Priming with DME vs Priming with Sugar

[webtoe]

Interested in people's experiences. What if anything are the differences in taste, carbonation, head/foam, conditioning time, or yeast settling between DME and sugar when used for priming? (specifically bottles)

 

[bucketnative]

Most people will tell you that there is no difference... However, there are some people that swear they can taste a difference between the two in their brews. I am one of those people. To me, beer primed with sugar (either corn or table sugar) seems to have a winey/cidery taste to it, which I then focus on and obsess about. This is not true of saisons, to which I typically add table sugar in the boil. I think their inherent dryness helps mask that flavor for me.

I find that I have enjoyed my beers that have been primed with DME more than those that were primed with sugar... I don't find that "taste" that I described earlier. I have met a few other people who claim the same.

There's no difference in carbonation or head foam... conditioning time is slightly longer. or so I have heard. But, with my pipeline, I typically wait a month before opening a batch.

 

[dmtaylor]

No difference in flavor or texture, all else being equal.

The trouble with DME is that it is particularly absorbent of humidity in the air plus it is not 100% fermentable but rather somewhere between 60-75% fermentable, and you never know exactly how much it will ferment down, so.... it is better to go with plain simple sugar for priming which is always 100% fermentable and thus gives much more consistent results.

The "cidery" thing is a myth that should have died 15 years ago but is perpetuated by a very few Papazianites.

 

[bruteforce]

I can't tell the difference in a beer carbondated with an ounce of sugar per gallon. I'd be curious if people who can tell the difference could tell with a blind test. Only real difference to me is that you need more DME to carbonate, and it costs more. Sugar it is.

 

[bucketnative]

The "cidery" thing is a myth that should have died 15 years ago but is perpetuated by a very few Papazianites.

This is why I couched my response with "To me.." and "I find...", to make it very clear that my response is 100% subjective.

In the case of my brews, the DME priming was the single change that chased away that flavor. I moved from extract to all-grain brewing... still there. I changed mash-temperatures within a single recipe... still there. Switched to DME... all of a sudden it was gone, and has been since I made the switch. I know that in actuality, it "should" make no difference but it does. For about $2 extra per batch, it allows me to enjoy my beer more. I agree that to other people, it probably makes no difference.

 

[MaplePaddle]

I've tried both dextrose and DME in various brews (IPA, American Wheat, Belgian Wheat). I did not perceive any difference.

 

[Yooper]

I've used corn sugar, table sugar, DME and honey. I use whatever I have. I haven't noticed a difference, except it seems I got a bit more sediment with the DME and maybe the honey. The flavor and mouthfeel seemed the same to me, but the DME took a bit longer.

 

[dmtaylor]

This is why I couched my response with "To me.." and "I find...", to make it very clear that my response is 100% subjective.

In the case of my brews, the DME priming was the single change that chased away that flavor. I moved from extract to all-grain brewing... still there. I changed mash-temperatures within a single recipe... still there. Switched to DME... all of a sudden it was gone, and has been since I made the switch. I know that in actuality, it "should" make no difference but it does. For about $2 extra per batch, it allows me to enjoy my beer more. I agree that to other people, it probably makes no difference.

I totally respect that. Cheers.

For whatever it's worth, when I prime a honey beer or mead, I do find it helpful to use honey for priming instead of simple white sugar, as the honey does seems to add just the slightest hint of fresh honey flavor. If priming a normal non-honey beer with honey, I don't know for sure if I could pick it up in the final carbonated brew, but if there's already honey present then I think it helps take the honey flavor up another notch on the flavor spectrum.

As always, more experiments would be beneficial.

 

[bucketnative]

I totally respect that. Cheers.

For whatever it's worth, when I prime a honey beer or mead, I do find it helpful to use honey for priming instead of simple white sugar, as the honey does seems to add just the slightest hint of fresh honey flavor.

I totally agree with using honey to prime as a way of getting that hint of honey in a beer or a cider. In fact, I have been exclusively priming ciders with honey for the last year.

I also agree that more experimentation is needed, but I am convinced that there may be a certain percentage (very small minority) who are affected by or sensitive to certain compounds (if that is the case). I realize that I may be in that very small minority... as I am with cilantro (soapy). I am also comfortable with it all being in my head.

 

[dmtaylor]

I love cilantro. I used to think maybe I was a super-taster. Upon further research and experience, I discovered that I am in fact a borderline so-called "non-taster" albeit a very highly educated one.

 

[botigol]

I've only primed with DME once, but it seemed to leave a little extra maltiness in the beer and it definitely took longer to finish carbonating than corn sugar.

 

[messiah]

The main difference is cost, which I why I just use table sugar.

 

[timdillon36]

You can also collect some wort from your BK and freeze it then use that to prime at bottling time. Volumes will varry based on the gravity of your wort but isnt really that hard to calculate.

 

[Hoofer]

I use dextrose for all bottle conditioning. Always gives super clean and clear brews with dependable carbonation. Easy to calculate, not messy, and a breeze to prepare. Why use anything else in beer?