white table sugar.

 

[earthad1]

Becuse it's going to leave a lingering taste like brown sugar...

and sa to how much, look up the difference between using corn sugar vs white table sugar, and use the amount it says for white table sugar.

heheh, Cool will do . Thanks Revvy


I can't really tell from that Graph, but I'm assuming Beersmith will be able to tell me how much table sugar to use with the amount I have.
Based on that photo, would you lean more towards 4.75? or about 5.0?

 

[Revvy]

heheh, Cool will do . Thanks Revvy


I can't really tell from that Graph, but I'm assuming Beersmith will be able to tell me how much table sugar to use with the amount I have.
Based on that photo, would you lean more towards 4.75? or about 5.0?

Try beersmith...I've been racking my brain to recall what the difference between corn and table is...I THINK you use less WHITE than corn....

That chart looks like it just says corn sugar on it...

 

[earthad1]

Try beersmith...I've been racking my brain to recall what the difference between corn and table is...I THINK you use less WHITE than corn....

That chart looks like it just says corn sugar on it...

Yup, I think you're right on both counts. Beersmith is installed on one of my other PCs so I'll go check later.

Thanks again.

 

[brewt00l]

To use the nemograph:

Draw a line from your beer temp on the left column through the desired vols of CO2 and where it crosses the last column tells you how much corn sugar (on the left side of the column in ounces) or table sugar (on the right side of the column in ounces) to use.

 

[Freelancer]

i used 2tsp (half tsp/pint) ordinary table sugar for each 2L bottle of my dry irish stout. turned out perfik! was hoping to save the lot til xmas but 4L gone already (1x2L after 1 week bottled, another after 2 weeks)

 

[Revvy]

To use the nemograph:

Draw a line from your beer temp on the left column through the desired vols of CO2 and where it crosses the last column tells you how much corn sugar (on the left side of the column in ounces) or table sugar (on the right side of the column in ounces) to use.

My eyes are bad, I couldn't tell that the word on the right was cane sugar... looked the same as the word on the left.

 

[earthad1]

I'm glad BeerSmith has a temperature converter...

So how do you know the ideal Temperature/CO2 levels? What I mean is, say I have a temp in my basement of 64.4F (18C) at time of bottling, how would I determine that is too high/low and then, how do I find out how much Co2 I want for that particular brew?

EDIT: Ok, nm, I think I have it... So right now, its 15c down there (59F) so, base on that graph, drawing a line from 59 goes to 2.2 volume of C02 so I would need to use 2.8 ounces of Cane sugar...

 

[fratermus]

I use table sugar for priming exclusively now, and have been happy with it. I use about 5% less sucrose than dextrose by weight.

Beersmith doesn't know about table sugar for priming (at least mine doesn't). I select cornsugar then subtract 5% and put that in the beersmith notes.

 

[earthad1]

If your doing a brown ale, you might want to consider brown sugar if you have any on hand.

Hey Revvy, when you say brown sugar, did you mean raw unrefined sugar? or the actual baker's brown sugar, which is MUCH sweeter than raw cane sugar...

 

[Revvy]

Hey Revvy, when you say brown sugar, did you mean raw unrefined sugar? or the actual baker's brown sugar, which is MUCH sweeter than raw cane sugar...

Uh...the Brown Sugar that you get at the grocery store....next to the white stuff...

 

[dontman]

i used 2tsp (half tsp/pint) ordinary table sugar for each 2L bottle of my dry irish stout. turned out perfik! was hoping to save the lot til xmas but 4L gone already (1x2L after 1 week bottled, another after 2 weeks)

I'm confused by this. Do you take 2 tsp sugar, add a bit of water, boil, cool, and then add that for EACH bottle???? Surely you don't mean you add un sanitized poorly measured sugar to each bottle. That would be like playing russian roulette. That was the primary cause of bottle bombs before brewers learned better.

 

[earthad1]

Uh...the Brown Sugar that you get at the grocery store....next to the white stuff...

Cool, yea that's just baking brown sugar... I just wanted to make sure what I was using was what you were suggesting.

Thanks.

 

[s3n8]

Uh... That looks like it needs another week or two prior to bottling. wait until the color above the highest rib moves all the way down

 

[dontman]

That's interesting. I am making a brown ale. So why the brown sugar? What are the benefits? does it improve the taste? How much would you need to put for say 5 Gallons? Well, I'm not even sure how much I have because I forgot to mark my carboy.

I'm saying 4.75 - 5.0

I'm still like a kid with brewing. When I see my carboy look like this it is like an hourglass counting down. I love that.

 

[earthad1]

Uh... That looks like it needs another week or two prior to bottling. wait until the color above the highest rib moves all the way down

No worries, that photo is rather old now... I racked it in secondary on Dec. 14 , so its been in there almost a month now.

 

[earthad1]

Yup....and here's a nice graph to assist you in selecting the proper amount:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Priming Solutions

So am I reading this graph properly?

its currently 51.8F down there... so if I draw a straight line from say 52F I need 3.6 fluid Ounces of Priming sugar?

3.60 fluid Ounces = 0.45 Cups...so basically half a cup of sugar? That can't be right

This is what I pulled in Beersmith

But that is for corn sugar... So I take it you need more table sugar than corn sugar...

 

[earthad1]

Anyone know this? I used the search tool to find the answer but came up empty handed. I don't want to bottle and risk over/under carbonating until someone with more experience than me can advise...

Thanks.